Pro-Palestine activists target ‘genocidal’ Israeli hummus in shops
Pro-Palestinian campaigners are labelling pots of Israeli hummus stocked in British supermarkets as “profiting from genocide”.
The anti-Israel BDS movement – which stands for boycott, divestment and sanctions – calls for activists not to buy Israeli products in order to put economic pressure on companies operating in the country.
It claims on its website that the hummus and dips brand Sabra previously supported the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) with donations.
The campaign’s website states: “Sabra hummus is a joint venture between PepsiCo and the Strauss Group, an Israeli food company that provides financial support to the Israeli army.”
However, The Telegraph understands that BDS’s website refers to a Sabra brand sold in the US.
In the UK, Sabra Houmous, which is available in several major supermarkets, including Tesco and Sainsbury’s, is distributed by Osem, an Israeli food manufacturer with a base in Essex, which is owned by Nestle.
It is understood that while both Sabra brands are Israeli, they are not related and are separate companies.
US hummus boycott
The Sabra hummus that is sold in North America is made by Sabra Dipping Company, co-owned by PepsiCo and the Strauss Group.
The BDS campaign claims that the Strauss Group has supported the IDF’s Golani Brigade. The campaign has been calling for a boycott of the US hummus brand since 2010.
Members of the brigade have been accused of abusing Palestinians in the West Bank, and in May three were imprisoned for beating up a Palestinian man, the Times of Israel reported.
The Strauss Group removed references to the IDF from its English-language website in 2010, with Ofra Strauss, the then chief executive, reiterating her support for Israeli forces but saying she hoped the boycott would end.
Previously the market share leader in the United States, with 61 per cent in 2021, sales plummeted following a salmonella recall in March that year.
In February 2022, student members of Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine campaigned to have the hummus banned from campus, with slogans including: “Why does your hummus taste like apartheid?”
In 2018, activists from the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign said the University of Manchester’s decision to remove Sabra hummus was the result of student campaigning by a campus BDS group.
But a university spokesman said that it had been the result of a new staff member deciding without knowledge of the correct procedure, and that the university had changed its food suppliers to one that did not stock Sabra.
‘Profits from genocide’
The Telegraph can reveal activists have targeted pots of the British-sold hummus in several supermarkets across Britain.
On Wednesday, a flyer was stuck to a pot of Sabra Houmous in a Sainsbury’s store in Limehouse, east London, claiming the product “profits from genocide”.
The stickers, designed to look like cigarette health warnings, also offer “help to quit” advice, with a QR code linking to a campaign page associated with the BDS movement.
Activists have shared sticker templates online, including for “apartheid hummus”, which has a price label of £19.48, which is the year the state of Israel was proclaimed.
Pictures posted to social media appeared to show these had been stuck to some supermarket shelves in some cases.
Templates for bright yellow labels instructing shoppers to boycott Israeli goods were also shared online.
Previously, activists filmed themselves adding stickers that said “boycott Israeli apartheid” to dates grown in Israel; another social media post suggested a supermarket should be boycotted for selling peppers grown in the region.
The BDS movement, which has outposts in nearly 40 countries, including Israel, claims to be the “broadest” Palestinian civil society coalition. In November, it issued an updated list of boycott targets, which included Puma, SodaStream, Volvo, Burger King, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut.
