About the Campaign

Mission: The Apartheid-Free Co-op campaign at the River Valley Co-op in Northampton and Easthampton is a local campaign, initiated by local community members, that aims to have our co-op join the international Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement in order to end apartheid in Palestine. Our campaign is working to have our community co-op boycott Israeli-made and -sourced products until Israel abides by international law.

History: In response to the Palestinian civil society call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid, a group of member-owners, workers, and community members have launched a campaign for River Valley Co-op in Easthampton and Northampton to boycott Israeli made and sourced goods until Israel complies with international law.

As of January 11, 2025, our Apartheid-Free Co-op petition has received 1,135 signatures, with about half of them belonging to co-op member-owners. The co-op held a vote (September 30th - October 30th) and special meeting (on October 30th) on the AFC petition. Of the 3,500 or so members who voted, 22% voted in favor of the boycott, and 78% voted with the Board’s recommendation against it. While more votes in favor would have been heartening, these results were not unexpected. They set an important benchmark for the organizing we have accomplished so far and the task that remains ahead of us to win an apartheid-free Co-op.

787 members voted in favor of boycotting Israeli products until Israel complies with international law. This number represents significantly more household members of the Co-op, far more in the wider community, and a new constituency for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions in the valley. This level of support for BDS is a direct result of the standouts, tabling, letters-to-the-editor, and individual discussions that community members have taken on as part of this campaign. At the same time, there are many more people in our community who remain to be organized, and apartheid and genocide remain the order of the day in Palestine. Both of these facts mean that our organizing for BDS continues, at the Co-op and beyond.