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A Canadian pro-Palestinian group has initiated a boycott of Indigo Books and Music, which was formed in 1996 and merged with Chapters in 2001 to form Canada’s largest chain of bookstores. The Coalition against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) objects to charitable activities undertaken by Indigo’s co-owners Gerry Schwartz and his wife Heather Reisman.
Coalition members accused Schwartz and his wife of supporting the Israeli army's oppression of the Palestinians by donating money to lone soldiers.
Palestinian as well Canadian members of the CAIA rioted last week outside an Indigo bookstore where Reisman attended a book signing ceremony.
. . .
Protesters accused Schwartz and his wife of supporting the continued oppression of the Palestinians through their Heseg fund, which offers financial support to over 200 lone soldiers.
CAIA is hardly the first Canadian leftist gang to organise a boycott of Chapters-Indigo. Mr Schwartz and Ms Reisman were at one time prominent supporters and fundraisers of the Liberal Party. In August 2006, however, they publicly deserted the Liberals for Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party because of the prime minister’s forthright and uncompromising support for Israel. That prompted a boycott call from the raving rabble at babble.ca.
The Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers provides scholarships and other financial support for soldiers from abroad who decide to stay in Israel permanently after serving in the Israeli Defence Forces.
The brainchild of Canadians Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman, the Heseg Foundation (Keren L’Chayalim Bodedim) represents their joint pledge to fund a minimum of 100 full scholarships each year for the next three years, to students enrolled in a minimum three-year program of study.
. . .
The only foundation of its kind dedicated exclusively to lone soldiers, the Heseg Foundation is the first to recognize the needs of the 5,000 to 6,000 volunteers in the IDF from abroad who enlist without the kind of support networks most domestic IDF soldiers have to make their stints of army duty easier.
Other anti-Israel groups have announced boycotts of Chapters-Indigo in the past year. The boycotts have had no discernable effect on Indigo’s bottom line, however. The most recent quarterly report, for the three months ended 31 December 2006, shows increased sales and profits compared to the same period the year before.
There is no Chapters-Indigo store in Whitehorse unfortunately, but, whenever I travel south, I spend many hours browsing and buying in their stores. I plan to do so again ASAP.
h/t: Dhimmi Watch
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