A months’ long effort by pro-Palestinian activists to convince Canadian shoppers to boycott a successful Israeli shoe company unleashed a sort of boomerang effect and ended up causing a surge in sales.
For more than half a year, the protesters have been picketing the Israeli comfort shoe store Naot in Montreal. According to the CEO of the Israeli company, between half a dozen and twenty protesters arrive every weekend and stand outside the shop for about two hours telling potential customers not to patronize the Israeli company and hold signs that call for a boycott of “Israeli apartheid.”In a telephone interview with The Blaze, Teva Naot (as the company is known in Israel) CEO Michael Illouz says though the protest isn’t big, it is bothersome. Surprisingly, he’s seen a:
“7% increase in sales since the protests started. The protesters announced that there’s a new Naot store in Montreal and it got the word out about our store.”“Jews and other Canadians are against the protest and buy even more. On the one hand, it’s not pleasant that a group arrives to our stores and protests the product, but on the other hand there are many other people who are against the protest and are for Israel.”“When the protesters stand outside the store, people don’t like to go in or to even walk on that street. It bothers both Naot and other neighboring businesses.”
Protesters from PAJU Montreal say their “boycott vigil” aims to create an “Apartheid free zone” on St. Denis Street in Montreal where Naot is located. Ynet reports:
No comments:
Post a Comment