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BY ROB JACOBS, StandWithUs Northwest Regional Director
After listening to nearly two hours of public comment and an hour of debate last night in Port Townsend, StandWithUs Northwest Director Rob Jacobs and StandWithUs Northwest Co-Chair Carolyn Hathaway were thrilled when the six-member Port Townsend Food Co-op board voted 4 to 2 against boycotting Israeli goods and eliminating them from the Co-op's shelves.
The board majority concluded that taking a stand on international issues involving foreign countries violated Co-op policies and that the Co-op board was neither elected nor qualified to render judgment on international affairs. Board members stated that they would oppose efforts to change the Co-op rules and would oppose any future effort to have them boycott countries.
This effectively was a complete rejection of the effort by BDS supporters to have the market and the Co-op community take punitive measures against Israel. This is an important victory in the struggle against the boycott movement.
StandWithUs Northwest staff and leadership put in many many long hours working closely with the local community's pro-Israel and anti-boycott leaders and with the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco. We had the opportunity as a result of frequent visits to Port Townsend to get to know the town, the local community and the town's leadership. We urge everyone to visit this warm community. While you are there, visit the terrific Port Townsend Food Co-op, get incredible local produce, and seek out and buy their Israeli products.
The local community members who opposed the boycott deserve tremendous kudos for their work to defeat the boycott resolution. They worked tirelessly to bring sanity, facts and fairness to the debate. They put together two very successful, well-organized, well-publicized public events to educate the larger community, to respond to the allegations by the BDS supporters that Israel was a violent, apartheid state intent on driving out the Palestinians. They responded quickly. They reached out to their community leaders, to their friends, to religious leaders. In the face of the terribly divisive BDS boycott proposal, they actually succeeded in bringing together and creating more community.
The Port Townsend opposition to the boycott and their efforts are a model to be followed wherever the BDS movement tries to again divide a community in their efforts to deligitimize Israel. StandWithUs Northwest is already reaching out to other co-ops and co-op members to help them organize against the BDS movement. We will keep you informed and look for your help, involvement, and support.