Woolworths: Israeli boycott call gathers steam

WOOLWORTHS would be told by individual shareholder groups at the retailer’s annual general meeting to stop the sale of figs, pretzels and pomegranates bought from Israel. Campaigners against trade with Israel had bought shares in the company and planned to put pressure on management at next week’s meeting, Muhammed Desai, the national co-ordinator of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) South Africa, said yesterday. “The call for Woolworths to terminate relations with Israel is part of a non-violent response to the Israeli regime,” he said. “We would like to convince them that it doesn’t make business sense to hold on to that trade.” BDS called for a boycott of Woolworths and has since organised demonstrations at its outlets. Shares eased 0.64 percent to R81 yesterday. – Bloomberg