Comments on Divest This!: When all else fails, trash a supermarket

These kind of rowdy "boycotts", imho, aren't the a...

2009-06-28T23:02:43.789-04:00

These kind of rowdy "boycotts", imho, aren't the answer. It's one think to criticize, condemn and take the Israeli government to task for its horrendously wrongheaded occupation of West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, with its settler/settlement policies, housing demolitions and roughing up, killing and maiming innocent Palestinian civilians, but I think that boycotting their goods and making big spectacles of oneself in a Trader Joe's or wherever, like a bunch of immature, rowdy teens, is the wrong way to go about expressing one's opinions. Free speech is a given, but with it comes responsibility. That being said, I believe that destroying goods, pulling foods off thei shelves, and just generally being destructive and assaultive, and alienating and intimidating shoppers definitely crosses certain boundaries, and therefore is NOT free speech.

The best way to make one's opinions be known is through conversation with people, and education, and not this kind of destructive, immature behaviour exhibited by the boycotters at Trader Joe's or wherever.

well, gracey, boycott israel all you want. for eve...

2009-06-23T13:43:10.867-04:00

well, gracey, boycott israel all you want. for every container of hummus you "boycott," i'll buy 2.

ps. read a book, and no, not ilan pappe.

Thank you for sending my the link. Do you have a t...

2009-06-20T12:07:26.576-04:00

Thank you for sending my the link. Do you have a twitter?

This is just the beginning of the "Boycott Israel ...

2009-06-19T23:07:00.666-04:00

This is just the beginning of the "Boycott Israel Movement." It's not about the couscous, it's about waking up Americans to the illegal and brutal occupation of Palestine land by Israel.

I am a Trader Joe's employee. We were informed of...

2009-06-19T00:49:44.946-04:00

I am a Trader Joe's employee.
We were informed of this possible 'boycott' on 6/20 earlier today. We see many different groups out front of our stores selling things, petitioning, demontrating, you name it. This is, by far- the MOST pathetic excuse for a demonstration/boycott I have ever heard of. It sounds more like a youtube prank than anything else.

Trader Joe's does NOT sell politics- they sell groceries. They carry products from all over the world. If they gave in to the demands of every group, they wouldn't have any items to sell! It's truly ridiculous.

Best line of the day goes to Jeff Goldberg of the ...

2009-06-18T15:42:19.203-04:00

Best line of the day goes to Jeff Goldberg of the Atlantic:

http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/06/latest_anti-israel_idiocy_trad.php

"I hear the Israeli couscous goes well with grilled scapegoat, by the way. "

I suggest people bring video cameras, cellphones a...

2009-06-17T21:06:50.392-04:00

I suggest people bring video cameras, cellphones and RECORD the BROWN SHIRTS vandalizing the stores.

I believe there are laws that PROHIBIT VANDALIZING, TAMPERING food and it would be sweet justice to have the BROWN SHIRTS PAY for the products they destroy.

Additionally ask the BROWN SHIRTS whether they will boycott Saudi products since 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers were from the Islamofascist Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

"Clearly they are never going to convince people t...

2009-06-17T00:37:58.134-04:00

"Clearly they are never going to convince people to give up their Multiple Sclerosis medication, their cell phone cameras or their internet firewalls."

Not only that, but even these heroic couscous warriors won't give up their own computers with Pentium chips, or their own cellphones (remember kiddies, proper boycotts start at home). And those in Northern California will have to go off the grid once the Israeli-designed solar plant in the Mojave Desert goes online.

Also, don't forget to pick up some of the Dorot frozen garlic, basil and cilantro cubes from Kibbutz Dorot which is near Sderot. They're much easier than chopping stuff up, and it supports the economy in that area. The folks in Gaza could have been doing this too, but they decided they'd rather export Qassams into Israel........

"ce more we have an example of what I’ve referred ...

2009-06-16T12:37:18.864-04:00

"ce more we have an example of what I’ve referred to in the past as “fantasy politics,” whereby people make political choices not because it will have an impact on the public or advance a particular cause, but in order to make themselves feel as though they are uniquely righteous or part of some kind of global vanguard."

This is absolutely their goal! Clearly they are never going to convince people to give up their Multiple Sclerosis medication, their cell phone cameras or their internet firewalls. They are going for symbolic victory but they aren't going to get it at Trader Joes either.

And the Trader Joes Pastures of Eden goat cheese is really good. Try it in a nice spinach salad- maybe with sliced hardboiled egg and kalamata olives

Mmmmm.