The Board of the Davis Food Co-op has voted unanimously (3/15) to declare a resolution proposing a boycott of Israeli products “improper.” This action, coupled with a previous declaration by the Board declaring the same resolution “unlawful” means that the proposed resolution will not be placed on the Spring ballot at the Co-op. The Board’s action was a dramatic rejection of the arguments presented by the Boycott, Divest, Sanction group that had demanded its resolution be voted on by the membership of the 10,000-person Co-op. In a broad and powerful statement, the Board listed numerous reasons that the proposed boycott resolution was improper among which are: * The initiative has produced a “tense and uneasy atmosphere at the Co-op, a reduction in shoppers and sales, disruption to business operations”—which may result in the permanent loss of whole groups of Co-op shoppers. * The initiative would demand that the Co-op “accept the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions for Palestine (BDS) Campaign's characterization and judgment of Israeli actions as fact”, and require the Co-op to “accept the Global BDS Campaign's tactics as our own”, thereby allowing Global BDS to determine the Co-op’s compliance with its principles and policies. In essence, the Board said that it would be forced to turn over the Co-op’s “management and operation” to a political movement whose objective has nothing to do the continued viability of the Co-op. * The initiative runs counter to the Rochdale Principles, upon which the cooperative movement was founded. Specifically, the initiative violates the basic principle of political and religious neutrality and the idea that cooperatives should avoid the dangers of meddling in political and religious affairs. * The initiative demands the Co-op make a judgment about the legitimacy or illegitimacy of actions or policies of the Israeli government, particularly with respect to extraordinary actions taken by such government that have been invoked in the name of its national security—a judgment the Co-op Board feels unqualified to make. The Board’s declaration comes at the end of a three month period during which the BDS proponents staged community events and tabled regularly at the Co-op to further their proposed resolution. These efforts were opposed by a broad coalition of community residents and community groups such as Congregation Bet Haverim, The Interfaith Coalition for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Sacramento. The action of the Davis Food Co-op Board is just the latest in a series of actions taken by groups around the United States that resoundingly express disagreement with the goals and positions of the BDS movement.