Princetonians Call For Sabra Hummus Boycott

A student campaign at Princeton is calling for a boycott of Sabra hummus because the company that manufactures it provides Israel soldiers with care packages, the Daily Princetonian reports.

The Princeton Committee on Palestine has created a referendum that asks the school's dining services to sell an alternative hummus to Sabra on campus. Committee President Yoel Bitran wrote that his group "objects to the fact that Sabra is the only hummus brand that is offered in most university stores and that students who wish to eat this traditional Arab food are forced to buy a product that is connected to human rights abuses against Arab civilians." The referendum will be voted on by the student body next week.

Bitran created a Facebook event called "Boycott Sabra Hummus" that ran from Nov. 14 to Nov. 18. In response, pro-Israel campus group Tigers for Israel created an event titled "Save the Hummus! -- Vote Against the Sabra Hummus Boycott." So far, virtual support for the latter overwhelmingly outweighs the former.

Several students told the Princetonian that they were "confused" by the referendum. And as IvyGate opined, "It's HUMMUS, people ... If you're really that bored, go picket American Apparel or something. Leave the late-night snacks alone."

What do you think? Should the hummus be banned? Weigh in below.

Comments

[Omri Ziv]

06:45 AM on 11/27/2010

Let's boycott whatever israel or jewish people are involved in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGkNj1Z9KkQ&feature=related

that includes: facebook,google,intel,hollywood and other stuff we don't use...

[sas]

05:21 PM on 11/22/2010

Sounds like a great idea.

[BcemXAHA]

06:04 PM on 11/21/2010

Sabra products are awesome, not just Humus, but their babaganush is awesome too. I stock up on it weekly, we devour this stuff by the pounds.

[GraphicMatt]

01:50 PM on 11/22/2010

After reading this article I ran out and bought the roasted pine nut version. : )

[snaggle2th]

04:40 PM on 11/20/2010

Horrible stuff, Hummus... I boycott it all the time, regardless....

[DarthNader]

03:10 PM on 11/20/2010

Israeli companies that appropriate Arab food as their own, profit off them, and then contribute the profits to human rights abuses in the occupation, of course should be boycotted. It's as if everybody has forgotten the tactics used against Apartheid South Africa! "Is this a good idea?" OF COURSE IT IS!

[GraphicMatt]

01:53 PM on 11/22/2010

The greeks and Turks eat and produce hummus as well, should we accuse them of having "appropriated Arab food as their own"? What a silly comment. Hummus is popular throughout the Mediteranean. I don't recall the Arabs putting a copyright on a popular food.

[IAmABookshelf]

02:35 PM on 11/20/2010

The article leaves out that the reason they want a boycott is because Sabra supports the Golani Brigade of the IDF. It's been removed from Sabra's website, but it is still in the cache version:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&q=cache:www.strauss-group.com/CommunityInvolvement+strauss+group+community+involvement&btnG=Search

"We have adopted the Golani reconnaissance platoon for over 30 years and provide them with an ongoing variety of food products for their training or missions, and provide personal care packages for each soldier that completes the path. We have also adopted the Southern Shualei Shimshon troops from the Givati platoon with the goal of improving their service conditions and being there at the front to spoil them with our best products."

Some info on the brigade:

"Channel 10 on Thursday released footage taken by Israel Defense Forces soldiers of themselves humiliating a bound and blindfolded Palestinian man at a West Bank checkpoint.

The footage shows the Palestinian kneeling and repeating sentences given to him to say by the soldiers, who belong to the Golani infantry brigade.

One of the lines is: "Golani will bring you a log to stick up your ass."

As the detainee repeats the words, the soldiers are heard laughing raucously in the background."

http://www.haaretz.com/news/idf-troops-film-themselves-humiliating-bound-palestinian-1.285439

See also http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-soldier-gazans-used-as-human-shields-to-check-militants-homes-1.280062

[IAmABookshelf]

02:43 PM on 11/20/2010

Also, some info on the Givati, which Sabra also boasted of supporting:

"Not the Samouni family, 21 of whose members were butchered when the same Givati Brigade, under the same commander, bombed the house into which the soldiers ordered the family, but the brigade commander, Ilan Malka, whose conduct is now being investigated, shamefully late."
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-is-proud-to-present-the-aggressor-victim-1.322053

"If Staff Sgt. S. of the Givati Brigade is charged with the killing of two Palestinian women, as expected, it will be the third and most serious indictment to emerge from Operation Cast Lead. No soldier has yet been prosecuted for acts resulting in the deaths of Palestinian civilians during the operation."
http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/mess-report/mess-report-israel-learns-that-indicting-its-soldiers-is-not-a-betrayal-1.296646

"It notes that Gaza Division Commander Brig. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg, as well as Col. Ilan Malka, Commander of the Givati Brigade, were the subject of disciplinary action after their superiors found that they had overstepped their authority in approving the use of phosphorous shells. Judge Richard Goldstone – the lead investigator on the four-member UN fact-finding mission – wrote in the UN report that “Israeli armed forces were systematically reckless in determining its use in built-up areas.”"
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/0201/Israel-says-white-phosphorus-use-in-Gaza-exceeded-authority

[Ground Nutmeg]

11:28 AM on 12/23/2010

Good job IAmABookshelf and read the replies to your post. These Israeli fanatics sure have an overlord of humanity. "Everyone mistreats Palestinians so it's okay."

I don't blame them though, when you're so in love with vomit flavored hummus, you're bound to be a little loopy.

[waitomo]

02:59 PM on 11/20/2010

And the car you drive supports people who oppress and kill Palestinians. We import oil from Iraq. Palestinians have been killed, tortured and ethnically cleansed in Iraq. We import oil from Saudi Arabia. Palestinians are oppressed in Saudi Arabia. We import oil from Kuwait. Kuwait expelled about 400,000 Palestinians after the Gulf War. They also killed and tortured plenty of others.

So really, stop traveling in motorized vehicles because you're supporting regimes that oppress, torture and kill Palestinians.

[IAmABookshelf]

03:15 PM on 11/20/2010

I don't drive and do what I can to avoid supporting repressive Arab regimes =)

[GraphicMatt]

01:55 PM on 11/22/2010

The anti-Israel set are generally a highly hypocritical group. Boycott Israel for doing a, b and c but it's okay for others to do a, b and c because......well they're not Israel.

[Pashovski]

11:54 AM on 11/20/2010

Dont u guys know that israel is a thriving democracy?

And we cant afford to bail out states, but Israel gets $3.5b 4 90day freeze?

No, no, no. Not boycott's just give them more money, simple.

[60699]

10:57 AM on 11/20/2010

You have to be impressed by the moral conviction of these kids. They can boycott the vegi-platter because it has a scoop of Israeli hummus on it and then go back to the dorm and smoke a joint brought in by drug lords that have murdered over 25,000 this year alone. Ah the priorities of youth.

[nycpaladin]

11:19 AM on 11/20/2010

Faved and fanned for hitting the nail on the head!

[stuckinthemiddle3]

01:48 PM on 11/20/2010

Thank you for your comment! so true (unfortunately)

[EmmaNYC]

09:59 AM on 11/20/2010

Let's boycott non-stories drummed up by 6 people with a grudge and obvious agenda.

And, in the meantime, enjoy your Sabra hummus. Quite delicious.

[al343806]

01:04 AM on 11/21/2010

I think it's actually the most delicious of the hummus'. I love the garlic-flavoured mix!

[BcemXAHA]

06:06 PM on 11/21/2010

Roasted peppers, how about the one with pine nuts? awesome!

[waitomo]

09:22 AM on 11/20/2010

Okay... when I bring it up... people actually acknowledge that there are "Arab regimes" who have oppressed and killed the Palestinians. So the next question is... where are the boycotts? Where are the rabid denunciations of these regimes who exploit and kill Palestinians while preaching solidarity with their cause? If you're truly HONEST about it, there is a HUGE double standard when it comes to Israel and these other "Arab regimes."

But here's the question that is REPEATEDLY ignored: Where were the protests for Palestinian rights when some of these Arab regimes controlled the West Bank and Gaza? Why didn't the world cry out over THOSE occupations which "denied the Palestinians their right to self-determination"?

Again... a huge double-standard. And by the way, I support a Palestinian state. But I'm not going to just eat up propaganda. I'd rather eat some good hummus made by my Lebanese friend.

[60699]

10:36 AM on 11/20/2010

You have missed the main point. This is not a pro-Palestinian movement, this is an anti-Israeli movement.

[waitomo]

01:09 PM on 11/20/2010

I know, I'm just seeing if someone has the intellectual honesty to address the questions. Apparently not. They're too busy protesting the Zionist brutality of chick peas.

[IAmABookshelf]

02:57 PM on 11/20/2010

If you think there were no protestations against Egypt and Jordan's control of Gaza and the West Bank respectively, then that would probably be because you don't read Arabic.

[BcemXAHA]

06:08 PM on 11/21/2010

I do read arabic, and I've seen none.

[Trial Lawyer]

09:17 AM on 11/20/2010

Is this really a story? Certainly a misleading headline. A small group is trying unsuccessfully to boycott a food product for a rejected reason. A more accurate headline would be "Princetonians reject call for Israeli hummus boycott."

[Jern Dough]

08:52 AM on 11/20/2010

I say we boycott since it is completely inferior to all hummus I have tasted

[nycpaladin]

11:23 AM on 11/20/2010

Or perhaps we can boycott self-appointed hummus gourmets!

[al343806]

01:05 AM on 11/21/2010

I disagree, Sabra is my favourite.

[mikebottis]

08:33 AM on 11/20/2010

divest

[JeanPaulSatire]

07:19 AM on 11/20/2010

Will they also boycott companies that manufacture parts that are used in the rockets fired into Israel? How about the companies that provide hummus to those who assemble the rockets?

[Greg Mirsky]

04:47 AM on 11/20/2010

And the opinion of this student group is more important of opinion of a group of students that supports Israel exactly why? Perhaps students earned public trust by solving some most urgent problem of our society? Or significantly advanced our knowledge in science (just for the heck of it). No? Not yet? May be? Someday? Then why their opinion matters? Because their views is more dear to HP? Or because parents of students are paying big bucks?