Wizdom
08-12-02, 16:14
San Francisco store ban on Israeli goods angers shoppers
By THE JERUSALEM POST STAFF
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The popular San Francisco co-op Rainbow has been boycotting certain Israeli products, The San Francisco Chronicle reported, prompting the Jewish Community Relations Council to demand that the Mission District co-op reverse its policy immediately.
The worker-owned store is losing business over its decision to remove Israeli products from two of its largest departments, packaged foods and bulk foods, a Rainbow spokesman told the Chronicle.
Since each department enacts policies independently, some still carry Israeli health and beauty items and candles. But a months-old ban on some Israeli foods means Rainbow isn't carrying, among other things, the chocolate coin-shaped candies called gelt which are popular during Hanukka.
The ban was adopted through a vote of workers empathetic to Palestinians, who felt the store should take a stand at a time of escalating violence and uncertainty in the Middle East.
Reactions to the boycott, which was the subject of a Chronicle story Wednesday, demonstrate how Israeli-Palestinian tensions have found their way into the aisles of a 27-year-old neighborhood supermarket in a city with a reputation for tolerance and diversity.
About 100 people called the store with reactions Wednesday, mostly to disagree with Rainbow's partial boycott, spokesman Scott Bradley, who has worked at the store for three years, told the Chronicle.
"Ninety-nine percent of it is people calling up and being very polite and saying they're not going to shop here anymore," Bradley said.
Those callers included San Francisco resident Michael Disend, who said he was a longtime Rainbow Grocery customer. That changed this week.
"Rainbow is a store that I hold in great esteem, because I share those cooperative values. . . . When I saw the [Chronicle] piece today, it was a blow to the heart," Disend told the Chronicle.
San Francisco store ban on Israeli goods angers shoppers
By THE JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Advertisement
The popular San Francisco co-op Rainbow has been boycotting certain Israeli products, The San Francisco Chronicle reported, prompting the Jewish Community Relations Council to demand that the Mission District co-op reverse its policy immediately.
The worker-owned store is losing business over its decision to remove Israeli products from two of its largest departments, packaged foods and bulk foods, a Rainbow spokesman told the Chronicle.
Since each department enacts policies independently, some still carry Israeli health and beauty items and candles. But a months-old ban on some Israeli foods means Rainbow isn't carrying, among other things, the chocolate coin-shaped candies called gelt which are popular during Hanukka.
The ban was adopted through a vote of workers empathetic to Palestinians, who felt the store should take a stand at a time of escalating violence and uncertainty in the Middle East.
Reactions to the boycott, which was the subject of a Chronicle story Wednesday, demonstrate how Israeli-Palestinian tensions have found their way into the aisles of a 27-year-old neighborhood supermarket in a city with a reputation for tolerance and diversity.
About 100 people called the store with reactions Wednesday, mostly to disagree with Rainbow's partial boycott, spokesman Scott Bradley, who has worked at the store for three years, told the Chronicle.
"Ninety-nine percent of it is people calling up and being very polite and saying they're not going to shop here anymore," Bradley said.
Those callers included San Francisco resident Michael Disend, who said he was a longtime Rainbow Grocery customer. That changed this week.
"Rainbow is a store that I hold in great esteem, because I share those cooperative values. . . . When I saw the [Chronicle] piece today, it was a blow to the heart," Disend told the Chronicle.
By THE JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Advertisement
The popular San Francisco co-op Rainbow has been boycotting certain Israeli products, The San Francisco Chronicle reported, prompting the Jewish Community Relations Council to demand that the Mission District co-op reverse its policy immediately.
The worker-owned store is losing business over its decision to remove Israeli products from two of its largest departments, packaged foods and bulk foods, a Rainbow spokesman told the Chronicle.
Since each department enacts policies independently, some still carry Israeli health and beauty items and candles. But a months-old ban on some Israeli foods means Rainbow isn't carrying, among other things, the chocolate coin-shaped candies called gelt which are popular during Hanukka.
The ban was adopted through a vote of workers empathetic to Palestinians, who felt the store should take a stand at a time of escalating violence and uncertainty in the Middle East.
Reactions to the boycott, which was the subject of a Chronicle story Wednesday, demonstrate how Israeli-Palestinian tensions have found their way into the aisles of a 27-year-old neighborhood supermarket in a city with a reputation for tolerance and diversity.
About 100 people called the store with reactions Wednesday, mostly to disagree with Rainbow's partial boycott, spokesman Scott Bradley, who has worked at the store for three years, told the Chronicle.
"Ninety-nine percent of it is people calling up and being very polite and saying they're not going to shop here anymore," Bradley said.
Those callers included San Francisco resident Michael Disend, who said he was a longtime Rainbow Grocery customer. That changed this week.
"Rainbow is a store that I hold in great esteem, because I share those cooperative values. . . . When I saw the [Chronicle] piece today, it was a blow to the heart," Disend told the Chronicle.
San Francisco store ban on Israeli goods angers shoppers
By THE JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Advertisement
The popular San Francisco co-op Rainbow has been boycotting certain Israeli products, The San Francisco Chronicle reported, prompting the Jewish Community Relations Council to demand that the Mission District co-op reverse its policy immediately.
The worker-owned store is losing business over its decision to remove Israeli products from two of its largest departments, packaged foods and bulk foods, a Rainbow spokesman told the Chronicle.
Since each department enacts policies independently, some still carry Israeli health and beauty items and candles. But a months-old ban on some Israeli foods means Rainbow isn't carrying, among other things, the chocolate coin-shaped candies called gelt which are popular during Hanukka.
The ban was adopted through a vote of workers empathetic to Palestinians, who felt the store should take a stand at a time of escalating violence and uncertainty in the Middle East.
Reactions to the boycott, which was the subject of a Chronicle story Wednesday, demonstrate how Israeli-Palestinian tensions have found their way into the aisles of a 27-year-old neighborhood supermarket in a city with a reputation for tolerance and diversity.
About 100 people called the store with reactions Wednesday, mostly to disagree with Rainbow's partial boycott, spokesman Scott Bradley, who has worked at the store for three years, told the Chronicle.
"Ninety-nine percent of it is people calling up and being very polite and saying they're not going to shop here anymore," Bradley said.
Those callers included San Francisco resident Michael Disend, who said he was a longtime Rainbow Grocery customer. That changed this week.
"Rainbow is a store that I hold in great esteem, because I share those cooperative values. . . . When I saw the [Chronicle] piece today, it was a blow to the heart," Disend told the Chronicle.