MESSAGE
| DATE | 2026-04-29 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] Anti-Semtic bigots running the Park Slope Food
|
Exclusive | Vile antisemitic outburst at Park Slope Coop meeting sparks
outrage: 'Jewish supremacism is a problem in this country'
Kyra Breslin
6–7 minutes
A community meeting at the lefty Park Slope Food Coop over a proposed
boycott of Israeli goods erupted into chaos on Tuesday night after a
member declared, “Jewish supremacism is a problem in this country,” and
compared Jews to Nazis, according to a recording obtained by The Post.
The vile remarks, which were made over Zoom by a coop member with a
screen name of Michael Huarachi, prompted applause from at least 50
people who were attending the meeting in person, according to multiple
witnesses.
It also sparked disgust from Jewish coop members.
“It was shocking,” longtime coop member Ramon Maislen told The Post.
“That’s not who we are.”
The monthly meeting was being held to discuss whether the
socialist-leaning grocery store should lower the current voting
threshold required for a boycott from 75% to 51%, according to Maislen.
This move would make it easier for members who support the anti-Israel
BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement to push through a ban
on Israeli products.
Ramon Maislen outside the Park Slope Food Co-Op, Brooklyn, NY.
The Park Slope Food Coop has a long history of boycotting products. J.C.
Rice
On the same recording, Huarachi said: “We can’t keep making the same
mistakes between what we did with the Nazis and what we did with other
hateful, racist groups,”
His offensive remarks quickly spread through local group chats and even
Reddit, where members called the statement “deplorable” and “blatant
antisemitism.”
Maislen, alongside other Jewish members, took to the floor to condemn
Huarachi’s hate-filled statements.
“I stood up onstage at the meeting, facing a hostile crowd, and said,
‘Applauding a speech that labels Jews as supremacists is not principled.
It is wrong,'” Maislen told The Post.
He added: “You could hear a pin drop when I called everybody out. It was
silent.”
Ramon Maislen wearing a dog tag that reads "Bring Them Home Now!"
outside the Park Slope Food Co-Op.
Ramon Maislen outside the coop he’s belonged to for over a decade. J.C. Rice
Another meeting attendee, who wanted to remain anonymous, told The Post:
“I was disappointed that the moderators didn’t do anything. They just
said, ‘Thank you for your comment. Please don’t clap.’ You know, they
didn’t step in and say, hey, this is out of balance.”
Barbara Mazor, a coop member since 1989, is currently running for the
board so she can have more time to speak during community meetings and
help fight antisemitism at the grocery store.
Mazor said the boycott campaign has consumed the monthly meetings and
turned the institution into a political battlefield.
“It’s just, let’s, let’s get our Jew hate on,” she said. “And we saw it
unabashed last night.”
Maislen said the debate at the storied market is over roughly 10
Israeli-sourced products.
In recent years, it has become less about what is being sold and more
about turning the coop political.
In 2024, he formally filed a complaint with New York state’s Division of
Human Rights, citing Jewish members being harassed for opposing the
boycott calls.
Flyer titled "How can you help stop Israel's genocide in Gaza?"
advocating for a boycott of Israeli products.
The pro-BDS movement has only gained momentum in recent years. Obtained
by The New York Post
According to the complaint, a Jewish coop member who was standing
outside the store and trying to inform those strolling by about the
boycott effort was confronted by a shopper, who called her a “Nazi.”
The odious member began walking away, but not before shouting “Sieg
Heil” at the 35-year-old, according to the complaint. Maislen said the
first member, who was Jewish, later apologized.
In another incident, the complaint details a shopper who said she was
harassed by a worker who said she couldn’t work or stand next to the
Jewish woman because she smelled “of Palestinian blood.” The
investigation was later dropped with no explanation, according to Maislen.
The Park Slope Food Coop, founded in 1973, has roughly 16,000 members
who work in shifts in exchange for discounted groceries and a say in
store policy.
But the debate over Israel has divided the left-leaning community.
According to one member, who didn’t want to be identified, the tensions
have been growing since 2012 —and they are tearing apart a community
whose aim is to work together in a “positive and productive” way.
The member also noted that Huarachi’s antisemitic comment was made with
his camera off, which is typically against coop regulations.
People outside the Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn, New York.
According to Mazor, most coop shoppers are unaware of internal politics.
Helayne Seidman
Shoppers selecting fresh produce from a brightly lit display at the Park
Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn, New York.
The coop is meant to be a positive and productive experience for the
community. Helayne Seidman
“I would really like to see a better future for both Israelis and
Palestinians,” a jaded Mazor told The Post, noting that most members
just wanted to go and do their shopping without having to think about
politics.
“There are roads to coexistence, and this BDS effort is very misguided
and prolongs the conflict.”
But according to the PSFC Members for Palestine, the discussion had many
different shared viewpoints and reactions to the BDS proposal. “We are a
multi-ethnic, multi-generational coalition including Palestinian and
Jewish Coop members, and our position remains as follows: ‘Until Israel
complies with international law, including by ceasing unlawful
discriminatory practices, in its treatment of Palestinians, the Coop
will not sell goods produced in Israel (pre-1967 borders) or in Israeli
settlements in the Occupied Palestine,'” they said in an email to The
Post. Huarachi did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
For Maislen, the episode reflects a broader breakdown inside the coop.
“I’m very pro-peace, but I don’t think that these people are pro-peace
at all. I think they have an agenda and it’s pretty extreme,” he said.
“It was really disturbing seeing all the toxicity that I feel online,
feeling it in person.”
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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