StandWithUs encourages people to buy Israeli products sold at stores to counter global boycott efforts by the BDS movement.
By JOSHUA HAMERMAN, JORDANA HORNStandWithUs group 311(photo credit: Michael Dickson)
StandWithUs declared Wednesday to be “Buy Israeli Products Day.”The Israel advocacy organization encouraged Israel’s supporters around the world to buy Israeli products sold at stores to counter the global boycott efforts by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement that same day.In the US, StandWithUs and the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce operate a website, www.buyisraelgoods.org, which allows consumers in the largest markets in the US to find which stores near them sell Israeli brands of food, apparel, jewelry and other products.“We need to show the boycotters that their efforts are doomed,” Roz Rothstein, cofounder and CEO of StandWithUs, said in a press release.“Let the boycotters know that when they call for boycotts of even one or two stores or products, they will face a much larger movement to buy Israeli goods.“We are telling people to go to their local stores, request the exact Israeli products being targeted, and buy them out. Let store managers know they should keep Israeli products well-stocked on the shelves.”StandWithUs and the AICC organized another Buy Israeli Products Day on November 30.Meanwhile, the Jewish National Fund declared Wednesday “Stop the Hatred Day,” imploring its supporters to take action through various avenues to thwart attempts to demonize Israel. The counterattack is aimed against the world-declared BDS Day against Israel.JNF’s statement to the press reads, “We will not hide inside our Blue Boxes or under our trees. We are proud of Israel and proud of our work. We will not stay silent. We will use this day of attack to make clear the stark comparison between them and us. Simply put: They Destroy, We Build.”Detractors of Israel, the press release states, destroy by promoting divestment; creating divisions between Israeli Jews, Beduin, Arabs and Druse with falsehood and innuendo; fomenting hatred with Israel Apartheid Week and by claiming legal disputes in Israel are tantamount to uprisings in the Arab world.
The JNF asked supporters to hang Israeli flags, wear blue and white, sign petitions to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, show support on Facebook and Twitter, contact members of Congress and urge them to support Israel and plant trees in Israel.
