Dear Whole Foods, you are enabling the exploitation of Gaza's children.
Why is Whole Foods Market, a subsidiary of Amazon, allowing hecklers just outside of their stores who are championing a make-believe "cause" that directly funds Islamist, genocidal terrorism?
Please consider supporting our mission to help everyone better understand and become smarter about the Jewish world. A gift of any amount helps keep our platform free of advertising and accessible to all.
You can also listen to the podcast version of this essay on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, YouTube, and Spotify.
Editor’s Note: Whole Foods Market, a subsidiary of Amazon, is an American multinational supermarket chain with more than 500 stores in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Dear Whole Foods,
Last week in Los Angeles, where I am visiting my parents, I went to one of your stores to buy some groceries.
While I was walking into your building, two young “White” men, probably in their mid-20s, each asked me, one after the other, if I would like to help (i.e. donate money) so more children in Gaza have access to clean water.
Of course, 2024 has reached peak global absurdity on many levels, so I was completely unsurprised by these fellas championing the Palestinian quasi-cause — in spite of the skyrocketing probability that they have zero “skin in the game” in Gaza, that they have never visited the region, and that they have a deficit of knowledge about the actual reasons why some Gazans lack access to clean water (more on this soon).
But what did surprise me was that Whole Foods Market, a subsidiary of Amazon (which is in turn a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq), apparently allows hecklers outside of their stores to hound incoming customers about a topic that does not come remotely close to passing any half-working test of honesty, morality, ethics, truth, and “doing the right thing.”
All parties involved here — the two young men and Whole Foods — surely have good intentions. Most everyone, myself included, can get behind a fundraiser to help more children receive more access to more clean water. It just seems that these two “humanitarians” chose the wrong place and the wrong people in the world to advocate for.
It turns out, of the 450 million children who live in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability, Gazan children are nowhere near the top of this list.1
Eastern and Southern Africa have the highest proportion of children living in such areas, with more than half of children — 58 percent — facing difficulty accessing sufficient water every day. That is followed by West and Central Africa (31 percent) and South Asia (25 percent), which is home to the largest number of children living in areas of high or extremely high water vulnerability: more than 155 million children.
For reference, Gaza has no more than two million children — and that is me being incredibly liberal with my approximation. The more accurate number is somewhere between 800,000 and 1.5 million.
Why, then, were these two men exploiting “the children in Gaza” right outside of an unassuming Whole Foods market?
There are two possible options: Either they are diehard members of the “pro-Palestinian” cult — and by “cult” I am alluding to the fact that virtually the entire Palestinian narrative is a robust combination of distortions, gaslighting, revisionist history, and outright lies.
The other possibility is that these two men are being paid by nefarious, Jihadist, pro-Islamist actors (e.g. the BDS movement, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, the Uncommitted National Movement) to manipulate Whole Foods shoppers into supporting a falsified, misrepresented group of children, some of whom lack access to clean water.
Do you know why, though?
Because their own regime (Hamas) racks up billions of dollar in the very international “aid” that these two men are pining to collect, and then uses these funds to build rockets, manufacture missiles, and employ Gazan children (many of whom die) to dig underground tunnels for Jew-hating, genocidal mega-terrorists to smuggle weapons, lock up hostages, torture their own people, and hide like cowards.
I know Whole Foods customers are quite particular about what they consume, so allow me get even more specific: If you want to know why some Gazans lack access to clean water, a video released by Hamas shows the terror group bragging about their “ingenuity” by literally cutting out of the ground water pipes donated by Europe to Gaza. Why? You know, to manufacture more rockets.
It has also been well-documented that Hamas and other terrorist organizations like Palestinian Islamic Jihad (as well as the Muslim Brotherhood, their “parent company”) use the smoke-screen of humanitarian organizations as cover to fundraise for their belligerent motivated-by-Islam terrorism and gross human rights violations within their own societies, no less against their self-professed enemies, such as Israelis and Americans (the two young men camped just outside of Whole Foods notwithstanding).
The irony here is pungent! Tons of people who consider themselves God’s humanitarian gift to the world are being coaxed into fundraising for terror groups that habitually, as a matter of policy and record, commit crimes against humanity toward whomever does not subscribe to their perverted worldviews, including but certainly not limited to people in their own societies.
For those who are actually interested in helping Gazan children, here are a few places to start:
Demand Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad surrender, unconditionally.
Tell your governments to stop funding the obscenely corrupted United Nations agency for Palestinian “refugees” (UNRWA) which, among other major transgressions, explicitly and systematically encourages children in schools and mosques to join a death cult and become “martyrs.”
Implore Palestinian leadership to teach their people that life is better for everyone when you love your children more than you hate and want to kill Jews.
Wait a second, though. I just remembered that it is wildly inappropriate to judge another culture according to my own standards of what is right and wrong, strange and normal — or what is known in the quasi-“progressive” world as “cultural relativism.”
And this “cultural relativism” is not just some laughable internet meme. At places like Kings College, a public university in London, the “Counter-Terrorism Course for UK Civil Servants” course teaches students, and I quote: “Terrorism is not the problem. Rather, the systems that ‘terrorists’ oppose are terrorist.”2
In other words: How dare we call terrorists “terrorists” — but terrorists are free to destructively oppose our systems which they consider “terrorist,” based on their judgements that our culture is wrong and/or strange and thus must be obliterated “by any means necessary.” I love a good hypocrisy, don’t you?
Back in the Palestinian Territories, such propaganda is indoctrinated in children from very young ages, as they are taught the supreme value and various methods of killing Jews. In United Nations schools, mosques, and other civilian venues, they learn to glorify hatred and nurture violence. In “summer camps,” they teach kids how to fire automatic weapons and kidnap Israelis.
If you think this is not ludicrous enough, both Palestinian governments — Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the Palestinian West Bank — literally incentivize terrorism against Israelis. Pay for slay. The worse the attack, the more money you and your family receive. What great social services.
But in the minds of so-called “pro-Palestinians” all of this is the necessary price of “resistance” and “liberation” — “by any means necessary,” they love to remind us.
Speaking of prices, the current cost of a single cigarette in the Gaza Strip is $27 U.S. dollars, while packets are sold at $430 U.S. dollars. This “tax” has helped Hamas continue to fund its own survival throughout the war at the great expense of Gaza’s residents.
The alarming prices of cigarettes and other goods in Gaza, strategically inflated by Hamas, have sparked a major crisis in the Gaza Strip, causing the residents to resort to solutions such as smuggling and alternative options in order to obtain certain products.
Just like Israel has for many years provided Gaza with water and electricity for actual humanitarian reasons, the IDF last week made an interesting air-drop to Gazan civilians over a coastal area of the Gaza Strip.
The IDF has been known to drop leaflets consistently before striking Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (whose operatives habitually hide behind civilians — including children — and civilian infrastructure). These leaflets typically request that the public evacuate the area immediately for their own safety, and some have been used to offer rewards for Hamas leaders.
But unlike these air-drops, the ones conducted last week by the IDF did not request that the Gazans evacuate or give up information. Instead, the residents were gifted with free cigarettes. Attached to the cigarettes, various leaflets said: “Smoking is dangerous, but Hamas is more dangerous.”3
Of course, through the eyes of “pro-Palestinians,” nothing that Israelis do is ever good, and everything that the Palestinians and their supporters do is purely blameless. Like heckling customers outside of a Whole Foods in Los Angeles and gaslighting them with “the children in Gaza.”
But the Whole Foods crowd was a tough nut to crack. The first patron, clad in Lululemon and sipping an oat milk latte, paused for a moment, furrowed her brow, and asked, “Gaza? Is that near the Paleo aisle?”
Undeterred, the two hecklers tried to engage another customer — a man carefully selecting heirloom tomatoes, who politely declined their request. “Sorry, I’m all tapped out after donating to the Save the Arctic Elephants fund,” he said with a shrug. “Plus, I’ve already hit my charity quota for the month.”
As the day wore on, the duo’s fundraising remained conspicuously low, save for a another “White” person who is so profusely overwhelmed with “White guilt” syndrome and thus jumps at every opportunity to subdue it, no questions asked.
One of the hecklers, ever the optimist, attempted to hand out informational flyers, only to be met with blank stares and quickened steps. A particularly concerned shopper did stop; however, she warned them about the environmental impact of paper waste before going about her day.
And yet, the pinnacle of absurdity was reached when a Whole Foods employee emerged from the store, wearing a bright green apron and a look of corporate concern. “I’m sorry, gentlemen,” she began, her voice dripping with empathy, “but we can’t have you soliciting here. It’s not in line with our community guidelines. Plus, it might upset our customers.”
“Upset your customers?!” one of the hecklers echoed in disbelief. “We’re trying to help ‘the children of Gaza’ — don’t you get it?!”
The employee nodded sympathetically, “Yes, I understand. But have you considered doing a fundraiser that’s more … in line with our brand values? Maybe something like a farm-to-table luncheon? Or a yoga-thon for peace?”
One of the hecklers, sensing the absurdity of it all, could only sigh. “Right. Because nothing says ‘we care about a conflict that has absolutely no bearing on our lives’ like hot yoga sessions, artisan avocados, and a surgical juice cleanse.”
And so, dear Whole Foods, while you continue to sell ethically sourced coconut water, fair-trade chocolate, and even imperialist Palestinian olive oil imported all the way from Judea and Samaria (true story), perhaps it is time to consider that not every problem can be solved with a recycled tote bag and a monthly donation to the Rainforest Alliance.
Sometimes, just sometimes, the world does not need an overpriced grocery store to allow solicitors on their lawn, pretending they are like a group of noble anti-Vietnam War protesters from the 1960s — when in reality these “pro-Palestinians” are ideologically far closer to the swastika-bearing hordes who gathered in Madison Square Garden in 1939 to cheer on Adolf Hitler.
Just a thought, Whole Foods. Take it or leave it. In the meantime, I will do my shopping at Trader Joe’s.
“One in five children globally does not have enough water to meet their everyday needs – UNICEF.” UNICEF.
“Scandalous Indoctrination: Inside a Kings College Counter-Terrorism Course for UK Civil Servants.” Fathom.
“Smoking is bad, but Hamas is worse: IDF airdrops cigarettes over Khan Yunis, Gaza.” The Jerusalem Post.
As if I needed another reason to avoid shopping at Whole Foods…
This piece filled me with utter rage! These stupid people that swallow this filth! How could you accept it without trying to understand the situation. They are beyond moronic. As for Whole foods, I have no doubt their time will come. Israel is faced with permanent hate right now but you will prevail. Stay Strong!