Scottish Jews write in support of Coca-Cola Boycott
JVL Introduction
Staff at the Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) called for a boycott as one of the targets of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. The GFT agreed to stop stocking Coca-Cola products.
Now, inevitably, complaints have been made about the organisation, which is a charity, but this reports states that the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator has no plans to take the complaint, from UK Lawyers for Israel, forward.
In Scotland, as throughout the world, Jewish people who refuse to support Israel’s treatment of Palestinians have made it clear that they support the boycott. Israel and all who support it uncriticially need to stop claiming to speak for a mythical ” Jewish community” who all think the same and recognise that there are many and growing numbers of Jews who support justice for Palestinians.
The President of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council said the boycott “encourages an open space for breeding antisemitism… reminiscent of pre-Second World War Germany” and that if those supporting the boycott “mean to say we’re not welcome, they should say it”. This is classic, erroneous and dangerous conflation of Jews with Israel and criticism of Israel’s actions with antisemitism. Some years ago comedian Mark Thomas presented an excellent Dispatches documentary On Coca Cola showing many reasons to boycott Coca Cola, including that it had been a sponsor of the 1936 Olympics and continued to operate inside Nazi Germany until the US entry into the war.
LL
This article was originally published by Herald of Scotland on Thu 27 Mar 2025. Read the original here.
Scots Jews write to GFT in support of Coca-Cola boycott
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This is very encouraging. Here in Nottingham, we have the Broadway Independent Cinema. It would be wonderful if a similar stand was taken here. I am unable to organise anything like this due to the ill health of my husband but would support it, as I am sure the public here in Nottingham would.