Press Release: National Jewish Advocacy Center Demands Park Slope Food Coop Rescind Boycott of Israeli Products, Warns of Litigation
- 21 hours ago
- 2 min read
NEW YORK — The National Jewish Advocacy Center (NJAC) today sent a cease-and-desist and document-preservation letter to the Park Slope Food Coop (PSFC) on behalf of PSFC members and both an importer and a reseller of Israeli-made food products, demanding that the Brooklyn cooperative immediately rescind a boycott of Israeli products and end what NJAC describes as a hostile environment directed at Jewish and Israeli member-owners. NJAC contends that PSFC’s Board “has allowed activists to dominate the Coop, usurping its business” and “weaponizing the Coop into an engine for illegal discrimination.”
NJAC’s letter argues that the boycott adopted by the Coop’s Board on May 26, 2026 violates New York's anti-boycott law (N.Y. Exec. Law § 296(13)), which prohibits boycotts based on religion, race, ethnicity, or national origin, and the federal Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, which prohibits racial discrimination in contracting. NJAC further contends that the boycott and the campaign surrounding it have created a hostile environment in violation of New York State and New York City anti-discrimination laws governing employment, public accommodations, and retailers.
“A boycott against the world's only Jewish state — home to more than half of the world’s Jews — is antisemitic and unlawful,” the letter states, adding that the rhetoric advanced in support of the boycott, both at Coop premises and on social media, reflects antisemitic animus.
NJAC also alleges that the PSFC Board breached its fiduciary duties of loyalty, care, and good faith under New York Cooperative Corporations Law by enabling a vote outside the scope of the Coop's Amended Bylaws, authorizing remote voting without adopted guidelines, allowing an activist faction to dominate meeting procedures, and effectively handing decisions about which products to boycott to outside organizations aligned with the BDS movement.
NJAC is demanding that PSFC invalidate the boycott, return removed Israeli products to its shelves, and end harassment of Jewish and Zionist members by June 3, 2026. Absent compliance, NJAC is prepared to commence litigation.
The letter also includes a formal document-preservation demand directed at PSFC and individually identified custodians, covering communications, meeting records, vote records, and related materials.
Alan Scheiner, Senior Litigation Counsel at NJAC, said that “It’s important that people understand that boycotts of Jewish and Israeli business are just as illegal as any other discriminatory boycott harming a racial, ethnic, religious, or national group. There is no Jewish exception to the civil rights laws.”
The letter was signed by Mark Goldfeder, CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, and Alan H. Scheiner, Senior Litigation Counsel.
The National Jewish Advocacy Center is a nonprofit organization that harnesses the power of the legal system to advocate for and protect Jewish civil rights using creative, innovative strategies.
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