Matthew Spurlock: Apartheid-free River Valley Co-op

I was heartened to see so many speaking up for an Apartheid Free River Valley Co-op by asking the co-op to stop selling Israeli-made products [“Pushing for an ‘apartheid-free’ store, Gazette, Aug. 23]. As prominent Israeli human rights group B’Tselem explained in 2021, “the entire area Israel controls between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is governed by a single regime working to advance and perpetuate the supremacy of one group over another.” B’Tselem concluded that this qualifies as “an apartheid regime.”

The recent parallel is the boycott that helped end apartheid rule in South Africa. Such boycotts have deep roots, from the United Farm Workers grape boycott to the abolitionist free produce movement. I was disappointed, then, to read the co-op’s general manager respond with a commitment to “preserving customer choice” to buy Israeli products. I recognize that the average supermarket’s guiding principle is unfettered choice. But the co-op’s mission is “different” because it seeks “a just marketplace that nourishes the community.”

These values privilege integrity over consumer choice. The co-op already exercises this discretion, making choice-limiting stocking decisions with a preference for environmentally and ethically produced goods. The manager also asserted that the co-op has never boycotted “products from a specific country before.”

The co-op was founded in 2008, 16 years after apartheid fell. One hopes that the co-op would have honored the boycott against South African goods during the apartheid years. As a member-owner, I believe that it’s time for the co-op to answer the call for justice now.

Matthew Spurlock

Northampton