App to boycott Israeli goods

[Everexpanding]

the “No Thanks” app, which first appeared almost two years ago carrying a large list of companies and brands consumers might consider boycotting because of Israeli links.
The app has become a key tool for the BDS movement that targets Israel economically for the actions of its government and its military in Gaza.
Along with a list of companies and brands to boycott, the app allows users to scan barcodes to find out more about the relationship particular products have with Israel.

@SharonEllis did you believe boycotting South African goods in the 1980s was a valid action? If so why is boycotting Israel not ?

Yes I was active in AAM. The situation is entirely different. Black people in South Africa were not genocidal terrorists that had started a war. I find the comparison odious.

Mandela was designated a terrorist by the Uk government among others

The ANC was condemned as a terrorist organisation by the governments of South Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Ah, the Mandela gotcha!

Yes, the ANC was involved in a campaign mostly of sabotage, not muder, rape, bombing and kidnapping, alongside other peaceful protests and civil disobedience.

The ANC did carry out bombings

Strange if you were an AAM activist that you do not oppose apartheid in Israel why not?

Anyway being on here debating is doing my health no good, hope you can live with yourself in years to come. Thank you other posters for support, good to see the majority are against and recognise the horror of what is happening in Gaza,

What does Mandela have to do with Gaza?

Yes, mostly of infrastructure. That's the sabotage bit.

Absolutely sweet FA!

'good to see the majority are against and recognise the horror of what is happening in Gaza'

We're all against the conflict that hamas started by the Oct 7th atrocity. Let's hope the hostages are released, hamas are destroyed and the gazans can move forward.

And the fact remains that only Jewish people shop in the kosher section so you are attacking Jewish people here

I am not Jewish. I often "shop in the kosher section" because there are kosher foods that I like. And because I entertain my Jewish friends. I do not buy Israeli goods from them any more. Nor do I buy Israeli fruit and vegetables (which are not in the kosher section). I have many Muslim friends who have frequently shopped in the "kosher section" because the dietary laws of Muslims and Jews are so similar - they are also avoiding Israeli goods. So it isn't only Jewish people. It may be predominantly Jewish people who shop in the kosher section, just as it is predominantly but not exclusively Jewish people who live in Israel.

I do appreciate that some Jewish people feel scared and threatened right now, and I deplore any form of harassment or intimidation against people based on group characteristics - but making informed or ethical choices about what we spend money on is neither of those things. Jewish people are free to ignore those options, or to deliberately do the opposite. Welcome to capitalism.

But if I may ask, @SharonEllis would I be correct in assuming that you are Jewish, since you have gone out of your way to label anything and everything that you don't like or agree with as anti-semitism? Last night I was out with friends, which included several of our Jewish and Muslim friends, and we were discussing Jewish law and ethics. I emphasise, not ISRAELI law or ethics. Our Muslim friends commented that Hamas are not Muslims (soemthing they have frequently said in the past about terrorists) because their actions target civilians and non-combatants , and that is strictly against Islamic law. People can claim to be Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists etc - it doesn't make them so.

Anyway, our Jewish friends commented on specific Jewish law. One that we all share. Specifically the 6th commandment - You shall not kill - but noted that there are permitted exceptions with self-defence as one of them, which an immediate response to 7th October attack could be deemed to comply with. However both Exodus and Leviticus very clearly define the law - "an eye for an eye" etc - as existing within a framework of proportionality and justice.

How does two years, 62,000+ deaths mostly of non-combatants with large numbers of women and children, and the wholesale demolition of a culture comply with Jewish law of proportionality and justice? And if it doesn't - if it is Israeli actions and not Jweish action, what are Jewish people generally doing to object to actions apparently being taken in their name and in contravention of their laws? Genuine question - I would like to know what you think.

Apologise for loose language. Anyone can shop in the kosher section. My point was only Jews keep kosher even if others buy kosher food. Its got nothing to do with being Israeli. I thought the point was clearly expressed, several times. Hopefully this is the last time its necessary

Yes, Im well aware of halal/kosher crossover.

yes anyone can buy whatever they like. I know how capitalism and boycotts work. The point is the motivation and impact of stickering kosher foods, at the moment when antisemitic attacks have rocketted and the Jewish community which is not responsible for Israel feels velnerable and under attack.

No I am not Jewish. I find it remarkable that I am asked this question so often. You do not have to be Jewish to be alert to racism and I suppose it is my long involvement with antiracism, as well as knowing and working with Jewish people that apparently makes me more alert.

I find your accusation you have gone out of your way to label anything and everything that you don't like or agree with as anti-semitism? offensive and unsubstantiated and encourage you to look into the Livingstone formulation. Perhaps also look into why the preferred spelling is generally antisemitism.

I am not an expert on Jewish law so have no opinion on it. Jewish people collectively arent doing anything as they are all individuals with different opinions, nor should they be expected to, any more than any other group of religulious people.

Your Muslim friends may not recognise Hamas as Muslims but it cant be dismissed so easily as they certainly see themselves as muslims and many other muslim clerics, politicians and ordinary citizens do see them as muslims.

As I thought, no real response. Just have a go around semantics and your own personal bias.

No I am not Jewish. I find it remarkable that I am asked this question so often. You do not have to be Jewish to be alert to racism and I suppose it is my long involvement with antiracism, as well as knowing and working with Jewish people that apparently makes me more alert.

I'll match your long involvement with anti-racism any day, but as I observed, just because someone claims to be something doesn't make it so. We have very different views of anti-racism - mine includes not commiting genocide against a people. In fact, my definition of racism includes genocide. Oddly, so does most peoples. But you carry on defending mass murder and genocide. It is clearly wasted time showing your own hypocrisy to you. And I'll carry on spending my money on what I wish.

Ok, I did give you a full response, just not the one you wanted and I find your response unnecessarily offensive and really nothing more than a personal attack.

It is not a personal attack. I find that offensive too. I have asked very clear points. We disagree. Disagreement is not an attack. I'm out. Nothing will change entrenched views.

Everything is an attack. Disagreement is an attack. Peaceful protest is an attack. Boycotting is an attack. Speaking about it is an attack. Do you know what isn’t an attack to these posters? Starving, mutilating and killing children. That is justified.

But choosing not to buy some Coca Cola is an attack. It’s sickening.

Carry on with the boycotts everyone-they clearly work.

Your questions:
You asked me if I am Jewish. Not in a friendly way but 'because you have gone out of your way to label anything and everything that you don't like or agree with as anti-semitism?' Quite offensive on various levels, not least that a Jewish person would go out of their way to see antisemitism everywhere, with no empathy for the fact that Jews are in reality seeing a sustained high level of antisemitism.

You asked me my opinion on Jewish law! I don't know anything about Jewish law. What can I say?

You said your muslim friends don't think Hamas are muslims, I gave my pefectly reasinable, fact-based response to that.

You asked 'what are Jewish people generally doing to object to actions apparently being taken in their name and in contravention of their laws' when Im sure you know that holding Jewish people collectively responsible for the actions of Israel is antisemitic under the IHRA definition.

You didn't have an example to back up your stickering kosher goods in a supermarket claim. That's why you went off on a tangent about someone yelling at someone etc.

Like I said I'm not going around I circles with you. Boycotting Israeli goods at a time when the Israeli government are committing genocide is not antisemitism, it doesn't matter what part of the supermarket the Israeli goods are in, it still funds genocide and it's still not antisemitism. Boycotting goods that will help fund genocide is a legitimate, peaceful means of protest, Israel are not above protest. That's all I have to say on it.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/jewish-mumsnetters/5161075-i-saw-a-boycott-israel-sticker-on-an-item-in-the-kosher-section-in-sainsburys

I didnt have an example because I haven't stored examples away on the off chance that someone on MN would suggest something that I know to be true was not.

But here you go. Geffen is an American brand and their hearty chicken noodle soup is produced in Singapore. It was stickered in a supermarket in Brighton.

Yes obviously its just one example.

No Im not asking all my Jewish friends to send me their examples because they won't have recorded them either.

No Im not trawling the internet for more.

It's irrelevant to this app.

This app is boycotting companies with ties to a regime which is committing genocide.

If anyone has problems with that, then I suggest they take a deep look at themselves.

Health be damned, @SharonEllis the app would mitigate these errors as it would not have shown this product as included in the boycott.

The app would not mitigate the error of someone stickering a product made in fucking singapore and holding Jews responsible for Israel.