Thousands of Israelis to boycott Ikea
In the wake of the controversial article published in a Swedish tabloid, thousands of Israelis will boycott the furniture retailer Ikea.
Last week Israel complained to Sweden over what it called a anti-Semitic "blood libel" by the Stockholm newspaper Aftonbladet that claimed Israeli soldiers killed Palestinians in order to sell their organs.
Now thousands of Israelis have signed an online petition to boycott the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea, daily Haaretz wrote on Sunday.
"In the wake of the anti-Semitic publication of a Medieval-type blood libel against IDF soldiers, and the ongoing silence of the Swedish government on the matter, it is unacceptable that we continue to support the Swedish retailer IKEA," the petition read.
"Please, don't just sign the petition, we need real action!"
The petition had more than 4,600 signatories on Sunday.
The action comes in a sensitive time for Ikea as it plans to open its second store in Israel, Rishon Letzion, early next year. The first store was opened in Netanya April 2001.
In response, Ikea’s local management said in a statement that the company is a commercial non-political organization.
Ikea, an unlisted family-owned company, has some 283 branches in 36 countries. It expects sales of 21.5 billion euros (30.1 billion dollars) excluding currency effects for its fiscal year ending August 31.Tourism from Israel to Sweden is still unaffected, a local tour operator told Haaretz.
"There is no significant change, but the main reason is that this is anyway the end of the tourist season in Scandinavia, because of the weather and the fact that there are no direct flights to Sweden," Yehuda Zafrani, the deputy-CEO of Ophir Tours, said.
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Last Updated (Sunday, 23 August 2009 21:06)
