Proposed Ban Roiling Park Slope Co-op
A neighborhood institution known for its earnestness and political correctness, the Park Slope Co-op now finds itself at the center of a mounting media circus revolving around a recent proposal by a member to ban products from Israel as a statement of protest against the state’s recent actions in Gaza. About 10 people reportedly support…
A neighborhood institution known for its earnestness and political correctness, the Park Slope Co-op now finds itself at the center of a mounting media circus revolving around a recent proposal by a member to ban products from Israel as a statement of protest against the state’s recent actions in Gaza. About 10 people reportedly support the measure; the Co-op has about 15,000 members. While on a practical level all that’s at stake here is a few boxes of peppers and persimmons, the symbolism is causing controversy throughout the neighborhood and beyond. There are so many Jews who shop there, there are so many Israelis who shop there, there’s a huge number of frum people from all over Brooklyn who shop there, said Rabbi Andy Bachman of Beth Elohim in the original article in the Jewish Daily Forward, so my guess is that if it passes, and I want to emphasize that I don’t think it will, they will lose a lot of members. Assemblyman Dov Hikind echoed these sentiments: “[The co-op would] lose a great number of people,” he told The Post. Even TimeOut New York has chimed in: “The motion feels born from the very stiff and self-righteous soapbox awareness that many naysayers feel makes the Co-op unpalatable under normal circumstances,” writes TONY, making to sure to add “we support the Co-op’s open forum for this kind of divisive dialogue.” Still no word on where Adrian Grenier stands on the issue.
Food Fight: Brooklyn Co-op Mulls Israel Ban [Forward]
Park Slope Co-op to Ban Israeli Products? [TONY]
‘Ban Israel’ Bid Mushrooms Into B’klyn Food Fight [NY Post]
Photo by pseudoreal
5w30…what’s the NYU protest over??? I googled it and saw pics of topless women but no mention of what the protests were about.
The Food Coop is free to adopt any rules or measures it sees fit. They have members who are allowed to vote, so the issue will be decided one way or another. I don’t understand why people get so riled up about decisions made by an entity that they have nothing to do with.
By definition, a Co-op is a democratically-controlled enterprise.
10 to 14990 votes may not be enough.
As far as the publicity, as least they spelled the name right
Just when you need a laugh … the NYU “protest” and the fun at the Park Slope Food Coop come through in the clutch.
It doesn’t get any better …
a think a bunch of people should go old school 90s and invade the co-op and throw a rave. cucumbers, melons, and organic pepper all thru the air!
*r*
10 out of 15,000 people support it and it’s an issue? Regardless of what you think of Israel, this is a tiny minority with a differing opinion. People must not have enough to do.
it’s better in these economic times to shop at actual real supermarkets that, um hello, EMPLOY PEOPLE anyway
*rob*
I still think this quote from Rabbi Bachman sums it up the best:
“It will remain an irrelevant gesture to 5 million Israelis and 2 million Palestinians, but it will make someone in Park Slope feel really good about themselves,†he said. That’s what this is about; it’s about the political purity, which is part of Park Slope’s unique self-absorption.â€
I, for one would not visit the place anymore if this will pass!
It’s insulting that they even entertain the idea!