We shop at Rainbow because we believe in what it stands for &ndash an independent worker-run coop which has refused to be beholden to corporate America and which came out of the movement of the &lsquo60s for good food, ecology, social justice and peace.

As members of the international community we are deeply moved by the plight of the Palestinians. Gaza is being called the largest concentration camp ever to exist, Palestinian children are being shot by the Israeli Defense Forces, people are starving and walled into ghettos by a 400-mile wall around them and by checkpoints and roadblocks. Israeli war crimes during the war against Lebanon shocked the world and brought international protest. We are calling for a boycott of Israeli goods as a way of voicing our objection to the U.S.-Israeli backed wars of aggression in the Middle East and around the globe.

As regular shoppers at Rainbow, we have been asking the store to reconsider its position in support of a boycott of Israeli goods and are getting stonewalled. Some of us have asked for a list of Israeli products and been treated rudely. Some of us have written letters stating our support for a boycott but we have gotten no response. Many significant organizations around the world support a boycott of Israeli goods, including Israeli Committee against Home Demolitions, Green Party of U.S., Congress of South African Trade Unions, the National Lawyers Guild, Canadian Union of Public Employees and more. Rainbow shoppers are asking for an open debate on this question. Why won&rsquot Rainbow respond?

We have heard that when Rainbow discussed a boycott in 2003, the opposition threatened to poison the bulk bins. Is this what Rainbow is afraid of? That those anti-boycott forces will commit acts of terrorism against them if they boycott? Among us are Jewish people, and we abhor such terror tactics reminiscent of the Zionist Irgun/Stern Gang in Israel, which used violence, blackmail and extortion to get its way.

What is Rainbow&rsquos commitment to the community? If such a threat occurred, why wasn&rsquot it made public? Keeping something like this quiet would protect rather than expose those who made such a threat to life even in this country. Your customers have a right to know about threats to our safety. You have a responsibility to tell us.

Is Rainbow&rsquos financial success from a small coop on Mission Street to a major Bay Area store affecting the decision to boycott, a fear that taking such an action might affect the store&rsquos profits? If not, then what are the reasons? Are opposing groups pressuring you privately?

These are timely questions which deserve to be answered given the urgency to stop the genocide against Palestinian people by the brutal Israeli government with its partner Bush.

The world stopped the apartheid government of South Africa by boycotts and other actions. It&rsquos time for all of us who support justice to oppose the Israeli government and join the international call for a boycott of Israeli goods. Which side will Rainbow be on?

Please contact Rainbow Grocery at (415) 863-0620, www.rainbowgrocery.org and RBIG at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with comments.

Signed by:

Dolores Helman, E.A. Ooms, Esperanza Derian, Gene Herman, George Williams, Janice Rothstein, Jean Pauline, Bob Ness, Charlie Hinton, David DeNeef, Kerry McCabe, Lou Gold, Maggie Leigh, Nell Myhand, Paul Larudee, Rose Marie Castro, Sonia Siegal, Tom Brown, Lori Nairne, Gwyn Kirk, Corey Weinstein, Jeanette Cool, Rebecca Katz, Cynthia M. Chang, L.AC, OMD, Emily Katz Kishawi, Michael Lyon, Catherine Powell, Eyad Kishawi, Synthia Green, Ari Lev Fornari, Zulma Oliveras, Ivan Olson, Aaron Shuman, Barbara Lubin, Alexei Folger, Arla S. Ertz, Shirley Yee, Joyce Umamoto, Millie Barnet, Ken Umamoto, Wayne G. Miller, Allegra Alessandri Pfeifer, Jess Ghannam, Richard Pitt, Mary Ratcliff, Willie Ratcliff, Jeffrey Blankfort, Mesha Monge-Irizarry, Donna Wallach, Dave Welsh

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