Jerusalem Rabbis Call for Boycott of Products Bearing Zionist Flag
The Eidah Chareidis, the independent anti-Zionist rabbinate of Jerusalem, has announced a boycott of certain food products that are displaying an Israeli flag on their package as large firms display the national symbol ahead of the State of Israels 60th anniversary.
These items include the Osem Bomba snack food, as well as many other items bearing the Eidah Chareidis kosher supervision. Wall notices, posted on Friday, call on religious consumers to boycott the items, adding that "companies cannot enjoy the seal of kosher supervision and then push their Zionist agenda in the faces of consumers opposing the Zionist idol worship".
The notices call on religious Jewish families who hold the religious way of life dear to them and their children to refrain from bringing products displaying the Israeli flag into their homes.
We salute this action by the Eidah, and we only wish these boycotts were undertaken more often and in more places. Here in New York, many business display Zionist flags and symbols (e.g. pictures of soldiers, pictures of Zionist parades) because the owners are Zionists and they think that the flags will get them more business. It would have a great effect if even a small number of customers told them that they were offended by these symbols and were shopping elsewhere.
Some think that boycotts are silly and petty. But they are a powerful tool of communication, and unlike other media tools, they can show the strength in numbers of Jews in the anti-Zionist movement. One cannot call the Zionists down to the synagogue to hear an anti-Zionist speech, but they will hear the message of a boycott loud and clear.
Aside from the importance of sending a message, a Torah-true Jew should be genuinely repulsed by the sight of a Zionist symbol, which represents rebellion against G-d and His Torah. Most people would not want to buy a product bearing a swastika on the package. A Torah Jew should feel an equal or greater desire to distance himself from a symbol that represents the spiritual destruction of Judaism and the desecration of G-d's name in the world.