Cape Union Mart takes Palestine Solidarity Campaign to court over 'genocide funder' claims

IOL News

4 days ago

The retailer said it has never donated any funds to the army of Israel.
Image: Supplied
International retailer Cape Union Mart has approached the Western Cape High Court to seek an interdict restraining local organisation Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) from labelling them as supporting genocide.
This comes after the PSC held protests outside and near Cape Union Mart stores across the country.
The retailer has been called out by the PSC numerous times as 'supporting genocide', referring to the current ongoing genocide taking place in Gaza as the Israelis continue to martyr the Palestinian people.
In court papers, which IOL has seen, Cape Union Mart is cited as the first applicant, and the second applicant is owner and executive chairman Philip Krawits.
The respondents are five activists from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
They are: Magmuda Ockards, Muhammad Shafiq Gamiet, Mohamed Zaid Jeenah, Sherazaad Rahima Sylvester, and Sayed Ridhwaan Mohamed.
The sixth respondent is unidentified protesters, and the seventh respondent is the PSC.
In its application, Cape Union Mart asked the court to interdict/restrain PSC from harassing and intimidating customers and staff.
The application, which was submitted last week, claims that the ongoing protests and boycott campaign at its stores have resulted in financial losses and reputational damage.
A previous procession of more than 40 motor vehicles that held a motorcade demonstration, drove through Beach Road in Sea Point, with passengers waving Palestinian flags and shouting 'free free Palestine'.
Image: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
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The application urges the respondents to stop making claims that the retailer and its associated brands "fund genocide, killing children, or are complicit in the killing of children."
In response to IOL's inquiry, Cape Union Mart's legal advisor, Simone Sulcas, confirmed the application was filed at the Western Cape High Court.
'This follows ongoing protest action that has been underway since November 2023, which falsely claims that Cape Union Mart is 'funding genocide', the Israeli army, the conflict in Gaza, and even advancing claims of complicity in the killing of children,' she said.
'Cape Union Mart, together with its Executive Chairman, Philip Krawitz, categorically state that they have never donated funds to the Israeli army or Israeli government. More specifically, Cape Union Mart has never donated funds to any entities outside of South Africa, and its Executive Chairman has only donated funds for humanitarian purposes,' Sulcas said.
She said the application was brought as a last resort after previous efforts to communicate the correct facts to protesters failed.
'Cape Union Mart fully respects and upholds the rule of law that governs all South Africans, which includes freedom of expression and the right to protest. As such, Cape Union Mart emphasises in its application that it does not seek an order preventing the protestors from expressing themselves. However, this must be done without the continued spreading of defamatory falsehoods and with due regard to the rights of Cape Union Mart's customers and the general public not to be harassed. A hearing date is yet to be set,' Sulcas said.
Protesters calling for an end to genocide in Gaza.
Image: File
However, PSC member Usuf Chikte said this attempt was intended to intimidate and silence the campaign for justice, peace, freedom, and equality for Palestinians and represents a textbook SLAPP suit (a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) designed to suppress critical, peaceful voices through legal intimidation.
'PSC and other parties will be meeting urgently to discuss their response and pass a formal resolution on whether to defend against the application, which it views as a direct threat to constitutional rights, including our freedom of expression and freedom of association.
"his case arises amid increased public scrutiny of corporations and Cape Union Mart's silence and alleged complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and follows growing calls by human rights organisations for corporate accountability and economic boycott of companies seen to be enabling Israeli apartheid,' Chikte said.
PSC said it would not be silenced and said it saw this legal action for what it is.
'This is a blatant attempt to weaponise the courts to shield corporate interests from public accountability. This is not about defamation or safety. This is about suppressing the truth, silencing solidarity, and defending profit at the expense of Palestinian lives.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign condemns Cape Union Mart's decision to use the courts to attack a grassroots movement rather than confront its own role in upholding or benefiting from systems of oppression,' Chikte said.
In his affidavit to the court, Krawitz stated that the relentless boycott campaign has been for no apparent reason other than the company being founded and owned by Jewish people.
He said he was continuously being defamed. He said Cape Union Mart has never donated to any organisation outside Southern Africa.
He also told the court he was concerned that protesters were carrying placards stating 'Krawits Way K-Way Killer Way', and 'Genocide Funder', with his and his wife's picture.
Krawits stated he feared for his and his family's safety, and had to hire bodyguards and a bulletproof-protected vehicle.
The Muslim Judicial Council (MJC) said it supported the constitutional and internationally recognised right to a peaceful protest.
'Such legal maneuvers bear the hallmarks of SLAPP suits, which are widely condemned as antithetical to the values of transparency, accountability, and democratic participation,' it said.
'These demonstrations are in our view neither unlawful nor insightful; they are rooted in a clear ethical imperative to resist complicity in war crimes and genocide. The individuals involved have conducted themselves with dignity and discipline. It is therefore unconscionable that litigation should be deployed as a means to delegitimise their principled stand or to shield commercial interest from public accountability,' the MJC said.
The MJC calls on the South African public, civil society organisations, faith-based institutions, and all people to continue amplifying the plight of the Palestinian people and to stand resolutely with those exercising their democratic right to protest injustice.
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