These are some of the statements of support of the Olympia Food Co-op boycott of Israeli goods, that have been sent to Olympia BDS:
Richard Falk is the UN Special Rapporteur for Occupied Palestinian Territories, Board Chair, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and nominee for Nobel Peace Prize 2008-2010:
“The Olympia Food Co-op boycott of Israeli product bravely joins a growing worldwide movement on the part of citizens and the private sector to support by non-violent tangible acts the Palestinian struggle for justice and self-determination. When the UN and governments, most notably our own, fail to uphold basic rules of international humanitarian law and bring suffering to people anywhere, then there exists a human responsibility to act in solidarity. The Palestinians have been abused, and suffered for far too long, waiting futilely for their most fundamental rights to be respected.”
Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CODEPINK: Women for Peace, and Global Exchange, both organizations dedicated to a peaceful, sustainable world:
“I applaud the Olympia Food Coop’s decision to take a stand for a just and equitable Middle East peace by acting on Palestinian Civil Society’s call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions. Cooperatives are inherently democratic organizations, and the Olympia Food Coop has shown that it is willing to work against the undemocratic apartheid system and occupation that strips Palestinians of their right to self-determination. Cooperatives have a long history of working for and with the oppressed to strive for a better world, and now Olympia Food Coop has been the first to build off of that legacy. I encourage other cooperatives, grocers, and businesses to follow their courageous example of boycotting Israeli goods and for shoppers to support their principled stand.”
Cindy Sheehan, Peace activist and mother of Spc. Casey Austin Sheehan KIA in Iraq on 04/04/04
As Israel is perpetrating an illegal and immoral occupation of Palestine and inhumane blockade of the Gaza Strip, I encourage your Co-op to support boycott, divestiture and sanctions against Israeli products or companies that support Israel or profit off of Israeli crimes. Lists of these companies are readily available. I support BDS against Israel as the BDS campaign against South Africa ended decades of apartheid and oppression there. BDS are a peaceful way of confronting state-sanctioned and perpetrated violence.
Cindy Corrie, founder of Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace & Justice:
We at the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice salute the Olympia Food Co-op Board of Directors for their recent decision to institute a boycott of Israeli goods. We also applaud community and co-op members who have advocated on behalf of this measure. In our work, we have been witness to the lack of intention or will on the part of the Israeli and U.S. Governments to secure freedom, equality, self-determination and security for all in Israel/Palestine, and the inability of the international community to do so. We are keenly aware of Palestinians who have lived under oppression for over sixty years and of their Israeli counterparts who have felt the consequences of their government’s unjust policies — many of whom have struggled in solidarity with Palestinians for decades to change these policies. It has been too long. It is right for citizens of the world to act and to signal that we will not continue to tolerate this outrage that has brought such pain and grief to so many for so long. Step by step, action by action, we must build support for justice and equality for all in Israel/Palestine — support that government leaders will not be able to dismiss. Rachel Corrie took a stand in March 2003 for a Palestinian family whose home was threatened with demolition. We believe it fitting that the Olympia Food Co-op, of which she was a member, now stands with millions throughout the world who say, “Enough.” Thank you, Olympia Food Co-op, for your courage and resolve.
