For the first time, pro-Israel protesters have been invited to meet senior officials at the Co-operative Movement to discuss its boycott of select Israeli companies after they held a peaceful demonstration.
Around 15 people who handed out Israeli produce and leaflets to staff at the Co-op’s Manchester headquarters on Tuesday were invited to discuss the issue with the company’s ethics department.
The good-natured demonstration questioned why the Co-op had blacklisted Israeli fruit suppliers working with West Bank settlements, a move passed in May without a Co-op members’ vote and thought to bow to pressure from anti-Zionist protesters who are calling for a total ban of all Israeli goods.
A leaflet produced by the Board of Deputies and the We Believe in Israel group asked why the Co-op had singled out Israel while its group of companies traded with China, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, countries which have extremely poor human rights records.
