{"id":275261,"date":"2026-09-02T17:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/275261\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T17:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:02:13","slug":"dozens-of-baltimore-businesses-join-campaign-to-boycott-israel-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/275261\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of Baltimore Businesses Join Campaign to Boycott Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A sign created and distributed by Apartheid Free Baltimore at Common Ground in Hampden. (Steve Schuster)<\/p>\n

Walking into Common Ground Cafe in Hampden, guests are greeted with far more than a taste of food and beverage selections. A large sign welcomes customers, decorated with the familiar pattern of the Maryland flag and a pattern often found on a Palestinian keffiyeh. In big black letters, it reads \u201cProud Partner \u2014 Apartheid Free Baltimore,\u201d and states \u201cthis business has no business with Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sign is created and distributed by Apartheid Free Baltimore (AFB), an organization run in collaboratively by Jewish Voice for Peace Baltimore, Greater Baltimore Democratic Socialists of America and DMV Palestinian Youth Movement.<\/p>\n

Apartheid Free Baltimore was formed in 2024 with a goal of aligning with the ideals of the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement, which looks to affect change in Israel and Palestine via economic pressure. For AFB, that means encouraging businesses to not source products from companies it calls \u201ccomplicit in Israel\u2019s human rights violations\u201d and avoiding investments in companies that \u201care helping facilitate the genocide of Palestinians\u201d according to the organization.<\/p>\n

Howard Libit, the executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council, said the economic boycott ignores key nuances of the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are plenty of members of the Baltimore Jewish community who are uncomfortable or disagree with actions of the current Israeli government, just like there are plenty of Baltimoreans who disagree with the actions and leadership of the current American government,\u201d Libit said. \u201cIn neither case does boycotting the businesses and economic activity of the people present a way to make the change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Common Ground is one of 40 Baltimore businesses<\/a> that has signed the Apartheid Free Baltimore pledge and 37 that have followed through and completely divested \u2014 meaning per the pledge, they have effectively banned the sourcing of products from companies that financially support Israel.<\/p>\n

That list includes:<\/p>\n

Wishbone Reserve
\nSoul Soil Healing
\nHoly Frijoles
\nAtomic Books
\nLovelyarns
\nCommon Ground
\nMeta Wellness
\nIn Watermelon Sugar
\nBazaar
\nCrafted Hair Salon
\nRed Emma\u2019s
\nKoshary Corner
\nMotzi Bread
\nB. Willow
\nFruit Camp
\nBeyond Video
\nBaltimore Yoga Studios
\nBaltimore Bicycle Works
\nThread Coffee Roasters
\nNeighborhood Fiber Co.
\nMera Kitchen Collective
\nBaby\u2019s on Fire
\nMaking Space Bmore
\nDear Globe Coffee
\nLe Mondo
\nCurrent Space
\nFielder\u2019s Tavern
\nLark Hair Space
\nScrap Creative Reuse
\nHello Bonita
\nStoop Coffee Shop
\nAunt Hazel\u2019s Witchcraft Project
\nThe HOUSE Handcrafted
\nCalamansi Counseling<\/p>\n

Jesse Gold, a JVP Baltimore organizer involved with Apartheid Free Baltimore, said outreach to Baltimore businesses has produced successful results, including many new partnerships.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile each business has its own unique mission and perspective, they share a common desire for their business practices, and for the city as a whole, to reflect their values and commitment to human rights. Many businesses express gratitude at the invitation to be a part of this campaign and show solidarity with Palestinian liberation,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

For Apartheid Free Baltimore, its commitment to human rights for Palestinians means doing its part to combat \u201cthe Israeli military\u2019s war crimes, apartheid and genocide,\u201d according to Gold.<\/p>\n

The organization says its philosophy is rooted in one that first took shape against South African Apartheid decades ago.<\/p>\n

Libit said that likening the South African Apartheid system to modern Israeli society and law is a dangerous comparison.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth of the matter is that Arab citizens of Israel have voting rights. Members of the Arab community in Israel serve on the Supreme Court, serve in the Knesset. It\u2019s a false comparison. It always has been,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Abby Cocke, an organizer with JVP Baltimore who works with AFB, declined to delve into specifics of what the organization\u2019s end goal is or what it wants to see happen in the Levant, but stated that a future \u201cgrounded in justice and safety for all humans\u201d includes \u201cupholding Palestinians\u2019 right to self-determination and right of return to their homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cocke also noted Apartheid Free Baltimore explicitly opposes all forms of racism and discrimination, including antisemitism.According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), \u201cJVP uses its Jewish identity to shield the anti-Israel movement from allegations of antisemitism and to provide the movement with a veneer of legitimacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ADL further states JVP further partners with organizations that deny Israel\u2019s right to exist.<\/p>\n

When asked about the likelihood of the Apartheid Free Baltimore\u2019s campaign deterring Jewish customers, Cooke said the organization\u2019s \u201cwork at its core is grounded in all peoples\u2019 right to live in safety and freedom, a commitment that many Jewish Baltimoreans share.\u201d Apartheid Free Baltimore is funded Greater Baltimore DSA.<\/p>\n

In addition to support from 40 businesses, over 400 individuals have made a pledge with AFB to boycott businesses that support Israel.<\/p>\n

Libit, however, denies that the Apartheid Free Baltimore\u2019s campaign is representative of what Jewish Baltimoreans want. He characterized JVP as a \u201cfringe\u201d group that doesn\u2019t \u201cspeak for the Jewish community as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the campaign is antisemitic because it specifically targets the world\u2019s only Jewish state.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey aren\u2019t choosing to target any of the other conflict zone places \u2026 there\u2019s no call to boycott Chinese companies because of China\u2019s treatment of some of their minorities, there\u2019s no call to boycott certain African companies and nations where they\u2019re committing genocide against people, the one place they want to target is the Jewish democracy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For Libit, the AFB campaign will have serious ramifications for Jewish patronage of area businesses. He summed up his feelings, and likely those of others, succinctly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I see it, I won\u2019t go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Editor Steve Schuster contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

aguckes@midatlanticmedia.com<\/p>\n

This story has been updated to reflect new information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A sign created and distributed by Apartheid Free Baltimore at Common Ground in Hampden. (Steve Schuster) Walking into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[74520,31336,75133,33970,75134,37,75135],"class_list":["post-275261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-apartheid-free-baltimore","tag-baltimore","tag-bjc","tag-common-ground","tag-greater-baltimore-dsa","tag-israel","tag-jvp"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117202527716146321","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}