PSFC’s Mission Demands Protections for All
Dear Coop members:
Coop leaders—most notably the directors—can look to the city for direction on combating harmful rhetoric to ensure that all members feel welcome at the Coop regardless of their political viewpoints.
Diversity of thought is foundational to the Coop. In Sun Yu’s Book “Park Slope Food Coop 50 Years of Cooperation”, Yu validates this notion by describing historical disputes within the Coop, which reaffirms that differing views are part of our DNA.
On December 30, NYC’s Mayor’s Office to Combat Antisemitism (MOCA) released its 2025 report on antisemitism. Some Coop members over the last 18 months—including some of the directors—have promoted messaging that paints alleged dysfunction at the Coop as a byproduct of members that are perceived to be Zionist.
We should all have critical thoughts on societal challenges, but not at the expense of dehumanizing a specific group of people. The MOCA report indicates that specific antizionism rhetoric is detrimental to Jews. Specifically, “the practical consequence of anti-Zionist rhetoric is … the dehumanization of all Jewish people … when Zionism itself is characterized as racist or illegitimate, Jewish people become targets for hostility and violence.”
Dehumanizing language leads to violence: In Crown Heights, two Jews have been stabbed.
Jews have been murdered in:
Additionally there has been vandalism, arson, gun shots and car-rammings at synagogues and Jewish institutions in North America and Europe, including shuls within a stone’s throw of the Coop.
Coop Leadership needs to maximize safety within the Coop—including protection for all Jewish members regardless of their political viewpoints—as this duty is listed in our mission statement, which states “we strive to make the Coop welcoming and accessible to all and to respect the opinions, needs and concerns of every member.”
Sincerely,
Zack Zaban
The BDS-Bondi Connection
Dear Coop members:
Lethal narratives incite violence:
Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Charleston, South Carolina, June 17, 2015: Nine African Americans were murdered by a shooter radicalized by white supremacist, anti-Black rhetoric.
Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 27, 2018: Eleven Jews at prayer were murdered by a shooter radicalized by white nationalist, anti-Semitic, anti-immigration rhetoric.
Chanukah celebration, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, December 14, 2025: Fifteen Jews were murdered by two shooters radicalized by antizionist, anti-Semitic rhetoric.
Our Coop must never provide a platform for lethal narratives—rhetoric that casts entire groups as inherently evil, assigns collective guilt and normalizes exclusion and violence. Yet, here we are. The same dehumanizing antizionist discourse that animated the Bondi shooters has been incessantly repeated by the Coop’s BDS advocates in Gazette letters, pamphlets, Instagram posts and GM statements.
Their narrative relies on three core misrepresentations:
- Israel’s defensive war in Gaza, following the October 7, 2023 massacre of over 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 251, is labeled “genocide.”
- Israel’s security measures in response to terrorist attacks on its population are labeled “apartheid.”
- Land purchases in the birthplace of Jewish civilization, and the Jewish quest for dignity and self-determination, are labeled “settler-colonialism.”
These libels erase Palestinian responsibility and agency while portraying Israel as the sole aggressor. It ignores the long history of denied equality for Jews under Islamic rule as well as the opposition of Arab political leaders to Jewish equality and immigration.
Antizionism is implicated in countless attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide. The BDS proposal is an attempt to exploit our Coop to further amplify the antizionist lethal narrative. Our General Meeting exists to steward our $60M/year business. Our Coop should not be used to legitimize language that endangers any group of people, including Jews.
Sincerely,
Barbara Mazor