Its A BIG Deal! Nov 30. Buy Israeli Goods day a BIG Success!

We've seen some great photos from "Buy Israeli Goods" Day.



In NYC, people flocked to Ricky's to stock up on Ahava.

Others went to Target to buy the "Yes to Carrots" line, also made with Dead Sea Minerals



These young people opted for salty snacks from Israel.



And check out this haul from Trader Joes



So, uh, hows that boycott coming, anyway?

For Bay Area people, BDS is a hot topic.

A new Reut institute study claims: The BDS Movement Promotes Delegitimization of the State of Israel. Frankly, that's not exactly news. Last March I had written "Let's Talk about BDS" that made exactly the same point. But they go into great detail in a very valuable document. Here is the main part of the study. Extensive quotes make it impossible to claim that BDS is about "Peace" or "ending the occupation." It is about ending Zionism, about genocide of the Jewish people. The organizers say so, in their own words. Here is a sample:

In an article entitled 'Our South Africa Moment has Arrived,' Omar Barghouti writes that, "The conceptual origins of Israel's unique form of apartheid are found in Zionism, a racist European ideology that was adopted by the dominant stream of the Zionist movement in order to justify and recruit political support for its colonial project of establishing an exclusive Jewish state in historic Palestine." (Scottish PSC, 03/19/09).

Dr. Haider Eid, lecturer at Al Aqsa University in Gaza and activist for the one-state solution ,argues that, "With pressure imposed by the international community through a BDS campaign a la anti-Apartheid campaign which brought Apartheid South Africa to an end, we believe that Israel itself can be transformed into a secular democratic state after the return of 6 million Palestinian refugees who were ethnically cleansed in 1948, a state for ALL of its citizens…therefore, we think that one of the major tools of the struggle towards a secular democratic state is BDS."

Want more? See Let's talk some more about BDS and delegitimation of Israel

Israel Exports Surge 33%. Is the BDS movement responsible?

TEL AVIV, Feb 16 - Israel's economy grew at an annualised 4.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, its fastest pace in nearly two years and helped by a surge in exports...

Exports -- which account for nearly half of Israel's economic activity -- surged 33 percent in the fourth quarter while consumer spending rose 4.4 percent, according to the government's prior estimate of fourth-quarter data.

I can't help but wonder about the role the BDS movement has played in this. Did the BDS movement help fuel this growth by calling attention to the wide variety of Israeli consumer goods available in America?

Trader Joes Couscous was reported to "fly off the shelves" in some locations, as a direct result of the boycott publicity.

And in Toronto over 500 cases of Israeli wine were sold out in half an hour to the dismay of boycott organizer, who slunked away in embarrassment.

When we fight back, we win.
Support Democracy, buy Israeli.
And be sure to sign up for notifications of Buycott action here

A New Product to Boycott: Non-invasive lung cancer test developed in Israel.

Another medical marvel out of Israel- A non-invasive, inexpensive way to diagnose lung cancer:

"Using an array of sensors made of gold particles measuring just 5-nanometers wide (one nanometer is 1/100,000 the width of a human hair), researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed an "electronic nose" able to distinguish the breath of lung cancer patients from those without the disease. The research results, published online yesterday on the Website of Nature Nanotechnology, could lead to a rapid and non-invasive way of diagnosing and screening for lung cancer." In an initial trial, the “breathalyzer” test was able to detect lung cancer with 86 percent accuracy.

Also interesting about this project is that the research in Israel was led by Dr. Hossam Haick, an Arab Israeli and winner of many awards for his research, including the Chair for Leaders in Science and Technology (2006-2008), the Israel-France Award for Academic Excellence (2008), the Herschel Rich Innovation Award (2008), the Minerva Short-Term Research Award (2008), the Bergmann Award for Excellent Young Scientists (2007), the CREATE Award (2007), the Al-Qendil Prize (2007), and the YMCA (2007) and Rotary (2007) Honorary Decorations. In addition, Dr. Haick was selected for the lists of “50 Leading Israelis for 2007” and “four saluted Israeli scientists” of Yedioth Aharonot. Other honors and awards include the Fulbright fellowship, ‘Israel Ministry of Science and Technology' awards, Dr. Avrahami prize, and CNR-IMIP prize. Just what we'd expect from Israel, the apartheid state.

These findings have great potential for fast, easy, and cost-effective early diagnosis and screening of lung cancer. Be sure to look for this, and other fine Israeli innovations on the next Code Pink boycott list, because saving lives is never as important as advancing an ideology.

Just in Time for Tu B'Shevat: Buy Israeli Clementines at Costco!

The goofy "boycott Israel" folks are at it again. Code Pink, the goofiest of the lot recently took credit for Costco's decision to stop carrying their Christmas displays of Ahava skincare products from Israel. Code Pink didn't seem to think the fact that the holiday gift-giving season was over might have something to do with it. Instead, they credited their own ability to pester and annoy with this "victory"

Clearly the post-Christmas deshelving of Ahava products was no more a political statement than the post-Pesach deshelving of Holyland matzah. Because now, Costco is selling Israeli Clemantines, tiny sweet juicy seedless tangerines- great for lunchboxes or as healthy snacks.
And yes, the usual parties are going crazy....

The haters helpfully suggest we call 425-313-8100 and speak with Mark DeCosta in produce. Please do, and thank him for carrying Israeli produce.