A Democratic Vote
To My Fellow Members:
In the heated controversy over the boycott of Israeli goods at the Coop, the proposal for hybrid (in person and online attendance and voting) has been linked to the boycott of Israeli goods.
I’m concerned that members might be voting soon on whether or not to have hybrid voting as a sort of “proxy vote” on whether or not to boycott Israeli goods. The “Coordinators Corner” in this paper has been instrumental in creating confusion and the GCs have used their power to influence the membership on both issues and now on the Board of Directors election coming up as well. They have recommended that members vote only for those Board nominees who are unaffiliated with either group (pro- or anti-boycott).
I have been a vocal supporter of an Israeli boycott since 2009 and, yes, I have a dog in this fight. Yes, the organized efforts of PSFC Members for Palestine have pushed our Board to issue a referendum on hybrid voting SO THAT WE CAN ALL HAVE A VOICE. ON EVERY ISSUE PROPOSED. Yes, this isn’t “the way we’ve always done it,” but those of us who are aware of the struggle to secure a fully democratic vote on hybrid voting know that a referendum that allows each and every member to vote and be heard is the only democratic solution to the crisis of governance facing us.
Lifelong activists know the truth: Democracy is always worth the struggle.
Sincerely,
Carol Wald
My Few Cents on BDS Israel/Palestine
Dear Coop members:
I am sick of the binary one side-ism as displayed in our Coop community.
If a boycott could actually target the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza or actually alleviate Palestinian suffering, I’d support it (it will not.)
I do not support affiliating with the BDS movement which BOYCOTTED the film “No Other Land” (doesn’t that tell you something?).
I am very angry about Israel’s right-wing government and its murderous thuggery, its starvation of Gazans, its vilifying and abuse of Israelis who are seeking to end the war and bring the remaining hostages home.
I have family in Israel, and I have lived there. It is a complicated situation and reducing it to a “settler colonialist project” lacks nuance and historical understanding.
Asking an elected official to launch an investigation into the Coop does not help the Coop or Jews.
There are Israeli Jews, Israeli Palestinians and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza who are working together for peace. It would be nice to amplify those voices.
Palestinians in Gaza are protesting against Hamas. It would be nice to amplify those voices.
I am very angry at those who deny or justify as resistance, the murder, rape and kidnapping of Israelis on October 7.
Sabra Hummus is overrated.
We Can Do Better.
In Cooperation,
Lisa Badner
Let’s Keep Discussing and Deciding Together
To the Editor:
Where were you on February 15, 2003? On that day 14 million people worldwide protested the United States’ imminent invasion of Iraq. The world said no to war and the United States proceeded to invade Iraq against our will, converting our collective resources into mass death. Today our government and ruling classes once again ignore the will of the people by funding the Gaza genocide, and it’s shocking to see this blatant disregard for what the people actually want replicated here at our humble Food Coop, replete with irresponsible and misleading speech from Coop leadership.
Consider: Coop members want the ability to make decisions for ourselves about the Coop’s commitments and actions in the face of anything, including any moral crisis, because without the power to make our decisions in a truly cooperative and collective way, the Park Slope Food Coop is just a glorified buyer’s club. It is an error to fail to reject oppression everywhere we have the power to do so, whether in the grocery aisle or Congress or on a flotilla delivering humanitarian aid! Are we so cynical and brainwashed that we don’t want the power to decide whether and how we want to decide—on anything?
I’m not—and that’s why I voted for hybrid voting and Dan Kaminsky and Taylor Pate for Coop Board. Dear Coop comrade, I hope you continue to weigh in however you see fit!
Sincerely,
Kerry Carnahan
Cooperative Principles
Dear Coop Members:
I just opened my email to get another anti-BDS missive from PSFC leadership. This time it’s Joe Holtz telling me that it’s a violation of cooperative principles to bring the BDS conversation to the Coop because of the controversy it causes. Missing is any reference to the incredibly disruptive and threatening behavior by members who oppose a boycott of Israeli products. BDS activists aren’t doing everything in their power to prevent a democratic vote on an issue of obvious importance to members, even if Holtz thinks it’s a waste of time. I am tired of Coop leadership that continually puts a thumb on the scale in these deliberations, exploiting access to the full member list and using dedicated space in the Linewaiters’ Gazette to skew the discussion. That’s the violation of cooperative principles here, and a shameful misuse of power.
Sincerely,
Emily Drabinski
The Paid Staff Formula
Dear Coop Members:
The Coop is not a success because we get to vote at General Meetings.
Same thing for GM “discussion items.” These conversations ARE NOT in-depth thinking sessions. They are casual opportunities for sharing opinions and ideas. Just like a letter or article in the Gazette.
When decision votes are placed on the agenda, members have a chance to approve or disapprove of ideas and plans that others HAVE thought through—individuals, ad hoc groups, official committees and the paid staff.
Careful, thorough thinking can only happen with these other entities.
I think the paid staff formula is our secret sauce. Members are supercharged to think about the Coop every day, not just once a month. They take love and concern to another level. If you really want to make a difference, find one of these people and talk to them one on one. I’ve done this many times during my 46 years here.
What is the great achievement of the Coop?
Has our not-for-profit system moved our society and world away from capitalism? Absolutely not! Has our example of cooperation ended killing and war? Emphatically no!
The Food Coop is a triumph because a group of people volunteer their time and energy to own, run and shop at a high-quality, low-priced food store.
We have led the way in the natural food movement. Look at the many stores of all sizes and shapes that now stock the kind of items the Coop had been selling from day one.
We’re not going to change the world by fighting about causes members are peeved about. Ones inside the building or out in the world. Doing this is not a great example for anyone.
Sincerely,
Andy Feldman
Are we still a Coop?
To the Editor:
I’m writing as a Coop member for nearly 30 years and a member of the Agenda Committee—now retired—for 7 1/2 years.
Does the Food Coop we all thought we belong to—a community of people who work together and make decisions collectively—still exist?
At the April GM, three people met in secret and, effectively declaring themselves the sole decision-makers of the Coop, “voted” to hold a referendum. They “voted” on an item that was not on that month’s GM agenda and had never, in fact, been on a GM agenda for formal discussion and advice by the PSFC membership.
These three members of the Board of Directors—Tim Hospodar, Tess Brown Lavoie and Keyian Vafai—not only violated nearly a half-century of Coop bylaws and tradition. They also violated the assumption on which they were elected to the Board: the assumption that Board members would always vote according to the advice of the membership at that GM and not substitute their own opinions.
If we let these three get away with this behavior, we will no longer have a Coop. The PSFC will simply be another corporation run by a clique that’s answerable only to itself, not to the community.
I urge everyone to take two steps:
1. Sign petitions to recall Tim Hospodar, Tess Brown Lavoie and Keyian Vafai.
2. Vote NO on the referendum—even if you agree with the topic of the referendum (hybrid meetings). Voting yes is a vote for dictatorship, not for hybrid meetings. The hybrid proposal can be properly put on a future GM agenda.
In GENUINE cooperation,
Fran Hawthorne
A Board Candidate’s Reply to the Coordinators’ Corner
Greetings:
My name is Dan Kaminsky, and I’m running for Coop Board. I am one of two candidates endorsed by PSFC Members for Palestine. In last month’s Coordinators’ Corner and Joe’s recent email, it was suggested that I haven’t been transparent about my views on BDS. Since I have written prior Linewaiters’ Gazette articles and made statements during General Meetings, this accusation was surprising to me. To reiterate my stance, I believe the Coop should boycott Israeli products. With two million people in Gaza on the brink of starvation (among other horrors), it is my view that a Coop committed to food justice should take action.
Those views notwithstanding, the role of a board member is to uphold the will of the membership, regardless of personal opinions. I am fully capable of placing democratically agreed-upon decisions ahead of my views when they are in conflict.
I hold democratic processes as a sacred value. What has been alarming to me is not the range of views on the Coop’s role in this international crisis—that is to be expected—but rather the inability of the democratic process itself to unfold. As a board candidate, my priority is to ensure the democratic functioning of our cooperative. On facilitating democratic processes, I am well-equipped. Much of my career has been explicitly focused on democracy, cooperatives and voter participation. In addition, I am a social worker, therapist and trained mediator—skill sets that are particularly valuable during a volatile time.
The Coordinators’ Corner seemed rooted in fear for the Coop’s future. I share that underlying fear, but coupled with it I hold critical optimism. We can emerge more democratic, more equitable, more cooperative and more justice-oriented than ever before.
Sincerely,
Dan Kaminsky
Upholding Member Discussion and Voting
Dear Gazette Readers:
I have been a member of the Park Slope Food Coop since 1973. I love being a Coop member for the availability of healthy food at affordable prices, our diverse members, and the democratic and social justice principles we uphold. I am responding to Joe Holtz’s June 4 email, where he states: “PSFC Members for Palestine, and the Board members they support, have a clear strategy: first, to pass hybrid meetings; then, to lower the boycott threshold from 75% to just 51%,” and then advises members to vote no for two Board candidates because they are endorsed by PSFC Members for Palestine.
On the first point, Joe is conflating passing hybrid meetings with the other steps he opposes. I strongly object to this and am disappointed that Joe doesn’t use his communication to advocate for voting yes on hybrid meetings. Hybrid meetings are a key way to promote our mission, which states, “We are committed to diversity and equality. We oppose discrimination in any form.” Many Coop members cannot attend general meetings in person for reasons including disability, illness and childcare. Only having meetings in person discriminates against these members, and undermines diversity, equality, and democracy at the Coop.
On the second point, I object to Joe’s one-dimensional portrayal of two Board candidates, and using this reason to recommend we vote no on these individuals. Besides any endorsements a Board candidate receives, we should look at each person’s qualifications and what they bring to the Coop, including their written statements and presentations, and not smear them.
I do believe the boycott threshold should be at least 67% to reflect a minimum of two-thirds support. What is most important is that we uphold rather than undermine facilitating member discussion and voting. That is how we “make the Coop welcoming and accessible to all.”
Sincerely,
Deborah Kaplan
Is the Coop Safe for Muslims? Does the Coop Care?
Dear Coop Members:
I was reading about Trump’s new “Muslim Ban” when my sister asked me if I had seen Joe Holtz’s email. One of the most sacred days of the Islamic year had just begun: the Day of Arafah, which we Muslims mark by fasting, praying and seeking forgiveness. (I am praying for forgiveness that I cannot do more for the starving babies of Gaza.) Tomorrow will be Eid, the fourth since the genocide began.
There are people who want us dead. Or, at best, gone. It has always been true of this country, even of this supposedly liberal city, my lifelong home. When I joined the Coop 11 years ago, I didn’t imagine that it would be true here as well.
I have been quiet at the Coop for 20 months now. Despite threats of doxxing, hateful comments in the freezer aisle, vitriol in this very paper, a thousand micro- and macro-aggressions. I don’t know how much longer I can participate in the psychological exercise of buying my groceries in a place that is not just indifferent to me and “my kind” but openly hostile to us.
With Joe Holtz’s last, deeply disturbing tirade, it is clearer than ever that the Coop is willing to throw away its democratic principles in order to support a genocide.
What more do any of us need to see that the Coop is not a safe place for Muslims or Arabs? Palestinians are being slaughtered and starved with our taxes, and it seems those with power are concerned with whether their deaths are disturbing our dinners (they should). I am tired of being a quiet, “well-behaved” Muslim lest I be seen as a threat. I did not sign up for hatred, but I did sign up for the Coop. Maybe it’s time I left.
Sincerely,
Saadia Khalid
Endangering Our Coop
To the Editor:
A Jewish couple is shot to death on the streets of Washington, D.C. to the cry of “Free Palestine!”
At least ten Jews at a vigil for Hamas’s hostages are set aflame on the streets of Colorado to the slogan of “Free Palestine!”
Jewish businesses are vandalized to the chants of “Free Palestine!”
When I joined the Coop 15 years ago, I assumed I’d be in the company of a thoughtful, respectful community. I didn’t expect to find PSFC members following the madding crowd, blindly cheering on a culture of death, jihadism and misogyny. I never imagined they’d be waving the flag of an ideology that calls for violence against Western liberal values, the annihilation of Israel and Jews everywhere.
The BDS campaign is the pet project of M4P. It is evil. BDS advances the most primitive, vilest hatred.
No one waving this flag, no one marching to the beat of Free Palestine can plead ignorance to the fact that it is a cause driven by sheer hate. It recalls another era not that long ago, when “civilized” people normalized violence against Jews. Today the perpetrators attacking Jews make it abundantly clear to us so that we don’t need to scratch our heads: They are motivated and incited to violence by the values championed by BDS.
The Coop is being twisted out of shape by this nefarious campaign. Should it succeed, we will see the tragic undoing of the PSFC.
It is up to us to put an end to this dangerous powder keg now.
Sincerely,
Baila Olidort
The Moral Litmus Test of Our Time
Greetings:
I’ve been a member of the Coop since 1999 and share our members’ love of PSFC. I’m also Jewish, raised and educated in Zionism. I lived in Israel for three years in the 1980s. I’m writing to support our Coop’s adoption of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights, as called for by Palestinian civil society since 2005.
We are horrified by the violence being visited upon Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as well as within the 1949 armistice line that delineated Israel’s borders. And horrified by the violence visited upon Israeli people, in particular on October 7, 2023. In Israel and in the United States, there is an assumption that no act of Israeli violence justifies any Palestinian violence, while any act of Palestinian violence justifies unlimited Israeli violence. As members of this Coop, let’s reject this grisly calculus, and let’s reject violence. BDS is a nonviolent international response to the ongoing catastrophe being visited upon the Palestinian people.
We have all seen the images of starving people in the Gaza Strip, while people in Israel, sometimes mere meters from the fence that keeps Gazans imprisoned, eat and drink their fill. As a cooperative dedicated to making food available to our community, how can we look away?
I paid attention in Hebrew school (and went on to teach in Jewish schools). I know that Israel’s actions, before and after October 7, 2023, are in breathtaking contravention to the principles of our faith. I support BDS because I am Jewish, and I urge our membership to embrace BDS as a righteous and nonviolent response to what Angela Davis, quoting June Jordan, has described as the moral litmus test of our time.
Sincerely,
H. Steven Quester
In Response to the General Meeting
Hello,
Before going to the GM, I read the news. An Israeli strike had killed dozens sheltering in a Gaza school. When I reached the picnic house, a woman waved an Israeli flag. I wondered how Palestinian Coop members felt having to enter the meeting walking past that flag. This blatant, tone-deaf gesture set the tone for the GM. The grandstanding claims that advocating for hybrid meetings is akin to Trump’s totalitarianism were outrageous. The Trump administration has deported students who have advocated for Palestine.
A low point for me was when a woman scolded “young people” for “disrespect.” The Coop was started by people who were at one point young, and I wouldn’t describe anyone as young who was disrespectful at the meeting. I’m an educator, have spent many years working with young people, mostly sixth graders, and I know not to conflate dissent with disrespect. Young people have been the vanguards of positive change. The characterization seems only to belittle the efforts of some members. Besides, MLK was 25 when he led the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 39 when he was assassinated. Greta Thunberg is 22. In contrast, Trump is 78 years old, Netanyahu is 75, and Putin is 72.
I was talking to another member after the meeting, about farms, when an older woman pointed at us and interrupted, “Were you listening? I hope you were listening to the woman who spoke about respecting older people. You need to be listening.” This was rude and presumptuous. When I tried to engage her in conversation, she walked away as I was speaking.
Many members need to reflect on their entitlement and privilege and their biases against initiatives led by younger and non-white members of this “Cooperative.” People are dying while we engage in navel-gazing shouting matches at GMs.
In solidarity,
Tess Raser
Appreciation for the General Coordinators
Dear PSFC Community,
My family joined the Coop in 2010, and since then our gratitude for being part of such a special community has steadily increased. As we all know, the Coop is more than our primary food source, nourishing our children from infancy to adolescence. Longtime shift-mates have become dear friends, and we’ve had more fascinating one-off encounters with fellow members than we can count. So many different passions, perspectives and areas of expertise to encounter while shopping, working shifts, attending GM’s or reading the Gazette.
But none of this splendor would be available without stability. And the Coop’s stability is heavily reliant on our wonderful, hardworking General Coordinators. I hope they know how appreciated their efforts are. I hope appreciation for how well they serve the Coop outweighs the complaints they receive for having the temerity to prioritize store operation over geopolitical grievance.
I hope a critical mass of members understand that shuffling that priority would come at stability’s expense.
Sincerely,
Brian Shuman
Food Processing
Communicating to the Membership
Fellow Coop Members.
As a long-time (1994) member, I am troubled by the Coop’s decision to forward a copy of Joe Holtz’s letter to what I can only assume is the entire membership. I hope they will do the same for a response from the two people he specifically called for members to vote against. His points are good and well-intended, I am sure, but it is not in the spirit of the Coop as he describes it to only disseminate one man’s opinion to every member of the coop, elevating it via direct access to every member. Yes, their platforms are available on the website, but a direct attack on their positions to the entire membership without giving them equal space and access is really not fair.
Sincerely,
Joshua Starbuck
Apologies in the Express Checkout
Dear Coop Members:
I would like to take this space to apologize to the woman who was checking me out in the express line on Saturday, May 24, at around 2 p.m.
I was short, curt and angry because I was in self-inflicted pain due to a sprain of my right big toe (bunion?). I could safely ride a bike for eight-plus miles (!!!), but basic/simple walking was wretched and painful. And I sadly took it partially out on you.
I apologized and explained my situation at the checkout itself immediately when this happened, but I feel a public apology in the Linewaiter’s Gazette is needed as well.
I am on the mend, shouldn’t have shopped while injured. Learned my lesson.
May peace and respect be with you.
Best,
Jack Szwergold
Politicians Have Overturned our General Meeting
To the Members:
We are all being used.
Our Food Coop has been taken over by politicians that are using populist ideas to gain control of the board of directors. They have successfully manipulated member idealism and the annual openings on the member-elected board to take over the reins of the General Meeting.
The Park Slope Food Coop is not a political organization. We are a diverse group of members that organize and work together to provide high-quality food for ourselves.
Many of us are politically active as well as being members of our Coop. Some of us have altruistic goals regarding people’s rights and environmentalism. Well, over the past couple of years, a group of well-organized political operatives have used these common character traits to pit members against one another and the General Coordinators and take over the General Meeting.
Even if you agree with their stated aims, it’s not a good thing that they have infiltrated our organization. By gaining control of the board of directors, they mean to achieve their aims by using the General Meeting as a cover for forcing staff and other members to bend to their will.
These people do not have the Coop’s interests at heart; they are only interested in controlling the organization politically and will end up destroying it.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Tobier
Disgusting, Anti-Democratic Move by Outgoing GM
Dear Gazette,
I am writing to request that you all cover this gross abuse of power on the front page of our newspaper.
That Joe Holtz would abuse the immense power of having access to an all-members email blast in order to attempt to influence 17,000 members to vote according to his own values, all under the thin guise of supposedly promoting democracy, is a total violation of our beautiful institution.
He did not urge us to vote, he urged us to vote NO. He did not encourage us to participate in the democratic process, he encouraged us to vote against the candidates that he doesn’t like.
It is not as if PSFC Members for Palestine have the power to do the same.
This is a disgusting abuse of power, and an attempt to rob our institution from doing what little is in our power to take even a meager moral stand on the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing processes in Gaza. We deserve the right to be able to do so, and we are taking the necessary steps to do so in a way that aligns with the democratic process.
I am outraged. I am disgusted. I am deeply disappointed. This is the type of thing people get fired for. The man ought to be publicly censured for taking such an anti-democratic stance. No hero’s salute for Joe Holtz. If he did any good work for this community, that gets undone here, at least in my mind.
Sincerely,
Mike Tumbarello