Across Europe, labour and civic movements are intensifying campaigns to boycott Israeli goods in response to the war in Gaza. The movement gained visibility after a supermarket worker in Ireland refused to sell Israeli produce, prompting suspension and later reinstatement following union and public support. Similar actions have spread, with unions in Ireland, the UK, and Norway passing motions allowing workers to refuse handling Israeli products, and retail cooperatives in the UK and Italy removing some Israeli items from shelves.
The campaigns are part of the broader Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which calls for economic and cultural pressure on Israel until it complies with international law. Activists cite historical parallels with Ireland’s 1980s boycott of apartheid South Africa. Governments in Slovenia and Spain have since restricted imports from Israeli settlements, while Ireland’s proposed Occupied Territories Bill remains stalled amid alleged external pressure. Pro-Israel groups, including B’nai B’rith International and ELNET, are lobbying against such measures, warning of legal and economic risks.
Leaked documents suggest Israeli ministries have funded legal efforts to monitor and counter BDS activities in Europe, underscoring the growing geopolitical and legal dimensions of the boycott debate.
Share One afternoon late August in a quiet Irish seaside town, a supermarket worker decided he could no longer separate his job from what he was seeing on his phone. Images from Gaza, with neighbourhoods flattened and families buried, had followed hi
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