Boycott Israeli Dates this Ramadan

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Aldi are selling dates from an Israeli company. These dates are misleadingly packaged from 'South Africa'. Email Aldi now urging them to stop selling these dates from an Israeli company.

Aldi CEO

Aldi

Aldi Press

Aldi

As your customer, I am concerned that the Medjoul dates you sell are from an Israeli company. The packaging says the dates are a ‘produce of South Africa’; however, the distributor is listed as ‘Mehadrin Tnuport Export LP’, based in Israel and whose parent organisation is Mehadrin. Mehadrin partly operates in occupied Palestine.

Israel is an apartheid state which has illegally occupied Palestinian land for decades. Israel violates Palestinian human rights and repeatedly breaks international law.

According to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel, at present, is plausible carrying out a genocide in Gaza. In the last 5 months, Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment of homes, schools, refugee camps, and hospitals has resulted in the killing of over 30,000 Palestinians. Over 9,000 of whom are children and over 72,000 Palestinians are injured. Roughly 130 journalists have been killed, a war crime in international law. Thousands more are trapped or buried under the rubble.

The situation in the West Bank is also deteriorating, with more Palestinians killed in the West Bank in the last two months of 2023 than in the whole of 2022. Palestinian children in Israeli prisons are routinely beaten and Israel frequently holds some Palestinians without charge or trial, in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

There is now a consensus among the world’s leading human rights organisations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem that Israel is an apartheid state. 

The packaging is misleading as it is an Israeli company distributing the dates and financially benefitting at the expense of occupied Palestinian people. Please let me know what the significance of Medadrin is?

You may not have been aware of this, so I kindly ask you, considering this information, that you immediately stop selling dates from an Israeli company. 

I hope you will not support an apartheid state and that you will stop selling Mehadrin brand of dates. 

I look forward to receiving your response.

Yours sincerely,

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Order #CheckTheLabel leaflets, posters and stickers to distribute for our next campaign days:

  • Friday 8th March: Mosque Distribution

  • Saturday 16th March: High Street Day of Action

How many would you like to order? If posters are available we will automatically include 1-3 pieces

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  • Ask your mosque to dedicate their Friday 8th March khutba on #CheckTheLabel, download the prewritten khutba and send it to them.

  • Help spread awareness amongst your friends and followers to boycott Israeli dates by uploading these images.

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Here are frequently asked questions on #CheckTheLabel - dates

Next time you buy dates to break your fast, check the label on the back of the product or in the product description if you’re purchasing online. If the dates are from Israel, the West Bank or the Jordan Valley then do not buy them.

This small but strong action can go a long way towards holding Israel accountable for its illegal occupation and apartheid in Palestine.

 

Boycotting Israeli dates is a powerful and peaceful way to stand up for Palestinian rights.

Boycotting is all about using your personal choice not to use or buy something from a company involved in Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid against Palestinians.

Ordinary people like us can make a huge difference. Boycotting Israeli dates reduces Israel’s income as companies will stop trading with Israel.

This Ramadan we’re sending a clear message that we will not stand by and do nothing in the face of Israeli injustice and oppression against Palestinians.

Checking the label is already making a difference! Israel is spending millions of pounds countering boycotts like this, as it knows the boycott focuses on its grave violations of international law and oppression of Palestinians.

Definitely not. You should #CheckTheLabel all year round. Avoid seasonal fruit and vegetables from Israel including strawberries, citrus fruits, peppers, figs and avocados.

You should also #CheckTheLabel of manufactured products including cosmetics, carbonation devices, plastics, textile products and toys.

Unfortunately, yes. Research by Human Rights Watch shows that Palestinian children are heavily involved in picking, cleaning and packing these dates.

Children as young as 11 years old describe vomiting, dizziness and skin rashes after spraying pesticides with inadequate protection, as well as body pain or numbness after carrying heavy pesticide containers on their backs.

These children should be at school receiving an education, but Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid forces them to work in these inhumane conditions instead.

Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid forces many Palestinians to work in degrading conditions on Israeli settlement farms.

Palestinian women describe working 15-hour days in the unbearable heat of the Jordan Valley, picking and packing produce such as dates.

Yes. Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid makes life very difficult for Palestinian date farmers.

Right now Palestinian date farmers need our support more than ever. By boycotting Israeli dates and buying dates from Palestinian brands instead, you can be sure your money is going directly to Palestinians date farmers who need it most. 

Story so far.

This Ramadan make sure you’re not breaking your fast with the taste of apartheid. All you need to do is check the label to avoid buying dates from apartheid Israel. This includes dates labelled from Israel, the West Bank and the Jordan Valley or if the country of origin is not shown.

Ramadan is a time of reflection and self-improvement. During this month we are more conscious of our actions and how they affect others.

Israel is the world’s largest producer of Medjoul dates. Let's be conscious of not buying dates that support Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine and apartheid regime.

50% of Israeli dates are exported to Europe, where the UK, Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy import huge quantities of the dried fruit. In 2020 the UK imported over 3000 tonnes of dates from Israel, worth roughly 7.5 million pounds.

There are two peaks of date consumption in Europe. One is during the month of Ramadan and the other is during New Year’s Eve and Christmas.

Boycotting Israeli dates in Ramadan is a concerted community effort that can show we are not powerless. It would be brilliant to see all Israeli dates still left on shelves across the UK and Europe at the end of the blessed month. This would reflect our strength as a community to stand together with a very important message: We will not support the oppression of Palestinians and we will not be complicit in Israeli apartheid.

So, this Ramadan #CheckTheLabel and boycott Israeli dates.

Israeli Brands to Boycott

All you need to do is check the label of the date packaging for Israel, West Bank , Jordan Valley or if the country of origin is not shown. Please also see below for Israeli date brands to boycott (usually sold in halal grocers):

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