ANT KATZ

This seems to have served to infuriate BDS from “raising awareness” into “intimidation of customers and employees, restricting access and preventing customers from shopping”.

There seems to never be a dull moment in the battle of wills over the #BoycottWoolworths tussle between the retail giant and pro-Palestinian organisations. And the current battlefront seems to have moved from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

Ten days ago the Congress of SA Students (Cosas-WC) had their wings clipped by their elders from the ANC and the SA arm of US NGO Boycott Divesment and Sanctions (BDS-SA) – with the students agreeing to stop placing pigs’ heads in Woolworths stores, and to stop promoting themselves over the cause.

Woolies then made two strategic moves last week:

• Firstly, they made good on an earlier promise, saying that “while we respect the right to protest peacefully and lawfully, the safety of our employees and customers come first.” Paula Disberry, Group Director: Retail Operations announced that Woolies had “filed a court application (for an interdict) to protect our employees and customers from the increasing unlawful protests inside our stores”.
• Their second move was to announce mid-week that they only had two Israeli products in their stores, pretzels and figs. And, by Friday, pomegranates were added to the list. This, they said, was simply a normal seasonal situation and they were at pains to point out that the small “Israeli tomatoes” are, in fact locally grown. (Israel developed the baby round tomatoes and small namesake “Israeli cucumbers”).

BDS-SA had a few tricks up their sleeves themselves. They shifted their #BoycottWoolworths focus from customers to shareholders ahead of the retailers’ AGM on November 26. BDS’ tactics of using smoke and mirrors to make the #BoycottWoolworths seem bigger than it is, like their rent-a-crowd protests at 40 Woolies stores every month-end Saturday, are evident in their new tactics:

• BDS has begun operating under a newly-formed umbrella body known as the National Coalition 4 Palestine (NC4P);
• They are planning to hold a protest outside Woolworths’ Cape Town head office during the AGM, together with Cosatu and Cosas;
  

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  RIGHT: BDS head-honcho Muhammed Desai filling a trolley with groceries which he intends to abandon at the tillpoint, along with others creating havoc in a store 

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• They invited sympathisers to participate in a survey which allowed BDS’ Muhammed Desai to brag to gullible reporters about the effect of its campaign. “About 96 per cent are in support of the campaign,” Desai said adding that about 89 per cent said they would support the campaign for as long as it lasted, and 88 per cent expressed confidence that the campaign would be successful;
• This Tuesday the media were invited to a media briefing of shareholders. Little did the few reporters – and fewer shareholders – who turned up realise that it was an anti-Israel affair;
• This was followed shortly thereafter by shareholder statements, clearly written before the event, like one by Marthie Momberg: “for the Woolworths AGM. As an investor in Woolworths I am compelled to reveal my concern about the image and the ethics of the company in which I invested a considerable amount of my savings. The Woolworths brand is increasingly questioned. The real issue is not the number of Israeli products on the shelves of Woolworths, but rather the existence of contracts between Woolworths and Israeli businesses.”

Woolworths say they are ready for them

But Woolies seems not to be taking the bait. “We have additional security in place to ensure only authorised visitors and shareholders have access to Woolworths head office. We have engaged local authorities in addition to our in-house security measures (for the AGM),” says Disberry.

RIGHT: BDS is hoping that their poster campaign will attract a large crowd

The retailer is fed-up. Paula Disberry told the media: “The unlawful protest actions in our stores have had a profound effect on many of our employees and customers.

“We respect the right of BDS to protest, but we https://www.sajr.co.za/images/default-source/default-album/woolies-agm-protest-poster-home68adfd3c47cf6007affdff0000014754.jpg” class=”sfImageWrapper”>After all, just look at the SAJR graphic AT LEFT and see what the Woolies share price has done in the past month.

That says it all. Anti-Israel protests – rent-a-crowds, pigs’ heads et al – seem to have bolstered shareholder expectations. Institutional investors tend to see through the smoke, behind the mirrors and right through the boycotters’ scheming.

In fact, they seem to like the new get-tough attitude of management. Woolies management and their landlords, the shopping centre owners, initially did not react to any great extent. This seems to have served to infuriate BDS. The group, says Disberry, went “beyond raising awareness” and into “actions such as intimidation of customers and employees, restricting access and preventing customers from shopping. Products have also been damaged.”

The recent statements by BDS to ramp up their protest action, says Disberry, has left Woolworths with no other choice but to take legal steps. “It is our responsibility to ensure that our customers and employees feel safe in our stores, free of disruption, abuse and intimidation.”

Woolworths said it had applied for the interdict because “the business has a right to trade unhindered; and we have a duty to protect employees and customers”. These rights, they point out, are underpinned in the SA Constitution. 

Follow the back-story on SAJR.CO.ZA

• 18 NOV: BDS’ smoke & mirror campaign continues  -BY ANT KATZ
• 14 NOV: Beware of swine flu – a contagious disease!  – Blog: Roro
• 14 NOV: Woolies gets BDS anti-demo interdict  -BY ANT KATZ
• 12 NOV: This BDS piggy went to market… -Blog: ROLENE MARKS
• 12 NOV: Talk about putting your foot in the pigsty –Blog: ANT KATZ
• 11 NOV: Students have wings clipped on pigs -BY ANT KATZ
• 05 NOV:Now everyone jumps onto the pig-wagon -BY ANT KATZ
• 05 NOV: Pig’s head incident: BDS implicated by association -BY NAT CHEIMAN
• 04 NOV: Bergman to ANC: Control pig-headed affiliates –BY ANT KATZ
• 04 NOV:From a pig’s head to Mauritian celebration-BY MARY KLUK
• 31 OCT:Jewish community says no to hate speech-BY ANT KATZ (great pics)
• 31 OCT: COSAS’ clowns are chasing their own tails -BY ANT KATZ
• 30 OCT: Cosas shows the worst anti-Semitic face -BY MARY KLUK
• 29 OCT: Cape Town anti-anti-Semitism demo Thursday -BY ANT KATZ
• 29 OCT: Woolies: Hooligans nabbed in Jhb, Cape Town -BY ANT KATZ
• 29 OCT: The dangerous politics of pigs’ heads -BY GEOFF SIFRIN
• 24 OCT: Board condemns pigs in ‘kosher’ counter -BY ANT KATZ
• 6 OCT: Woolies threatens tough line against BDS, protesters
• 5 OCT:Onslaught against Woolies continues nationwide
• 1 SEPT: BDS shuts Rosebank Woolies on Shabbos
• 1 SEPT: BDS in SA is an abject failure says Fed’s Levitas
• 29 JULY: Woolies rubbish rumours of going Gaza on Israel (182 Comments)

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