Chief Executive
The Co-Operative Group
Freepost MR9473
Manchester M4 8A
30th April 2012
Dear Mr Marks,
I am deeply disappointed and concerned with the decision that the
Co-Operative Group has recently taken to no longer trade with Israeli companies
that source their produce from the ‘settlements’. The impact that any boycott
actions have in political and economic matters in the Middle East are
negligible, unlike the distress that this policy has caused the Jewish
communities in the UK. Your existing policy of boycotting settlement products
and this new extension only works to divide the different communities in this
country at a time when its cohesion is vital.
The debate over the use of boycotts and their benefits has been
going on for many years now and it is clear that any direct action, such as the
one that the Co-Operative Group has chosen goes to harm the local Palestinian
population more than the companies that have been named under your this
resolution. Many thousands of Palestinians are employed in the West Bank and
even the main Palestinian Trade Union, the PGFTU, have publicly and openly
spoken out against any form of boycotts or sanctions. I would suggest that your
organisation should investigate who would be harmed the most by its actions. I
would suggest that it would be the Palestinian people themselves.
Furthermore, while the motions to boycott companies complicit in
‘violations of Palestinian Human Rights’, as Co-Op member Hilary Smith puts in,
names the Israeli companies
directly, there is no mention of any companies from any other country that
would fall into this banner. It would, therefore, be very easy to conclude that
this motion is simply an attempt to attack Israel rather than working for any
potential moral purpose.
This new resolution was brought by The Palestinian Solidarity
Campaign (PSC) who work to demonise and delegitimise Israel at every
opportunity and even their own logo highlights their desire for one Palestinian
state rather than two states living in peace. If the Co-Operative deals with
these types of issues in an even handed way, then I would also question as to
why it is acceptable for products from Occupied North Cyprus to be labelled as
‘produce of Turkey’ with no comments or concerns from your Board or more
politically active members.
Boycotts and sanctions do little apart from to create further
tension and division in an already fraught political arena. There are countless
programmes and organisations that work to build bridges between Israel and the
Palestinians that have a clear and positive impact on the economic and
political environments of both peoples. There are better ways that your
organisation can make a difference to the region without taking sides in a
difficult and complicated conflict.
Yours sincerely,
Harvey Rose
Chairman
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