It's a fierce food fight.
According to a complaint filed with the state, the Park Slope food co-op has become a hotbed of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel hatred, with members spewing Nazi slogans against Jews and shouting “Blood of the Palestinians”. It smells,” he scoffs.
Real estate developer Ramon Mayzlen, 43, was harassed on October 7th after he and other Jewish members of a socialist-leaning grocery cooperative on Union Street were harassed for opposing the boycott of Israeli products movement. He said he had filed a complaint with the state human rights department.
At Zaku Zaku Co-op, founded in 1973, Approximately 16,000 members In addition to voting on store policies, they would work 2.75-hour shifts every six weeks in exchange for the privilege of purchasing deeply discounted groceries.
However, in the wake of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and the subsequent war in Gaza, several members began calling for products associated with the Jewish state, such as Sabra Hummus, to be removed from stores, and Spicy Brawls quickly permeated the campaign. In preparation for the co-op board election early this year.
In May, according to Mayslen's complaint, a member of the Jewish Co-op who was standing outside the store trying to inform passersby about the boycott effort encountered a shopper and called him a “Nazi.” It is said that he was
The unpleasant member began to leave, but then began yelling “Sieg Heil” at the 35-year-old man, according to the complaint.
“I've had anti-Semitic things happen to me, but to have that kind of brazenness in public and use that language… it really upset me,” the woman told the Post.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, lodged a complaint with the co-op's Dispute Resolution Committee, but received only a half-hearted apology from her attacker and has yet to return to the store to shop or work. He says there is no.
She said co-ops are “no longer a welcoming space for Israelis or Jews.”
Anti-Israel hostilities continued a week later, with Meizlen, who unsuccessfully ran for the board on an anti-boycott platform, being harassed by a member who passed out outside the co-op and telling the Zionists that I can't do it,” he yelled. Please have empathy,” the complaint states.
And in late June, Israeli-Jewish cooperative members who were discussing pro-boycott candidates during their shift heard Jews celebrating the rape and murder of a young Palestinian, among other incidents, according to the complaint. She said she was harassed by another woman who believed in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Members who lost their freedom complained that they could not stand next to Jewish women or work because they smelled of “Palestinian blood,” the complaint said.
Despite reporting their harrowing encounter to the Dispute Resolution Committee, neither Mr. Maislen nor his fellow members have been informed of the outcome of the investigation.
In an open letter, the pro-boycott movement, known as the Park Slope Food Co-op Members for Palestine, said in an open letter that their organization “does not support the apartheid government or commit genocide. '', he said.
“Our goal has always been just to have a conversation so other members can understand why their actions are harmful to us,” Meislen said.
A spokesperson for the state human rights office and the boycott movement declined to comment. The co-op did not respond to a request for comment.
