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Tell MEC to Stop Supporting Israeli Apartheid!
April 29, 2009 - 3:53am
First Post Left Blank
After the brutal assault on Gaza earlier this year, when the Israeli military massacred more than 1300 Palestinians according to the United Nations, the global movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel has accelerated. Here in Vancouver, concerned members of Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC) are calling on MEC to end its support for Israeli apartheid.
On April 30th, please come out to the MEC AGM and support a resolution calling on MEC to terminate its partnership with Israeli factories and remove Israeli products from its shelves, some of which are produced by Source Vagabond - a company founded by elite soldiers with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) that has an ongoing contract with the IDF.
If you are a member of MEC (as of January 8, 2009) you can vote in support of the resolution (text below). Please bring your membership card or number and ID.
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Mountain Equipment Co-op
38th Annual General Meeting
April 30, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. (Doors open at 5:15 p.m.)
Segal School of Business,
(Simon Fraser University Downtown)
500 Granville St., Vancouver, BC
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=> PLEASE BE ON TIME TO ENSURE YOU GET IN THE MEETING
MEC AGM Resolution:
Whereas many members have expressed concern over Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) "partnering" with Israeli companies to produce MEC brand products;
And whereas Israel is currently defying more than 30 UN Security Council Resolutions pertaining to its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory, and is in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law codified under the Geneva Conventions, as affirmed by the International Court of Justice in 2004;
And whereas on July 9, 2005, 171 Palestinian organizations called upon ethical people and organizations around the world to implement a global campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era;
And whereas South African leaders have condemned Israel's system of discrimination against the Palestinians that Archbishop Desmond Tutu has said "reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa" and Arun Gandhi has said "is ten times worse than what I had experienced in South Africa," and as former South African cabinet minister Ronnie Kasrils has said the world "can not allow Israel to continue perpetrating apartheid" and former US president Jimmy Carter has called Israel's humanitarian blockade of Gaza "one of the greatest human rights crimes on Earth";
And whereas MEC house brand "partner" Source Vagabond is an Israeli military designer and contractor that boasts on its website (http://www.source-military.com/gov_overview.asp) "[Founder] Yoki and most of the members of our R&D team are experienced ex-officers of elite IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) units";
And whereas MEC "partnering" with factories in Israel is incompatible with MEC's promotion of itself as an organisation with "rigorous ethical sourcing requirements," its stated policy of "improving the social and environmental impacts of our products" and its professed belief that "business can advance human rights";
Therefore be it resolved that we call on the MEC Board of Directors to halt all dealings with Israeli companies and to reverse its position on sourcing from Israel.
Thanks for this LT. Is there anyway to vote in absentia if you can't make the meeting?
MEC website ...doesn't look like it catchfire. There's contact info, so you could probably send a letter/email with your concerns instead.
And thanks for bringing this up LT.
The motion was defeated. All of the 60 board members and employees (who are paid to attend the AGM), voted against the motion. They were instructed and required to do so. This is what swung the vote against us. The zionists did mobilize to defeat the motion, but it might still have passed if the board members and employees had voted in favour. Total attendance at the AGM was about 265 people.
The three people who spoke on behalf of our side were calm and reasoned, and covered all the main arguments in favour of boycotting Israeli Apartheid. On the other hand, the two zionists who spoke against the motion came across as angry. They did not argue directly against the motion by defending Israel's actions in regards to the Palestinians. Rather, they argued that MEC should not engage in boycotts of any kind, and that the motion was unnecessarily politicizing MEC.
I understand that some of the board and staff members who voted against the motion actually support it, but were required to vote against it nonetheless. The Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign (BIAC) is hoping to put on an educational workshop for MEC employees, to educate them on the issue. It is hoped that MEC employees who are educated on the issue/support the push to rid MEC of Israeli products, will inform customers if they want to purchase any of the offending products.
The struggle continues.
I guess I wwill be going eomwwhere else for my camping supplies. No matter. Plenty of places to shop for that kind of stuff. Probably chepear too. Good try. Maybe next time.
Left Turn, thanks so much for posting about this, including the summary of the results.
I'm a member of MEC but don't spend more than $50 a year there, usually on gift certificates for friends. I don't think they'll miss my financial input, but I will spread the word about this to people I know in Toronto.
One thing I'm confused about is who directed the staff and board members to vote against the motion? I thought as a co-op that there isn't a CEO or anything like that.
It would be great if the BIAC could do some education, and I think they will need to start with whoever gave that directive to the paid staff/board members.
I will reconsider buying at MEC as well. However, I must comment on this line "I understand that some of the board and staff members who voted against the motion actually support it, but were required to vote against it nonetheless." written by left turn.
Unless there is more than hearsay such statements do not dignify the argument.
I work for MEC. I'm the Director of Ethical Sourcing.
MEC did not REQUIRE it's staff to attend the AGM or to vote against the boycott. MEC did ENCOURAGE its staff to attend and to vote. At no time did anyone on MEC's behalf dictate how I should vote nor did I witness or hear of any similiar attempts with my coworkers.
I would not be surprised if a few of my coworkers supported the boycott and chose not to vote according to their convictions because of the implicit pressure to conform to MEC's corporate position and the need for self preservation. But then right or wrong "following the herd" is a common phenomena in any organization. Why would this be any different at MEC.
Bottom line, MEC did not pressure nor require its staff to attend the AGM or vote according to its official position. And if any of you want to believe otherwise, I got some secret FBI files on who really killed JFK to share (they were found on July 04, 2008 by a Smithsonian archivist in a secret compartment of Hoover's old filing cabinet and was withheld from the public due the tight election and the real fear of another eight years of a right wing demagog).
Hi,
Voting process public or private?
Thanks in advance.
Sorry, maybe I should have said that MEC employees were pressured to vote against the motion.
I'll be honest, I did not actually attend the MEC AGM, as I only took out a MEC membership in February, and only members as of January 8th 2009, could vote. I was told by one of my friends who did attend that all of the 60 board members or staff (all of whom were paid to show up) voted against the motion. I assumed from this that the MEC board members and employees were required to vote against it.
I am pleased that my favourite outdoor supplier voted against the boycott. The MEC policy is clearly about working conditions where their products are made. If it was about the foreign policy of the countries where the manufacturers were located, there would not be much left on the shelves. The Israeli manufacturers, despite having the audacity to earn a living in a complete disregard for Left Turn's finer feelings, have met MEC's standards for fair and reasonable working conditions.
Since the conditions of MEC's policy were already met, I do not feel that this should have even been voted on. As passionate as people feel about it, it does not meet the criteria of transgressing that policy. I suppose that if this reasoning were followed, people like LT would cry that the "Zionists" have the fix in... Oh yeah, they are still crying about it, even though they received and lost the vote fairly, as HWChan points out.
The larger issue is that Israel has been unfairly turned into a pariah. Imagine if a group of people were actively trying to remove your livelihood, just because they disagree with Canada's foreign policy. Would it make a bit of difference if you had served in the Canadian Armed Forces at one point in your life? If you had the temerity to be born in Israel (or Austria, Taiwan...), you would have likely done mandatory service anyway, so the gripe that this company was started by former IDF is just spin, and weak spin at that. The very computer and the Internet you are communicating with were made as military technologies, so why don't you boycott those too and stop making claims about things you don't know about and weren't in attendance of.
Palestinians do mandatory service as victims of the IDF for all of their lives. The topic of boycotting computers manufactured with Israeli made Intel chips has been widely discussed. Thanks for reminding me.
Thank you FWChan. I think this is a cautionary tale that we all must show due regard for hearsay and speculation.
Right. For instance, suggesting that someone is a sponsor of "international terrorism" because they hand over aid money to local authorities is speculative at best.
Excuse me, but Israel has turned itself into a pariah of its own accord - and the increasingly horrified reaction around the world is completely fair and justified.
I am curious as to why there is no effort towards a Sri Lankan boycott, due to the way Tamils are treated there. I won't argue with this effort, people can buy whatever they want, however why only Israel? The US props up Israel - why not boycott USian products? Saudi Arabia treats women worse than garbage - why not boycott them as well?
I think a better message is to consider where and how every thing one buys is from and made. Labour standards in Israel are good and I do not hold every citizen there responsible for their policies - likewise wiht the US and my other examples above. And, NAOT sandals are absolutely the best! Good luck stopping people from buying them :
I dunno, why not sanction Israel, if you are going to sanction the Gaza Strip for voting for the wrong people? Or are you saying its ok to kill the right civilians by the thousands but voting for the wrong people requires sanctions? Oh yeah! I forgot, the model rocket barrage! Of course, killing a dozen Israelis is worth supporting ongoing sanctions and blockade against Gaza, but killing 1200 Palestinians in a massive arial and artillery barrage is worthy not only of ongoing aid to Israel but full dipolomatic relations nd unswerving diplomatic support internationally.
Hell, anyone who even gives them aid, basic food, medicine, and supplies is immediatly deemed persona non-grata as a supporter of international terrorism.
The Canadian governments collective punishment of Gazan's is AOK with you. However regular people, "Holding every Israeli Israeli" responsible for the actions of the people they voted for is just beyond the pale what can be considered in good conscience.
While MEC may not have formally required their staff to vote against the motion, the corporate entity that is MEC very much applied pressure to that effect, as you state above.
In many respects, MEC has become like many other corporate entities (albeit in a co-operative form). The focus is placed on labour standards, and all other rights be damned. I comend MEC for its stance on labour rights, however, ethical sourcing, and corporate social responsibility must be broader than labour standards alone. This is particularly so if MEC actually believes its own words when it says "We believe that consumers have the power and the passion to drive change".
What was demonstrated at the MEC AGM is what transpires in large corporations across the world. When shareholders (in this case co-op members) attempt to instigate rights-based shareholder activism, the powers that be attempt to shut them down at all costs. In this case, the MEC directors are not unlike other corporate executives, and appear to behave in much the same way.
My search of the MEC website for "Israel" and "Sri Lanka", while not conclusive (given that the website does not list all products, showed 37 from Israel, and only 1 from Sri Lanka. It would seem that a consumer boycott of Sri Lankan manufactured Sprigs Earbags Bandless Earwarmers, which retail for 12 CAD, may not be that effective as a statement.
Curiosity -- you can only vote if you're willing/able to travel to Vancouver for a meeting? Where does that leave MEC members who don't live in BC?
Hi all.
Left Turn, you should know that your friend misinformed you about more than just MEC staff being instructed and required to vote against the resolution at the AGM, which we were not. Whether or not an MEC employee holds the same beliefs you do on Israel/Palestine, we know that our system of vetting factories and our buycott are effective, powerful tools for bettering the lives of factory employees; in MEC's case, this includes a good number of Palestinian men and women who work in the factories we source from in Israel.
Also, discounting the nine members of the Board, there were at most 20 MEC staff members present at the AGM. Further, the only staff paid to be there were those working, for instance at the membership table. Also, the Board, though they are allowed to vote, abstained as everyone who was there knows.
In all, the information your friend gave you was very flawed indeed.
Winnifred and others, thanks for reminding us that hearsay just doesn't further or dignify an argument.
It is not hearsay that MEC partners with companies profiting from Israeli apartheid; it is an established fact that you do not dispute.
I'm surprised MEC cares about the opinions here so much that they have multiple people monitoring this discussion. Surprised, but not impressed. It would have impressed me if they had taken a stand against israeli brutality, however.
Suffice it to say that I won't be purchasing anything at MEC for the foreseeable future. (Yes, we've been members in Toronto for years.) And I will be discussing the need to boycott MEC each time their name comes up in conversation.
I can see why you used the fine print. Since when did Canada, Canadians, or its government aquire the right to determine who is or is not the "local authorities", outside of its own jurisdiction? Said elected members of the Palestinian Parliment were members of a "terrorist organization" before they were allowed to run in elections partly sponsored by the Canadian government, and ran openly on that ticket. They were legitimate enough to run candidates in an election process we approved of on the way to becoming the local authorities.
Why? Simply because the election would have appeared completely illigitimate without the participation of the most popular opposition to Fatah. Fatah lost. But its still too late to backtrack now, because any reneging on that premise is a hypocritical denial of the so called "democratic" principles that the "only democracy in the middle east" pretends it upholds. But lets not pretend any longer. It doesn't. And you don't. Zionism is not a shining beacon of "democracy", there, as far as Arabs are concerned, or here, as far as allowing those whose opinions differ from those you hold a platform from which to be heard. It is a sham.
I looked at the legal definition of terroist organizations used by the Canadian government, and running successful election campaigns is not in the defintion, yet, however much you wish it were so.
I have to say, I am impressed that Harvey Chan, MEC director of ethical sourcing, came here to correct misinformation (although I am less impressed at his conspiracy-theory baiting/accusation--but that's probably just a misifiring attempt at humour). Indeed, it is a good idea to maintain a transparency blog to have public discussions about the corporate ethics of the cooperative to which you belong.
I've been a member of MEC for more than ten years and purchased scads of camping, hiking and outerwear from them. For the most part, I've been happy with them. While Benjamin is correct in saying that many of the problems that plague corporations and turn them into amoral (read: sociopathic) actors in a moral world could apply to MEC, as in their self-serving decision to define ethical sourcing as stopping short of human rights, as participants in a quasi-co-operative model, MEC members can change this.
That's why I think we shouldn't boycott MEC. Rather, continue with education seminars with the membership to explain why a boycott is necessary and just. Of course we shouldn't buy any of the products which carry Israeli manufacturing or materials, but the answer is not simply to shut off what could be a very valuable democratic tool: a co-operative business model. That said, since I don't have much experience in the politics of a boycott, I'm willing to reconsider my position on this.
As an aside, I might ask that those who want to discuss whether or not an Israeli apartheid boycott is necessary, workable, just or hypocritical move to a relevant thread. This thread clearly assumes that such a boycott is necessary and is concerned therefore with how best to carry it our wrt MEC.
Cueball, you simply continue to wear your blinders. No amount of words will change the facts. Hamas is recognized by our government as a terrorist group, end of story.
Whether or not it should be is an entirely different discussion.
My assumption is that only a boycott can be effective here.
The pro-Israeli-no-matter-what crowd is well-organized, and capable of creating a huge amount of noise despite their shrinking numbers. MEC needs to understand that their noises are meaningless distraction, and that the larger community must be served.
But can't you boycott the Israeli products in the same way you boycott Israeli products in a supermarket without boycotting the supermarket itself? Isn't that how the boycott has been organized so far?
I love MEC products and imagine they would positively love a boycott. I remember a few weeks ago when an anti-Israel group organized a boycott of Israeli wines at the LCBO, which resulted in teh pro-Israel side making a concerted effort to counter it and led to every single bottle of Israeli wine being sold out in about an hour. So if you do want to boycott MEC, make sure to let them know in advance so they can order more inventory.
As I said, the promoters of Israeli fascism are well-organized, and able to mount demonstrations which make their dwindling numbers appear more formidable than they are.
Let's see them keep MEC in business all by themselves.