A small, two-store concern in Washington State, displaying an arguably shallow and anti-Semitic view of the complexities of the Middle East, has decided to boycott Israel until it agrees in effect to cease being a Jewish state.

This would be one of the results should Israel give in to the boycott demands, one of which is to “promote the rights” of hundreds of thousands of Arabs to return to Israel.

The Olympia Food Co-op announced its boycott of Israel last week. The company has two health food stores in Olympia, Washington - about an hour’s driving time from Seattle, hometown of the late anti-Israel activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed while protesting in Gaza against Israel’s demolition of tunnels used to smuggle weapons for Palestinian terrorists.

The co-op announced last week that its boycott of Israel was designed to “compel Israel to follow international law and respect Palestinian human rights.” This vague demand was spelled out more specifically towards the bottom of the official boycott declaration. In answer to the question, “When will the boycott end?” Olympia answered:

“When Israel ends its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantles the Wall; [when] Israel recognizes the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; [and when] Israel respects, protects and promotes the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.”

Thus, after nearly 20 years of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Olympia – whose mission statement includes the goal of working for “social justice” – has determined that the only “socially just” solution is for Israel to accept the entirety of the PA position and to withdraw from 100% of Judea and Samaria. Israel must also, according to the Olympians, dismantle the partition wall that Israel says has prevented dozens of Palestinian terrorist attacks and saved possibly hundreds of Jewish lives.

In addition, Olympia has resolved that Israel has not yet recognized the fundamental rights of Israeli-Arabs. In fact, however, Israel did so on the very day of its founding, and continues to do so today. Arabs have always served in the Knesset, and benefit from the same rights as Jews, Christians and other Israeli citizens. The United States, by way of comparison, granted blacks the formal right to vote nearly a century after it was founded – and it took nearly another century for unequal application of voter registration requirements to be outlawed. The first black Congressman was elected only in 1870.

Finally, Olympia has determined that its own interpretation of controversial UN Resolution 194 is the correct one. In fact, however, Israel and others have long maintained that the resolution only calls for the repatriation “at the earliest practicable date” of those refugees who “wish to live in peace with their neighbors.” 

In addition, it is a matter of consensus in otherwise-polarized Israel that even limited implementation of such a clause would render Israel a non-Jewish state – so that those who support the 'right of return' are arguably taking a non-Jewish, non Zionist and even anti-Semitic stance.