Members of the Park Slope Food Co-op in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday rejected a motion to hold a referendum on whether to ban products imported from Israel [link to yesterday’s article with all the information: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=3700], with 1,005 voting against and 653 in favor of the proposal.

The proposal to consider banning Israeli goods was put forth by the a group known as the Park Slope Food Co-op Members for Israeli Boycott Divestment Sanctions, who recently urged their fellow shoppers to protest the Israeli government’s policies toward Palestinians and “help send a message to Israel that it must honor international law and human rights.”

The debate over whether to ban Israeli imports had elicited criticism from Israel supporters, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other local politicians.

Public Advocate and Brooklyn resident Bill de Blasio said he was proud of his neighbors for doing the right thing, calling the proposal inflammatory and destructive.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn had called the idea “ill conceived” and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer denounced the proposed boycott as “an anti-Semitic crusade.”

The debate over the proposed boycott at the 39-year-old cooperative market was mostly symbolic because it carries only a half-dozen imported products from Israel.