Today in a Dublin suburb we went into a number of stores to challenge their sale of Israeli goods, and therefore their complicity in the current attacks on Gaza along with the ongoing occupation of Palestine. We first went to Dunnes Stores, to our surprise we found they did not have any Israeli Fruit or Vegetables in stock. They were however selling Plastic chairs & children’s toys made by Keter, an Israeli company with two factories located in Illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. We gathered a selection of the products on sale and brought them to a store manager. Although he was somewhat supportive of what we were doing, he said he was not in a position to stop Dunnes from stocking Israeli products and the only ones that are able to is the management in the head office. We got the same response from store managers and other staff in every store we went to. In Tesco we found many potatoes and dates from Israel as part of the Tesco Organic range of food, along with Oranges and Grapefruits produced by an Israeli company called Jaffa. We gathered as much as we could fit into two baskets and again asked to speak to the manager. In Lidl we found Israeli potatoes as part of the Oakland range of potatoes they stock. We went to Smyths Toy Store and brought Children’s toys made by Israeli company Amav to the attention of staff. We found it quite sickening to think buying these toys in Ireland is contributing financially to the deaths of hundreds of children in Gaza over the past few days. We also visited some smaller stores, Peter Mark stocked Moroccan Oil which despite the name is an Israeli product. While Holland & Barrett and the Health Store both stocked Dead Sea Spa Magik, a product which includes Dead Sea salts from the Dead Sea in the West Bank. Despite being in the West Bank the area is controlled by Israel. As a result, Dead Sea salts are a resource off limits to Palestinians and Israel’s use of it is deemed a crime of war pillage under the Geneva convention. Staff in all of these stores were supportive of what we were doing and in one case, said they would remove the stock straight away if they had the power to do so. In Argos we decided to place stickers over products in the shop catalogues which are of Israeli origin. Keter products were displayed on page 69 & Sodastream products which are made in an Illegal settlement in the West Bank are displayed on page 898. In Woodies DIY, we places leaflets inside plastic Stanley Toolboxes which are made in Israel. These type of actions need to be continued across the Ireland, we do however remind you to always remain courteous to staff and remember it is not there decision to stock Israeli products, it is something decided at the highest level of management. The consumer boycott is of vital importance to the overall BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement against the State of Israel as the Israeli economy relies heavily on exports. 30 years after courageous workers at Dunnes Stores stood against Apartheid in South Africa, we all have a duty to stand against similar injustices in our own time. Ciaran Maher, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign & NUI Galway Palestine Solidarity Dave Kinane, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 19:21:12 +0000
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