French supermarket staff pressured to remove Israeli produce
A French-Jewish watchdog on antisemitism has called for a boycott of a supermarket where staff were seen removing Israeli produce at the request of a shopper who complained, citing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and violence in Gaza.
The Bureau for Vigilance Against Antisemitism (BNVCA) on Monday also said in a statement that it had complained to police about the incident, which was filmed last month at a branch of the Carrefour supermarket chain in the Parisian suburb of Chambourcy.
Selling dates from the brand Sun on Ramadan “is an affront to Muslim shoppers,” a man speaking rapidly in French tells the manager, citing “what they are doing in Gaza.”
The manager is seen removing the packages of dates from the shelf and putting them in a trolley, as the man who complained thanks him.
He is then seen telling a shopper about a different brand of dates: “These are good – they’re from Algeria.”
The Israeli dates were later returned to the shelves, a Carrefour spokesperson told Le Figaro in an article published Monday.
Carrefour “offers merchandise that adheres to strict neutrality on politics, philosophy and religion,” the spokesperson added.
CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish communities, told Le Figaro that the boycott actions “are mixed in with antisemitic acts. Through Israel, the Jews are targeted here.” CRIF has also filed police complaints against boycott actions such as the one documented last month in Chambourcy. Sammy Ghozlan, a leader of BNVCA, condemned in a statement what he called the actions of “Islamist police” in French supermarkets.
BNVCA said the act was “discriminatory.”
Promoting a boycott against a nation is illegal in France, where dozens of activists for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel have been convicted for inciting hatred or discrimination.
Notwithstanding, anti-Israel activists regularly raid French supermarkets carrying Israeli produce.
Recent incidents include a Grand Frais store in Décines near Lyon; an Intermarche store in the town of Itxassou in southwestern France; and a Lidl store in Drancy near Paris, according Le Figaro.
A spokesperson for Grand Frais told the newspaper that his chain is a “victim of these attacks that prevent us from doing our work.” (JTA)