Food co-op considers banning Israeli food...

I used to live in Park Slope....

Located in the heart of Brooklyn, near Prospect Park, the Park Slope Food Coop is at the nexus of the borough’s many diverse Jewish populations. From the liberal Jews of Park Slope to the Hasidic Jews of Crown Heights, the coop is one of the few places in Brooklyn where Jews of all denominations converge in a shared mission: to buy natural foods at reasonable prices.

But the co-op’s unusual Jewish character is being tested by a proposal to ban products bought from Israel, such as the persimmons and red peppers that are currently in the produce aisle.

he push for an Israel boycott adds to the co-op’s long history of political action. Nestlé products were voted out by the membership, because of the company’s campaign to promote infant formula instead of breastfeeding, and members rallied around a ban of South African goods during the apartheid regime.

The proposal to boycott Israeli goods was first raised by a woman who gives her name as Hima B., a co-op member of South Asian decent, during the “open forum” at the general meeting in January. She faced no vocal opposition, according to people who were there, and was told to create an agenda item for a general meeting in the future.

“She spoke for less than 60 seconds, and nobody questioned it,” said Zimmerman, who was in attendance that night, along with an estimated 275 others.