EASTHAMPTON — After months of emotional debate surrounding a proposed boycott of Israeli goods at River Valley Co-op, the results of an advisory poll among co-op members show overwhelming opposition to the “Apartheid-Free River Valley Co-op” initiative.

The co-op’s more than 16,000 member-owners were asked to participate in an advisory poll regarding the boycott petition, signed by over 1,000 community members, over 470 of which are member-owners.

The petition states that its goals are to “align the Co-op with our collective values” and work to end the ongoing conflict overseas by removing fiscal support through the de-deshelving of Israeli goods. However, many co-op members found the petition “unnecessarily divisive” and doubted the boycott’s ability to force change in the Middle East.

The 30-day advisory poll closed at 11:59 on Wednesday night, following a special meeting among 300-plus member-owners discussing perspectives on the topic. Co-op management did not allow press coverage of the meeting, with management calling it a private event among member-owners.

Of the 3,581 member-owners who participated in the advisory poll, 78% opposed the  boycott while 22% voted in favor of it, according to the results released Thursday afternoon.

“Even though we don’t  agree on the boycott, there is so much common ground and unity that we do all  want the violence to end, we do all want peace,” said Rochelle Prunty, general manager of River Valley Co-op.

The co-op had previously come out against the boycott, citing the fact that the goal of the co-op is to provide the community with choices of healthy foods, and that the co-op has never boycotted products from an entire country before. Prunty said previously that the goal of the advisory vote was to allow the co-op’s board of directors to understand the diversity of views on the topic, though they planned to keep Israeli products on the shelves, allowing customers to purchase them or boycott them as they see fit.

Following the results of the poll, Prunty said the co-op plans to stick with its plan of keeping Israeli products on the shelves.

“I think this opens up the opportunity for more nuanced conversations across the aisle about this,” said Easthampton City Councilor Owen Zaret, who has been vocal in the community about his opposition to the boycott. “What I hope comes out of this is some healing.”

State Sen. John Velis, who is now the chair of the state’s Special Commission on Combating Antisemitism, shared similar sentiments.

“I think this is an incredibly positive development,” said Velis. “I think that many of the movements like this that specifically target one group are cruel … some of the most complex issues in the world are dissolving into binary issues that are black and white.”

Against petition

At the special membership meeting, member-owners for and against the boycott were given time to express their views on the topic. But Carolyn Oppenheimer, a member-owner who was in attendance, felt that the meeting was “over-controlled.”

Oppenheimer said that the co-op picked about 15 people in advance to speak at the meeting for both the “yes” and “no” vote perspectives, and that they were then given about a minute to express their views, alternating evenly between individuals who were for and against the boycott.

“They didn’t tell us that they were gonna pick people in advance to comment,” said Oppenheimer. “All of us went to this meeting thinking that we could make a comment.”

Oppenheimer also said it was “frustrating” that the people chosen to speak tended to be “extreme, very clearly for or against” the boycott, when many co-op members were hoping to discuss the implications of the boycott for the co-op community, rather than from a geopolitical perspective.

“Most of them used it as a platform for politics in the Middle East,” she said. “You can believe that Israel is committing a genocide and then ask if the co-op is the place to address it.”

Amy Mager, who was selected to speak at the meeting in opposition to the boycott, thought the meeting was conducted with “grace and empathy,” and was impressed by how co-op leadership handled the situation by “holding a space for really difficult conversations.”

“I’m just so thrilled that this was the response,” Mager said in reaction to the poll results. “With the numbers being so clear, it seems it will be easier to move on.”

Shanna Fishel and Lois Dubin also spoke against the petition at Wednesday’s meeting, and said they were “relieved” by the results of the poll.

“I’d like to acknowledge that the meeting was a good opportunity to listen and learn,” Dubin said in a message to the Gazette. “For those who want to address the real problems of the Middle East and hopefully shared aspirations for peace and justice and co-existence, let’s find other, more effective avenues to do so. Now, here locally, let’s work on strengthening our beloved Co-op.”

Fishel stated that, though the results of the poll were a relief to her, there has been no relief when it comes to the ongoing violence in the Middle East.

“But I’m not relieved the war is still going on, devastation is still going on, and the hostages are still in Gaza,” said Fishel. “It’s sad and it’s horrendous what’s going on in the war. And boycotts, no matter how large, are not going to change Benjamin Netanyahu’s tactics.”

In favor of petition

However, co-op member-owners who voted in favor of the boycott are feeling less than optimistic.

Jeff Napolitano, who advocated for the boycott, said he was “disappointed” to hear the results of the advisory poll, but that he was not surprised since the co-op management had previously stated that they would likely keep Israeli products on the shelves regardless of the results.

“I think the issue was that people didn’t want this issue to be seriously considered,” said Napolitano, a former member of the co-op’s board of directors. “It’s very clear that if this co-op existed during South African apartheid, they would not have participated in that boycott, which is disappointing.”

Napolitano said that many people who attended the meeting stated that the issue was divisive, or unlikely to have an impact on the violence overseas, which he took issue with. He stated that the divisiveness of the issue should not prevent real conversations and decisions from being fostered around it, and that the point of social justice activities is not immediate impact.

“You don’t take action because you expect an immediate response — in social justice, you take action because it’s the right thing to do,” he said.

Matt Spurlock, one of the organizers of the Apartheid-Free River Valley Co-op initiative, also said he was “not necessarily surprised by the results here because of the way the poll was conducted.”

Spurlock said that many members’ only exposure to the issue came in the form of emails from the co-op’s management, urging member-owners to vote against the petition. He felt that these emails “misrepresented the ask of the campaign as a ban on Israeli goods when it’s really a boycott on Israeli goods until they comply with international law.”

Molly Merret, another organizer of the petition initiative, seconded this sentiment, saying she was “disappointed that the co-op put their finger on the scale in this way.”

Despite the results, “I am pleased in the sense that we got our message out there,” Spurlock said. “We’re gonna keep advocating for the co-op to support human rights and boycott Israeli goods until Israel complies with international law.”

Merret agreed that proponents of the petition would continue to advocate for an Israeli boycott.

“This happens any time we stand up for Palestinian lives,” said Merret. “Change takes time.”

Deborah Yaffe, who spoke in favor of the boycott at Wednesday’s meeting, said she disagrees with the sentiment that the boycott would have no impact on the conflict.

“As Americans, this genocide wouldn’t be going on without our involvement, our taxpayer dollars,” said Yaffe. “Boycotts have worked in the past, it’s a way of saying we’re not gonna support an apartheid system … It’s a way of putting pressure on a system that really has to change.”

Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.