UK grocery store company will no longer purchase goods from Israel

A major British retail operator has decided to cut ties with Israel in response to the ongoing BDS movement.
The decision was made because of Israeli human rights abuses and violations of international law, according to the co-operative supermarket. The Co-operative supermarket implemented this decision earlier this month.

At the May Co-op annual general meeting, a resolution demanding a halt to commerce with Israel garnered tremendous support. Among the seventeen “countries of concern” included in the supermarket board’s decision is Israel.

Co-op will start phasing out products from those 17 nations in a methodical manner.

As part of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement spearheaded by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Co-op board resolved to implement a “sourcing policy aligned with established cooperative values, upholding human rights and the rule of law to promote fair trading and peace.”

“There is consistent behavior that would constitute community-wide human rights abuses or violations of international law,” the supermarket stated, and hence the country will no longer be able to supply merchandise to the store.

According to Co-op, the new policy “would alleviate suffering” and “can make a difference directly or indirectly to those affected.”

The United Kingdom imports a lot of produce from Israel, and you can find Israeli fruits and vegetables in many different grocery stores there, sometimes even as ingredients in bigger items.

In settlements that are considered illegal by international law, several Israeli farms have their operations in the occupied West Bank.

“A major victory” was the reaction from PSC to Co-op’s decision. This comes after the group’s “Don’t Buy Apartheid” campaign, which called for a general exclusion of Israeli goods from many establishments in the United Kingdom earlier this year.

The director of the PSC, Ben Jamal, proclaimed, “This is a seismic victory for the Palestinian solidarity movement in this country. We demand that the government, institutions, and corporations end all economic, political, and military support for the state of Israel. Israel is conducting a live-streamed genocide in Gaza after decades of military occupation and imposing a system of apartheid on Palestinians.”

In keeping with its long tradition of ethical leadership, the Co-op has decided it must not only listen to the British public’s outcry against Israel’s flagrant disregard for human rights and international law, but it must also refuse to support the Israeli regime financially by conducting business there.

“All other supermarket chains that continue to sell Israeli goods, knowing they are supporting its war crimes, must now take up this beacon of leadership.”