Right of Reply: Protesters reject Zionism at Pick n Pay, call for end to Israeli product sales

Key topics

• Protest targeted Israeli goods, not Jewish faith or Passover traditions

• Zionist imagery conflated with religious symbols misleads and harms dialogue

• Calls for ethical consumerism and solidarity against Israeli apartheid

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This was our slogan – it had to do with Israel – a Zionist state – not to be conflated with Judaism

I am writing, along with my fellow protesters, to exercise our right of reply to Tim Flack’s article, “Tim Flack: Pick n Pay Norwood’s Passover display wasn’t ‘Zionist propaganda.’ It was about respecting Jewish South Africans” (BizNews, 10 April 2025).

We were not offered a right of reply before publication. This letter corrects serious factual and logical distortions.

First, to correct the record: our protest at Pick n Pay Norwood was not against Jewish symbols or the celebration of Pesach. By the time we arrived, the original display—blue and white cloths with repeated Stars of David mimicking the Israeli flag—had already been removed following public outrage.

Our protest was directed at Pick n Pay’s continued sale of Israeli products, many made either in Israel or illegal settlements, profiting directly from apartheid and ethnic cleansing.

The Star of David (Magen David) is a culturally significant symbol. However, it was not originally a religious symbol. It became associated with Jewish communities mainly in the Middle Ages. The colour blue, and the use of the Star of David in nationalist contexts, comes specifically from Zionism. The First Zionist Congress in 1897 adopted the blue-and-white flag with the Star of David to represent a political project—later becoming Israel’s national flag in 1948. Simply replacing the flag-like cloth in Pick n Pay, Norwood’s display with large blue Stars of David, while better, still perpetuates Zionist nationalist imagery, not authentic religious observance.

The real symbols of Pesach are profoundly rooted in the Jewish story of liberation from slavery, not conquest or domination:

Matzah — the unleavened bread — represents the urgency with which the Israelites fled Egypt, leaving no time for their bread to rise. It symbolises the hardship of slavery and the courage to move towards freedom under impossible circumstances.

Maror — the bitter herbs — are eaten to remember the bitterness and suffering of slavery under Pharaoh’s rule. It is a visceral reminder of oppression, not of power over others.

Charoset — the sweet, sticky mixture of fruits, nuts, and wine — symbolises the mortar the Israelite slaves used to build for their oppressors. Its sweetness hints at the hope that endures even amid suffering.

The Seder Plate — gathers these and other items into a ritual meal that retells the story of exodus, resisting forgetting, and recommitting to justice in every generation.

The Four Cups of Wine — represent the four promises of redemption God made to the Israelites: “I will bring you out,” “I will deliver you,” “I will redeem you,” and “I will take you to be my people.” They are a celebration of liberation and the hope for a future of dignity for all.

The Open Door for Elijah — symbolises a vision of ultimate peace, a world redeemed from injustice, where hospitality and hope are extended even beyond our own community.

Every element of Pesach points back to the sacred duty to remember oppression, to refuse it, and to stand with the oppressed.

There is no place in the spirit of Pesach for colonialism, ethnic cleansing, or supremacist domination.  Zionism does not respect any of these things – true Judaism honours justice, fights oppression and seeks the liberation of all.

During our peaceful protest 

(video here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hg52FjPo5-U), we documented many Israeli products on Pick n Pay’s shelves linked to apartheid and occupation. 

We found all these products on Pick n Pay Shelves

Notice how this product does not follow DTI labelling guidelines.

Groups like South African Jews for a Free Palestine have also called for an ethical Pesach, refusing to buy Israeli goods that fund oppression.

Tim Flack’s article misleads in several ways:

First, it falsely claims we were protesting Judaism. We were protesting corporate profiteering from apartheid and genocide.

Second, it conflates Zionism with Judaism—a dangerous falsehood rejected by many Jews, including organisations like Jewish Voice for Peace (https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/).

Third, it omits critical context:

• Amnesty International’s apartheid report: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/5141/2022/en/ 

• Human Rights Watch apartheid report: https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution 

• B’Tselem’s apartheid report: https://www.btselem.org/publications/fulltext/202101_this_is_apartheid 

• ICJ ruling on plausible genocide: https://www.icj-cij.org/case/192 

Flack’s attempt to shield corporate complicity behind faith language is dishonest and dangerous.

As Flack himself wrote: “South Africa is better than this. We fought too hard to become a society that respects religious and cultural diversity to let this kind of bigotry go unchecked.”

But what exactly does Flack think that fight consisted of? It was international solidarity—boycotts, sanctions, and divestment—that played a critical role in ending apartheid. Filling shopping trolleys with South African goods to blockade supermarket cashiers, disrupting the sale of apartheid products, mobilising global boycotts—these were acts of conscience and resistance.

What we did then, we do again now — but this time, we act to stop a genocide. We call for an end to trade with Israel and demand that Pick n Pay immediately cease selling Israeli produce.

This is what global solidarity with the people of Palestine looks like.

South Africans know apartheid is not just enforced with guns—it is normalised through silence and the misuse of cultural symbols. 

It must be resisted wherever it appears.

Our protest stood for human dignity, liberation, and justice for all peoples—principles deeply rooted in Jewish ethical tradition.

Opposing Zionism is not antisemitism.

Criticising genocide is not hate.

And standing against injustice is a moral duty.

Signed,

On behalf of the BDS protesters at Pick n Pay:

Nigel Branken, Anita Khanna, Roshan Dadoo, and others