To the Port Townsend Food Co-Op Board:
I have been shopping at the Port Townsend Food Co-Op for over ten years now and I enjoy many of the products you carry.
However, if the recently proposed boycott of Jewish products is approved by your Board, I and others will lead a different boycott – one with an active picket line directed right at the Food Co-Op itself. We will leaflet and talk with tourists on the street in Port Townsend about the situation. The picketing will not only negatively impact the Food Co-Op, but will also shed negative light on the Film Festival, Victorian Festival, Centrum, etc. and any other activities that draw the public into Port Townsend. We will place ourselves with picket signs at the only entrance to the city to let everyone know, who enters the town that you are targeting Jewish businesses.
Have you discussed this with the Chamber of Commerce? Have you spoken to your local food producers, who will also be negatively impacted by a boycott of the Port Townsend Food Co-Op? Be careful what you ask for – if you approve this proposed boycott of Jewish goods it will not be pretty. When you advertise in the Leader there will be opposing advertisements notifying your customers about this bigotry. You need to consider carefully the negative impact that approving this proposal would bring not only to your business, but to the entire Port Townsend community.
Howard M. Gilbert
Port Townsend Food Co-Op Member and resident of Jefferson County, Washington