{"id":249705,"date":"2026-05-31T16:24:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T16:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/249705\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T16:24:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T16:24:18","slug":"understanding-the-park-slope-food-coop-israel-boycott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/249705\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Park Slope Food Coop Israel boycott"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, May 26, the supermarket Park Slope Food Coop\u2019s members decided to vote for the boycott of Israeli products<\/a> after a heated debate that turned confrontational.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In many ways, this vote cannot be separated from NY Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s decision to skip the Israel parade<\/a> on May 31.<\/p>\n

Park Slope is one of the most liberal neighborhoods in the entire country.<\/p>\n

Ninety-two percent of its citizens voted for Kamala Harris against Donald Trump, and it is also home to a major Jewish community.<\/p>\n

Symbolically, this boycott vote illustrates the new litmus test that Israel has become among progressives and what is at stake for the overwhelmingly liberal Jewish community in the United States, in a context of rising antisemitism, including and especially in New York City.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Mayor Zohran Mamdani delivers his 100 Days Address, a speech dedicated to outline the progress made on his core campaign promises since taking office, in Queens, New York City, US, April 12, 2026. (credit: REUTERS\/DAVID ‘DEE’ DELGADO)<\/p>\n

The mayor has received and honored Jewish leaders at Gracie Mansion<\/a> in celebration of Jewish Heritage Month. He has increased the budget for anti-hate crimes, has denounced \u00a0antisemitic acts unequivocally, and is most likely not antisemitic himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But whether Mamdani is antisemitic is actually irrelevant; what matters is whether his policies and actions help Jews feel safe, including those who express their Jewishness through identification with, and support for, Israel.<\/p>\n

Israel is a major source of Jewish pride and belonging today for the majority of American Jews, beyond the legitimate disagreements over Israeli policies, and it is actually no coincidence that the pro-Israel parade takes place at the very end of Jewish Heritage Month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mamdani\u2019s rhetoric and actions in relation to Israel tend to normalize anti-Zionism and isolate Jews who define themselves as Zionists.<\/p>\n

When the mayor calls for divestment from Israel but not from other countries, he signals that this is an appropriate and progressive course of action that can be emulated elsewhere, like in the Park Slope Coop.<\/p>\n

Anti-Zionism is not only becoming acceptable and even encouraged, but also a rite of passage, a litmus test to be accepted in the progressive tribe.<\/p>\n

From boycott to broader exclusion<\/p>\n

The problem with the logic at play in Park Slope Food Coop is that it can extend from boycotting products to boycotting individuals, making it harder for Israeli musicians to perform in New York or prompting calls to boycott a bakery during its staff\u2019s unionization efforts against their Jewish owners over \u201ctheir support for the genocide.\u201d
\u00a0
This symbolic violence can (and has already) become physical, against Israelis, supporters of Israel, or Zionists, and ultimately all Jews.
\u00a0
This is a very dangerous slippery slope that preceded Mamdani, but that the mayor vindicates and legitimizes, in the biggest Jewish city in the world, when he refuses to condemn slogans like \u201cGlobalize the intifada.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamdani could have made a brief appearance at the pro-Israel parade, said a few words \u2013 even critical of Israel\u2019s government \u2013 and left.<\/p>\n

Instead, he chose not to engage but to ignore Israel and render it invisible \u2013 or even non-existent \u2013 implying to his \u201cJewish brothers and sisters\u201d that Israel is not a legitimate or politically correct expression of their Jewishness.<\/p>\n

The boycott at Park Slope will not weaken Israel\u2019s economy, but it does single out a country that most Jews still identify with and love, despite their criticisms.<\/p>\n

It marks a desire to erase Israel\u2019s existence symbolically and, thereby, the possibility to define one\u2019s Jewish identity through the country, which is no longer \u201ckosher.\u201d<\/p>\n

In essence, the \u201cJewish heritage\u201d that is celebrated by progressives and New York\u2019s mayor does not include the Jewish state. It is at best tone-deaf, and at worst, a dangerous hypocrisy that puts Jewish life and lives at risk.<\/p>\n

Born and raised in France, the writer is the correspondent of French Jewish radio, Radio J, and of the French paper librejournal.fr in the US, where he has been living for 16 years. He is also a contributor to the European Review and the French paper Tenoua. He also holds US and Israeli citizenship. His opinions are his only.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Tuesday, May 26, the supermarket Park Slope Food Coop\u2019s members decided to vote for the boycott of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244873,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[16352,3862,17460,94731,9,24,55,54,56,82],"class_list":["post-249705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-american-jews","tag-antisemitism","tag-boycott","tag-israel-boycott","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}