J. Sainsbury plc (Sainsbury’s) is coming under pressure from campaigners to stop using suppliers to that benefit from illegal occupation. Palestine Solidarity Campaign is working with the Sainbury’s Campaign and others to organise a day of action on Saturday 1st March.
Campaigners have organised events outside Sainsbury’s up and down the country, with over 30 events organised in total.
Over 2,000 campaigners have already emailed Sainsbury’s calling on them to stop using suppliers that profit from occupation.
Sarah Colborne, Director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign said:
“We are urging Sainsbury’s to end all trade with companies operating in and exporting produce from illegal Israeli settlements.
Recently we’ve heard apologists for Israel’s human rights abuses claim that action should not be taken because settlements provide jobs for Palestinian workers. The same argument was used to defend Apartheid South Africa. These arguments are totally flawed:
The reason Palestinians find it hard to find work is because of the paralysing impact of the Wall, the checkpoints and the settlements on the Palestinian economy. Settlements, and the overarching Israeli occupation, are the problem. Indeed the World Bank has calculated that if Palestinians had unrestricted access to their land it would add as much as 35% to the Palestinian GDP[2].
We are asking UK businesses to stop working with companies profiting from occupation, and cut the financial support we give to Israel’s illegal settlement operations.”
