Dunnes shoppers demand Israeli boycott

Dunnes Stores has received a petition signed by over 6,000 people demanding that it cease stocking Israeli goods. By Eamonn Costello.

Around fifty protesters gathered with flags and banners at Dunnes Stores head office in Georges Street, Dublin at lunchtime yesterday to support the boycott.

The petition was organised by the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) following the attack by Israel on the 'Freedom Flotilla'. IPSC national chairperson, Freda Hughes said at the rally: "We are here today to support the call from consumers in Ireland for a boycott of Israeli produce, until Israel fully complies with international law, ends the siege of Gaza, ends the occupation of Palestine, and affords full and equal rights to Palestinian people."

She said that some regional branches of Dunnes Stores removed Israeli goods, but this was a temporary measure and stock soon reappeared. "We are hoping that by presenting this petition today to head office, we will be able to get a more definitive answer from Dunnes as to whether they will make this a policy or not,” Hughes said.

Also present was Brendan Archbold, the trade union official central to the 1980s Dunnes strike when workers refused to handle South African goods.

"The parallels between the old apartheid regime of South Africa and the state of Israel are quite striking. Just as South African forces shot and killed their own people in Sharpeville and Uitenhage, so too do the Israeli military adopt a shoot-to-kill policy whether it is in relation to the Palestinian people themselves or those peaceful supporters of the Palestinians aboard the international flotilla recently attacked by Israel," said Archbold.

Sinn Fein Deputy Aengus O' Snodaigh also attended the rally. 

“While I have always supported  Boycott Divestment and Sanctions projects against countries who have abused Human Rights, in the particular case of Israel, who have done so with such impunity, I think its time the world stood up and called a halt to these abuses,” he said.

This petition is the result of a two week nationwide campaign by IPSC. IPSC members gathered the signatures of over 4,000 Dunnes Stores shoppers at shops in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Derry, Limerick, Galway, Kilkenny, Newry, Wexford, Waterford, Bantry, New Ross, Enniscorthy, and Sligo.

Twenty five years ago, Dunnes found itself at the centre of a two year campaign of boycott and pickets, when it sacked a group of workers who refused to handle South African goods.

"Dunnes was on the wrong side of history, siding with the South African apartheid regime against its own workers," Freda Hughes said. "This is a chance for it to put itself on the right side of history."

Mandate, the union representing Dunnes workers, is not calling for stike action at this time, but it supports a “consumer boycott”.

“In this current economic crisis, we are not prepared to subject our members to the strain of strike action," said Dave Gibney, Comunications Officer for Mandate.

“The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is currently preparing to launch a campaign strategy aiming for a consumer boycott of Israeli goods in the Autumn and this is something Mandate will be fully endorsing. The situation the Palestinian people find themselves bears resemblance to that of the South African people during apartheid and consumers must do all they can in order to pressure political change on the occupying force in the region, Israel,” said John Douglas, Mandate General Secretary.

The petition is part of a coordinated international effort for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, which have seen actions take place in dozens of countries, including Israel and South Africa. Many South African organisations, and figures including Archbishop Desmond Tutu have endorsed the BDS campaign.

Israeli products for sale in Ireland are mainly food items, including the Jaffa and Carmel brands, and range from dates and avocados to strawberries, peppers and lemons.

Ireland has other trade links with Israel. Notable among these are Cement Roadstone Holdings, whose cement goes into the building of a seperation wall inside the West Bank, a project deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice. The Department of Defence has recently awarded Haifa-based Elbit Systems Ltd. a multi-million euro contract to supply the Irish Defense Forces with equipment to be mounted on a new fleet of armoured vehicles.

The Department of Defence is also currently considering a munitions contract with Israel Military Industries, famous for its Uzi submachine gun.