Cool or Not Cool: Banning Israeli Products?

Photo by Park Slope Lens

I'm shit sure that if you're a regular reader of this blog, this is not the first you've heard of a proposal to ban Israeli products sold at the Coop. As a matter of fact, for something that hasn't even been put to a GD vote yet -- and been beaten to death for almost three years -- it's still a weekly topic on quite a few NY blogs: Gothamist and FIPS have recently gone a few rounds with it. And this week The New York Observer, who has been a staunch voice of opposition to the boycott, ran Kiera Feldman's piece  Waging Nonviolence in support of the Israel boycott... I guess to prove how grown-up they can be. 

Here's the short version of what we know, for those who need a refresher: the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement was launched by Palestinian civil society groups who demand that Israel get out of Palestinian territories. They hope that by boycotting Israeli products it will be a strain on their economy and they will magically pull out of the disputed territories. How does this affect the Coop? Well, I think the hummus debate has been put to rest, but if a boycott were to go into affect, some items (so far most people can agree on bath salts) will be removed from the Coop's shelves. But it's not the items per se that the members would miss, but rather the sentiment behind the boycott.

The Observer quoted a Coop member as saying:

We don’t have any shoppers here from South Africa or Nestlé. But this is different—this is Chaim town. This is the heart of Chaim town. So to come in here and try and push this boycott against Israel goes against everything the co-op is about, everything it was founded on.

High Profile Lawyer Alan Dershowitz has said the boycott is anti-semitic and if passed, he would try and "shut the joint down," according to Feldman. He has also been quoted as saying, "We will stop at nothing to make them pay for an extraordinarily high price for their bigotry." He has been quoted as likening the boycott to Puritanical bear bating in the 17th century (how New England!). Feldman herself says the Coop has a long history of boycotting and if feels it's only right to join the boycott if asked to.

So, FIPSters: How the hell do you feel about this? Cool or not cool to ban the Israeli Products?