Jewish customers upset over Kosher ban
OKALANDS - SOME Oaklands residents have threatened to boycott a local petrol station.
This after the garage allegedly stopped selling kosher products in their convenience store.
The residents, most of whom are from the Jewish community, took to social networking site, Facebook, to express their unhappiness.
One user posted, “The garage has boycotted all Israeli products. Silly move considering how many Jewish clientele it has (had).”
Another user echoed the same sentiment, accusing the store management of showing support to their Muslim customers. Her post read, “I have just come from there and they have removed everything. The owners came to speak to me as I was walking out of the store. They first said they were no longer selling the products because the stock had expired and then in the same breath, said they had been getting pressure from their community.”
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When contacted for comment, an employee at the garage told the North Eastern Tribune that the owner was away on business and he could not comment further as he was not allowed to.
He said, “This is something that went haywire that shouldn’t have gone public. Only the owner can comment on the matter as we are not allowed to.”
The alleged boycott comes amid ongoing conflict between Israel and Islamic group, Hamas. Different organisations in South Africa have voiced concerns over the ongoing violence in the Middle East, including the Jewish Voice for Just Peace, Cosatu and the Zionist Federation of South Africa.
A Houghton resident who did not want to be named, said it was unfortunate that people can feel that strongly about something happening many kilometres away from them.
“As much as we understand that both parties are passionate about the well-being of their Israel and Palestine counterparts, we should not forget that we are South Africans. We need to unite and show the world that despite our differences, we can unite and tolerate one another despite all our religious backgrounds,” she said.
Another user posted, “Let this be a lesson to all of us to support our own like we used to.”
Should stores be obliged to stock Kosher and Halaal products?
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