{"id":483,"date":"2026-05-26T10:39:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:39:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:39:56","slug":"fight-over-park-slope-coop-israel-boycott-has-jewish-members-fearing-for-their-safety-all-over-5-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483","title":{"rendered":"Fight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety \u2014 all over 5 products"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The food fight over banning Israeli products from Brooklyn\u2019s lefty Park Slope Food Coop is getting rotten \u2014 and members are saying a few bad apples are ruining the bunch.<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | NY Dems running for House want fed funding for \u2018Drag Story Hour\u2019 as city, state spends $700K<\/a><\/p>\n

Longtime members have divided into factions \u2014 and Jewish shoppers say they have been subjected to threats of violence and intimidation for publicly opposing the push from anti-Israel activists.<\/p>\n

The vote was originally set to happen at a meeting at The Picnic House in Prospect Park on Tuesday, but it had to be moved to a Zoom-only vote after many of the coop\u2019s 15,000 members raised \u201cexplicit concerns about their safety,\u201d according to internal emails obtained by The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were nervous to go physically,\u201d coop board member Ramon Maislen told The Post.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are fairly violent,\u201d Maislen alleged of the anti-Israel members.<\/p>\n

Some coop members told Maislen they were worried that people who publicly opposed the boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) motion could be harassed when the meeting ends late Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The coordinators of the co-p, Ann Herpel and Matt Hoagland, admitted in an email to members that even with stepped up safety measures at the meeting, \u201cwe cannot guarantee their security.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vote is almost entirely symbolic \u2014 the coop carries only a handful of products from Israel, including matzo that\u2019s kosher for Passover, sold seasonally, and some hummus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even liberal rabbis are enraged<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Tuesday\u2019s vote \u2014 which has been on the table for over a year \u2014 is the culmination of an anti-Israel movement at the cooop that has been raging since 2012.<\/p>\n

It all got worse after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel and the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Maislen filed a complaint with the state Human Rights Division in 2024, alleging he and other Jewish members were harassed for opposing the campaign to boycott Israeli products.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, at last month\u2019s meeting, a coop member sparked outrage when he declared, \u201cJewish supremacism is a problem in this country,\u201d and compared Jews to Nazis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even liberal leaders in the Jewish community are horrified by the coop\u2019s boycott push.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Rachel Timoner, who has taken criticism in the Jewish community for publicly backing Mayor Mamdani, has become a vocal leader of the anti-boycott side \u2014 telling her congregants in a recent sermon that BDS \u201cis not a movement for Palestinian statehood, or for coexistence or for peace. It is part of a larger movement for the elimination of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many coop members told The Post that this has now become the most volatile and divisive issue in the organization\u2019s 53-year history.<\/p>\n

\u2018A scalp hanging from the belt\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Outside the Park Slope Food Coop Monday, pro-Palestinian activists chanted about genocide, apartheid, and Zionism while newly hired security guards stood nearby.<\/p>\n

\u201cVote yes to not be silent during genocide. Be on the right side of history at the coop,\u201d shouted one woman, who was wearing a shirt that said \u201cI\u2019m Jewish and I\u2019m against genocide.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But far from being welcomed, many frustrated shoppers told The Post that they were disgusted by the protesters.<\/p>\n

Noah Potter, 54, a lawyer and a coop member since 2012, said that if the board votes yes, it will be a \u201cscalp hanging from the belt\u201d of the BDS movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about putting the coop\u2019s brand on the BDS ideology.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn practice, when BDS comes into an organization, the modus operandi is to polarize and expel, purge and cause the organization to adopt a statement that is highly reductionist, and inflammatory, and assigns blame to the extent of incarnating evil,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Another shopper, a Prospect Heights local who\u2019s been a member since 1987, said she was horrified by the comments made about Jews \u2014 and is thinking about dropping her membership.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was disgusting,\u201d she said, adding that if the vote passes, she will do the bulk of her shopping at the Key Food on Flatbush Avenue.<\/p>\n

Read more This brilliant Knicks run starts with Jalen Brunson \u2014 but it goes so much deeper than that<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people are passionate about an issue, they sometimes don\u2019t realize the antisemitism that\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accusations of physical intimidation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One Jewish member affiliated with the anti-boycott group Coop 4 Unity said she saw one pro-boycott member physically intimidate someone who was posting flyers against the policy change.<\/p>\n

\u201cA member walked up to another guy who was flyering and got really physically aggressive,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe backed up to him closely and started yelling about genocide and apartheid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though coop staffers eventually intervened, it was just one of several examples of volatility happening at the grocery store that has increased every day in the last several weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole time I was out there flyering, my heart was racing,\u201d the 37-year-old woman said. \u201cI\u2019m a mom of two. I could think of one million other things I could be doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of the vote, the pro-boycott group Members for Palestine has sent aggressive marketing emails urging members to support the boycott while dismissing security concerns as intimidation tactics.<\/p>\n

The increasingly heated rhetoric has left some Jewish members saying they no longer feel comfortable attending meetings in person.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Post reached out to Members for Palestine for comment, but did not hear back Monday.<\/p>\n

Palestinian activists \u201cflooded\u201d a meeting<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In a recent formal complaint filed in the last few weeks and reviewed by The Post, one longtime member described experiencing severe anxiety after receiving emails from boycott organizers referring to \u201cZionists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to love the coop more than any other institution in my life (I am fast falling into a state of utter disgust with every part of it),\u201d the member wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost sleep. I had diarrhea. My stomach was in knots for the two weeks between the April 14 email and the April 29 meeting,\u201d she continued \u2014 referring to the heated debates over the boycott.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so nervous that I went to the Picnic House at 4:30 pm, to ensure I could get in, because I expected to be prevented from entering.\u201d<\/p>\n

The member described the atmosphere at the meeting as \u201cintimidating,\u201d alleging that pro-Palestinian activists \u201cflooded\u201d the venue, wearing keffiyehs and watermelon imagery associated with Palestinian solidarity protests, which caused many members to avoid the meeting altogether because they were intimidated.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Bruno Grandsard, who has been a member of the coop for 25 years, described the conflict as unprecedented.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been other periods like this in the past, but this is the worst it\u2019s ever been,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe majority of people just want all of this to go away. It\u2019s just very divisive, extremely divisive.\u201d<\/p>\n

For board member Maislen, the vote is especially concerning because of the probability that if the vote is successful, members will leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An informal survey estimated that nearly 1,000 current members would abandon the Brooklyn institution if the boycott were to go through.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy concern is that if coop members leave in disgust, it actually kind of harms us in a way, because if we have to have another vote, there\u2019s just fewer people that are on our side,\u201d Maislen said.<\/p>\n

Read more Vatican tech flop: Pope Leo\u2019s AI crusade needs Trump \u2014 not the UN<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jewish shoppers at Brooklyn’s famed Park Slope Coop say a vote to try and ban just five Israeli products from the shelves has left them fearing for their safety. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"\nFight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety \u2014 all over 5 products - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety \u2014 all over 5 products - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jewish shoppers at Brooklyn's famed Park Slope Coop say a vote to try and ban just five Israeli products from the shelves has left them fearing for their safety.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-26T10:39:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Fight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety \u2014 all over 5 products\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T10:39:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483\"},\"wordCount\":1222,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/cf0841c4f17fdd56af87f14f9308e8fe.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Lifestyle\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483\",\"name\":\"Fight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety \u2014 all over 5 products - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/cf0841c4f17fdd56af87f14f9308e8fe.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T10:39:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/cf0841c4f17fdd56af87f14f9308e8fe.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/cf0841c4f17fdd56af87f14f9308e8fe.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=483#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety \u2014 all over 5 products\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety \u2014 all over 5 products - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety \u2014 all over 5 products - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Jewish shoppers at Brooklyn's famed Park Slope Coop say a vote to try and ban just five Israeli products from the shelves has left them fearing for their safety.","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-05-26T10:39:56+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Fight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety \u2014 all over 5 products","datePublished":"2026-05-26T10:39:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483"},"wordCount":1222,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cf0841c4f17fdd56af87f14f9308e8fe.webp","articleSection":["Lifestyle"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483","name":"Fight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety \u2014 all over 5 products - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cf0841c4f17fdd56af87f14f9308e8fe.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-26T10:39:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cf0841c4f17fdd56af87f14f9308e8fe.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/cf0841c4f17fdd56af87f14f9308e8fe.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=483#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety \u2014 all over 5 products"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}