American Free Press: Rachel Corrie's Brutal Murder!

Rachel Corrie's brutal murder by the operator of an Israeli Defense Force bulldozer in 2003, shone the light on her hometown, Olympia Washington, that has a long history of social activism. Perhaps infused with her fighting spirit, a local business has has picked up Olympia's tradition by banning products made in Israel. Olympia Food Co-op's (OFC) 10 member board voted in favor of the boycott in July 2010 as a way to "compel Israel to follow international law and respect Palestinian human rights." Israeli products removed include crackers, ice cream cones and moisturizing cream. OFC isn't picking solely on Israel. Whaling and human rights violations led to its boycott of products from Norway and China. Spearheaded by officials of the Israeli government -five people, including several Jewish attorneys, filed a civil lawsuit in September, alleging that the boycott was unfair and violated the co-op's rules and bylaws. Interestingly, three of the five complainants actually tried to run for election to OFC's board of directors, but each lost by substantial margins. Last week, a motion to strike the lawsuit filed by OFC's attorneys, including lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights, asserts that the complaint is what is known as a "SLAPP", or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, which is illegal in Washington. According to the group Olympia Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, SLAPP lawsuits are "a form of legal and financial intimidation used to undermine social and environmental justice movements by penalizing participation and free speech." A hearing is set for January 13. Electronic Intifada (EI), the pro-Palestinian group responsible for fingering Israeli government involvement in the US lawsuit, is in the vanguard of these types of battles. According to its website, El "focuses on Palestine, its people, politics, culture and place in the world."