Jewish members of Brooklyn’s Park Slope Food Coop have filed a state human rights complaint alleging antisemitic and anti-Israel harassment there, mounting a bid for government intervention in the store’s ongoing fight over the Gaza war.
The anti-BDS coalition Coop4Unity filed the complaint and lists multiple allegations of antisemitic hate speech and harassment at the co-op, which is member-owned and operated. The members filed the complaint on Oct. 7, the first anniversary of Hamas’ attack, and say the instances it includes remain unaddressed.
“The complaint itself is essentially that there’s been several incidents that we believe have led to a toxic workplace environment,” Ramon Maislen, who filed the complaint, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“It is disheartening that despite numerous calls for action, Coop leadership has failed to protect its Jewish and Israeli members from ongoing harassment,” Maislen said in a statement. “No one should feel unsafe or marginalized in a place that claims to serve all people equally.”
The filing is the latest stage in a debate over the Israel-Hamas war that has split the co-op, which many members see as a community and which serves as a symbol of Brownstone Brooklyn’s progressivism.
An effort to boycott Israeli goods at the co-op has dominated its member meetings and newsletter pages and was at the center of a recent board election.
Jewish members who opposed the boycott say they now feel unwelcome and unsafe at the co-op owing to a hostile environment the complaint seeks to describe.
Multiple antisemetic incidents
Among the incidents it alleges, according to a statement from Coop4Unity, was one on May 16 in which an anonymous Jewish woman of Middle Eastern descent was handing out flyers outside the co-op when a “white, male-presenting Coop member verbally assaulted her, referring to her as a ‘Nazi’.”
The statement said he later used the term “Sieg heil,” the Nazi salute, “while standing menacingly behind her.”
According to the statement, “no disciplinary action was taken against the offending member, apart from a vague apology that failed to address the seriousness of the incident.”
The statement also alleges that Jewish members were told at various times that they “have no empathy,” “smell of Palestinian blood,” “support genocide,” and bear responsibility for Israel’s military actions. The statement says members of Park Slope Food Coop Members for Palestine, which supports a boycott of Israeli goods, are responsible for much of the harassment.
A Department of Human Rights representative said the department “could not confirm, deny, or comment” on potential or active complaints. Park Slope Food Coop and Park Slope Food Coop Members for Palestine did not respond to Jewish Telegraphic Agency requests for comment.
New York State human rights law prohibits discrimination in various areas, including employment and public accommodations. The state pledges to investigate complaints within 180 days. If a complaint is found to have probable cause, the case goes before an administrative law judge.
Coop4Unity’s statement did not outline any policy changes it would like to see at the end of the complaint process, but said it hopes the filing will “prompt meaningful action to address the harassment and ensure a safe and inclusive environment for all Coop members.”
Maislen said the essence of the complaint is that there have been “zero consequences” for those in the co-op’s pro-BDS faction who have harassed Jewish members. He added that the issue isn’t even on the radar of most of the co-op’s members.
“Most people don’t know what’s even happening,” Maislen said. “[For] most people, it’s a f—ing grocery store, and they don’t want to deal with the politics.”