BIG Day: Buy Israel Goods

By now, most everyone knows that today, March 30th is Buy Israeli PGoods Day, also known as Buycott. What has been lost in the flurry of emails promoting the purchase of Israeli goods, is the important history that the Arab League, the union with whom the Obama Administration allied in deciding to launch a military campaign in Libya, formally originated the boycott in 1945 to isolate and economically strangle Israel. It should also be noted that the Secretary General of that same Arab League Amr Moussa, a strident critic of Israel, is considered a frontrunner to succeed deposed Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak. Moussa appeared -- along with US Senator Carl Levin and others -- at the groundbreaking of the Arab-American Museum in Dearborn. Moussa, in arecent interview with der Spiegel, declared that Israel

"has to withdraw from the occupied territories. And as a very first step, the blockade of the Gaza Strip....has to be lifted, immediately and in full."

Many Jewish organizations, led locally by StandWithUs-Michigan, are uniting to spread the word to patronize stores and websites that carry Israeli products in response to boycott initiatives by those seeking to delegitimize Israel. Check out the main Buycott website to learn more about Israeli brands and products to purchase. In the metro Detroit area, StandWithUs-Michigan's list of stores carrying Israeli-made products include:

Levin’s Beauty Supply, Ace Hardware, as well as food and wine stores, including, Babylon Ethnic Foods,Busch's Fresh Food Market, Costco, Cronin’s Party Store,Farm Fresh Market, Heartland Marketplace, Hiller’s Markets,Kroger Markets, Plum Market, Johnny Pomodoro’s Market,Meijer’s, Mediterranean Market, Warren Drugs, Trader Joe’sand Whole Foods. This is in addition to national chains like the Gap, Walmart, Walgreens,Sephora, TJ Maxx, Macy’s, Bon Marche, Nordstrom, Lord &Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, Brooks Brothers, JC Penney,Marshall’s, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sears, Target and Victoria’s Secret.

As documented in the acclaimed book, the “Start Up Nation” Israel is a miracle of entrepeneurial genius and has evolved into a global leader in virtually every sector. Buying Israeli products is a way to support the Israeli economy, lend international support and encourage American businesses that it is good economics for them to carry Israeli goods. When purchasing the product, please be sure to thank the owners, management and sales personnel and let them know you are pleased that they are carrying Israeli products.

Whether you purchase Israeli wines, gourmet foods or cutting edge fashion apparel, you are making not only a purchase but an important symbolic statement in blunting the well funded organizations seeking to delegitimize and destroy Israel. Your actions count! Last year, despite an effort by the BDS movement to target Trader Joe's, the national specialty foods chain, girded by patrons who support Israel and Trader Joes, refused to buckle. In our own community, Hiller's Markets stood firm against a campaign to boycott it and proudly and steadfastly carries Israeli products. This year, the target of the BDS movement is the H&M retail fashion chain.

Talking Tachlis urges you to Shop Israeli Products til you Drop! When young Israeli men and women willingly sacrifice to defend the Jewish State, knowing it may cost them their lives, the least we can do is buy Israeli products when the relative cost to us is nothing. We must stand by Israel when so many malignant, well-funded international sources are working in overdrive to destroy the Jewish homeland.

--MT Beadle