Last week, Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commissioner Hatem Bazian called on locals to avoid purchasing Israeli feta cheese.
“Trader Joe’s is having Israeli Feta on its shelves! One more reason to stop shopping at the store,” Bazian, who lectures on Islam at UC Berkeley, wrote on his Facebook page.
However, the call for boycott backfired after Joe Zevuloni, an Israeli living in Florida who heads the “Israeli Army of Publicity,” met the call for boycott with a call of his own: “Urgent call-up to publicity soldiers: I need you to lend me a hand here.”
“This Israel-hating anti-Semitic professor from UC Berkeley tagged Linda Sarsour in his post and called on everyone to boycott Trader Joe’s supermarket chain because it sells Israeli feta cheese.
“Go to his page and don’t forget to tell him thank-you for the fact that in his merit, we’ll all buy specifically from a brand that sells Israeli products. Tag the Population and Immigration Authority in your comments and help me show him Israel just in Google. Then “like” this post and share, if you’re with me. Am Israel hai (literally: the nation of Israel lives on)!”
Zevuloni’s call worked: Within hours, pro-Israel customers had emptied several Trader Joe’s branches of their Israeli feta cheese, and moved on to purchasing other Israeli products instead.
