Dear Ms Khoury-Haq (if sending to Co-op) or Dear Mr James Bailey (if sending to Waitrose)

I am writing to you with deep concern regarding your supermarket’s  practice of sourcing and profiting from products from Israel. 

This action directly aligns your supermarket brand with ethnic cleansing,  starvation and genocide in Gaza, human rights violations in the West  Bank, as well as the ongoing occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.  

Israeli settlements in these areas are considered to be illegal under the  Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the transfer of civilian  populations into occupied territory. The exploitation of natural  resources in occupied territories for commercial purposes is a violation  of international humanitarian law.  The United Nations and numerous international bodies have consistently  condemned settlements and agricultural practices on occupied land as violations of international law.

When you source and profit from produce grown on illegally occupied land, your supermarket is complicit in the ongoing occupation and dispossession of the Palestinian people and directly funds activity deemed illegal under international law. 

This raises significant concerns about your company’s values, commitment to  responsible sourcing and respect for human rights.  As the CEO, you bear  a personal responsibility for the ethical conduct of your business operations. By enabling the exploitation of occupied land, you directly  endorse and profit from a system of oppression and injustice.

This practice reflects poorly on your own ethics, as well as the ethics of  your Board of Directors.  It casts a dark shadow over your brand and the  values that it claims to uphold.  Are you comfortable that your brand  is being used to fund genocide? 

As consumers, we are increasingly aware of the worsening atrocities in Gaza and Rafah.  When we look back on this, we will remember who was  brave enough to take an ethical stance, and who was complicit in the  genocide.

I urge you to reconsider this unethical practice and to remove all  products from Israel from your shelves. Continuing to stock them is a  statement that your brand prioritises profit over human lives.

There  are many other shops in my local area where I can shop ethically, shops  that respect the principles of international law and human rights.  I  will be boycotting your supermarkets until you announce that you will  stop sourcing products from Israel.  

Should  you choose to stop sourcing and profiting from products from Israel, it  would not only reflect positively on your commitment to global ethical  standards but also strengthen the trust that people like myself place in  your brand.

I  trust you will give this critical matter your serious consideration. I  am available to discuss this further at your convenience.

Sincerely,

Your Name:

Your Address: