Carolyn Cushing: Uncomfortable vote at River Valley Co-op

I don’t find the deshelving of Israeli products at the River Valley Co-op to be a comfortable tactic. But uncomfortable tactics may be the options left to us.

The violence on the surface of Middle East conflict (food as a weapon of war, 2,000-pound U.S. bombs dropped on refugees in tents, hostages still held, etc.) hasn’t ended due to our actions (lobbying, resolutions, demonstrations, etc.). We need to go deeper into the roots of the dehumanization of Palestinians and Arabs allowing Israel and the United States to tolerate mass civilian death, destruction of medical infrastructure, targeting of culture bearers.

What we find when we go deeper can be named as apartheid. Diverse voices (Bishop Desmond Tutu, Jewish Voice for Peace, International Court of Justice, Ta-Nehisi Coates in “The Message”) make the case that apartheid exists in Israel and the occupied territories. For decades Palestinian civil society, seeking a nonviolent strategy to address root causes, has called for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) focused on Israel until it complies with international law. They’re inspired by the South African boycott movement, whose success we celebrate.

Member-owners petitioning for deshelving want their co-op to respond to the call for BDS and stand against apartheid. Deshelving does not get at all roots of the conflict — it doesn’t address U.S. weapons manufacturers profiting from this war, nor antisemitism’s perniciousness (while being distinct from criticisms of Israel) — but no tactic does everything. It’s part of an ecology of change-making’s messy work. So, with discomfort, I, member-owner 722, vote “yes.”

Carolyn Cushing

Easthampton