- Go to Palestine
- Join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Campaign against Israel
- Get active with AFOPA
- Write letters to the editor on topical issues
YOU CAN ALSO INITIATE BDS ACTIONS. AN EXAMPLE OF THIS CAN BE FOUND IN THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT OF A LOCAL ACTION BY JEANIE LUCAS
THE POWER OF ONE: An Inspirational story of a successful BDS Action.
17 January 2011
You may be aware of the national campaign, lead by the Sydney group, Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (CJPP) in relation to JAFFA citrus fruit, which is grown in Israel and is imported from there and is being passed off in Australian supermarkets as Australian grown.
On the weekend I checked the citrus fruit section of an Adelaide supermarket and found some JAFFA grapefruit. It was labeled with the JAFFA Sunshine 4288 label shown in the graphic and there was another label on the container holding the fruit claiming that it was grown in Australia, as described on CJPP website. This apparently is happening all over the country.
I went home and checked the details about the JAFFA campaign on the CPJJ website and double checked on the South Australian Department of Health’s website that it is illegal in this State and Australia generally, to not label fruit with its country of origin. I then rang the Store Manager and asked if I could come and speak with him about some products in his store, which he was happy for me to do.
The Manager was shocked to learn that the fruit was from Israel. He told me that the information from his supplier is that the fruit is Australian grown. He was not aware that JAFFA is an Israeli brand. He is aware that it is illegal under the Commonwealth Trade Practices Act to wrongly label foods regarding their country of origin and in front of me he removed the "Product of Australia" label and said he would make phone calls to find out why this had happened. He told me he will not stock any more JAFFA products.
I felt very pleased with his response and have every confidence in him, as I have spoken with him before about other unrelated matters. There is no need for me to report his store to the food labeling authorities as the Manager has responded properly to my concerns and is in fact sympathetic to the BDS cause.
What comes to mind is that there may be some kind of interference going on further up the supply chain of these JAFFA products. Some player may be mislabeling these products before they get to the supermarkets putting these retailers at legal risk. Hopefully, people working on this campaign may be able to get to the bottom of this.
You might want to check out your local supermarkets.