Latest news with #CooperativeGroup
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Village where Israelis and Palestinians live together to promote peace faces planned tax on funds
An Israeli village where Jews and Palestinians live together to promote peace is in danger of losing vital overseas funding following Israeli government proposals to impose an 80% tax on foreign donations, residents have warned. Leading figures from the unique community – Wahat Salam/Neve Shalom, which translates as 'Oasis of Peace' – flew to the UK this week in a visit hosted by the Co-operative Group, which is calling for the UK government to support peace-building cooperatives worldwide with foreign and development policy. Samah Salaime, an Israeli Palestinian, and Nir Sharon, an Israeli Jew, co-direct the village's educational institutions, which include the School for Peace for activists and a primary school where 250 Jewish and Palestinian children learn each other's histories, in Arabic and Hebrew. The co-directors addressed a parliamentary round table, attended by Labour and Co-operative MPs and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on Tuesday, in a visit coinciding with the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, when more than 700,000 Palestinians were dispossessed. On Saturday, the pair addressed the Co-operative Group's annual general meeting in Manchester. Before the meeting, Salaime told the Guardian of the threat posed by a bill being debated in Israel's Knesset. If it became law, it would decimate the finances of NGOs in Israel that receive funding from foreign states. 'All support from foreign countries for the peacemakers of the left, the liberal and the democratic; humanitarian aid or legal aid for the Palestinians, will be taxed 80% from foreign countries,' she said. 'The biggest supporters for Wahat Salam come from the UK, from the Co-op, our friends in Switzerland, in Sweden, in the US. We don't have any local Israeli support for our project … financially and ideologically, they are against us.' Sharon added: 'We faced financial problems and challenges in the past, but if this law passes, we will be in severe problems, most of our education projects will just shut down.' Conceived by Bruno Hussar, a Jewish Catholic priest, the village started with a handful of residents in 1978, in 'no man's land' between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It now has 300 residents, half Israeli Palestinians and half Israeli Jews, including academics and tech professionals, with a waiting list of about 200 families. There is no synagogue or mosque, instead residents pray or meditate in a dome called the Court of Silence. Surrounded by olive trees, communal life in the village revolves around committee meetings where the co-operative's decisions are voted on, shared meals, the swimming pool and the Garden of Rescuers, which commemorates heroes of global catastrophes. There is a guesthouse in the village, and children from surrounding areas are bussed in to attend the school. Salaime said: 'We were attacked by settlers three times. We had two arson attacks in 2021. They set fire to our peace school, and we rebuilt it and the peace library. They attacked the primary school, destroying 16 vehicles … we have all kinds of unfortunate incidents, and we survive.' Salaime, a social worker and feminist of the 'third generation of the Nakba', moved to the village from East Jerusalem in 2000, five days before the second intifada, looking for a 'decent school'. Her three sons have grown up with Jewish friends, facing the 'complexity' of a 'soulmate' agreeing to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. When her home came within a range of rockets from Gaza, Salaime reassured her mother that she could use her Jewish neighbour's shelter. 'We break the rules, we break the stereotype, the brainwashing of the Israeli mainstream that peace isn't possible,' Salaime said. 'We have to win this and offer a different agenda.' Sharon was 14 when his parents moved to the village 23 years ago and said it gives 'isolated lefties, Jewish peacemakers and activists' a place to 'coexist'. 'We are not some kind of utopia, where everything is perfect and there is no debate,' he said. 'When there is October 7 and the war, we have to talk about it.' Leading the Co-op's peace-building campaign, Paul Gerrard, Co-op Group's policy director, said the village was a 'breathtaking example of where people come together around a goal, in that cooperative way, they can survive and they can thrive'.
BBC News
14-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Co-op food shortages continue in stores across Norfolk
Disruption to deliveries following a cyber attack is causing shortages in some product supplies to Co-op stores in Norfolk. The company, which has 13 shops across the county, said it hoped more stock will arrive by the weekend. Customers at the Co-op stores in Brundall, on the Norfolk Broads, and Hingham, in South West Norfolk, told the BBC they were largely able to get what they needed - but had noticed plenty of bare shelves. Co-op said it was bringing its systems "gradually back online in a safe and controlled manner". Andrew Gooder from Brundall visited the store on the village high street for essentials and noticed some empty shelves. "It definitely is convenient," he said."Most people don't do a full shop here but you can pick up your bits and bobs like milk, sweets those little bits that you need." Margaret Smillie lives around the corner from the Brundall store. She had heard that there were issues with a cyber attack but said she was not concerned. "I don't do anything online at all," she said."I'm not worried about losing any data or anything like that but I'm sure a lot of people are." In a statement on the Co-operative Group website, chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq thanked shoppers for their patience. Co-op said it became aware it was being targeted by cyber criminals earlier this month. The hack resulted in payment problems, widespread shortages of goods in shops, and compromised customer and staff data.A group using the name DragonForce are also claim to be responsible for a similar attack on Marks and Spencer (M&S) and an attempted hack of Harrods earlier this food stores are often in rural areas, raising concerns that food shortages would have a greater impact on communities. Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Arab News
10-05-2025
- Health
- Arab News
UK pro-Israel group slammed for suggesting war could reduce Gaza obesity
LONDON: A pro-Israel pressure group in the UK has been condemned for suggesting that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip may benefit from a reduction in obesity levels arising from the war, The Guardian reported on Saturday. The comments — made by Jonathan Turner, head of UK Lawyers for Israel — followed a series of warnings by the UN and aid agencies that Gaza faces imminent famine. Turner, on behalf of UKLFI, was responding to a motion set to be debated at the annual general meeting of the Co-operative Group, a major British retailer. The motion calls for the Co-operative to stop stocking Israeli products, as part of the worldwide Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. UKLFI urged the Co-operative council to withdraw the motion. In doing so, Turner highlighted the motion's reference to a letter published last year by The Lancet, a leading medical journal, which said the death toll in Gaza could be far higher than the 52,000 put forth by the enclave's Health Ministry. Turner said the letter 'ignored factors that may increase average life expectancy in Gaza, bearing in mind that one of the biggest health issues in Gaza prior to the current war was obesity … These factors include the possible reduction in the availability of confectionery and cigarettes.' Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, said on X that Turner's comments represent 'atrocious views,' adding: 'How very kind of Israel to put 2.3 million Palestinians on an enforced diet to improve their obesity levels.' The Lancet has published several studies relating to Israel's war in Gaza. One found that life expectancy in the enclave plunged by 34.9 years during the first year of the war. Gaza's pre-war life expectancy was 75.5 years. Since March, Israel has implemented a total blockade on the entry of humanitarian goods to the enclave. Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: 'As children in the Gaza Strip face the growing risk of starvation, illness and death, the suggestion by the head of UK Lawyers for Israel that they might benefit from weight loss is utterly sickening. 'These repulsive comments illustrate exactly what it means to be 'for Israel' and how low its apologists are prepared to sink in their attempts to justify genocide in Gaza.' UKLFI previously faced controversy over the removal of artwork made by Palestinian children in a London hospital. The organization submitted a complaint to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in 2023, claiming that artwork created by Palestinian children and displayed in the facility made Jewish patients feel 'vulnerable, harassed and victimized.' The hospital removed the works.
The Sun
06-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Co-op boss breaks silence over 'extremely distressing' cyber attack
Breaking CO-OP CHAOS The store revealed some stores are now only accepting cash Published : 18:34, 6 May 2025 THE boss of Co-op has apologised to customers after 'highly sophisticated' hackers attacked the retailer's IT systems. The Manchester-based co-operative is among a number of retailers, including Marks & Spencer and Harrods , to have been hit by hacks on their IT systems in recent weeks. 3 Co-op chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq has apologised after a cyber attack Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk 3 She said criminals got hold of a 'limited amount of member data' Credit: Free for editorial use 3 The store said there were 'sustained malicious attempts' to access customer details Credit: Reuters Shirine Khoury-Haq, chief executive of the Co-operative Group, told customers in an email on Tuesday afternoon that the business is still 'experiencing significant disruption' because of the cyber attack. She said: 'Actively managing the severity of the attack has meant shutting down some of our systems to protect the organisation. 'As previously communicated, we have established that the cyber criminals were able to access a limited amount of member data. 'This is obviously extremely distressing for our colleagues and members, and I am very sorry this happened.' Ms Khoury-Haq said the company is 'working tirelessly' to protect the business, understand the extent of the hack and provide information to relevant authorities. It came after the Co-op was unable to take card payments in some of its stores and shoppers faced empty shelves because of the continued fallout. Customers reported on Tuesday that three stores in Manchester had signs indicating that they were 'cash only' as their card machines were offline. It is understood that contactless payments have also been affected in a small number of stores, with the group working to get normal systems restored. The vast majority of the retailer's 2,300 shops are still taking usual forms of payment. It comes as shoppers have also highlighted empty shelves in some stores, alongside signage indicating that availability has been affected by the cyber attack. A Co-op spokesman said: 'This means that some of our stores might not have all of their usual products available and we would like to say sorry to our members and customers if this is the case in their local store. NSA warns cellphone users to change 'dangerous' message setting now or risk device being 'cloned' – it takes 3 clicks 'We are working around the clock to reduce disruption and resume deliveries. 'We would like to thank our colleagues, members, customers and suppliers for their understanding during this time.' Last week, the Co-op apologised that hackers extracted members' personal data such as names and contact details. It said it had to shut down parts of its IT systems after experiencing 'sustained malicious attempts' to access its systems. Meanwhile, rival Marks & Spencer (M&S) is continuing to deal with disruption caused by its own recent cyber incident, after first witnessing issues two weeks ago. The firm has reportedly been unable to offer some meal deal offers in some of its stores after products availability was impacted. An M&S spokesman said: 'Customers can still buy meal deals in our rail station stores but there are pockets of availability for some items. 'We are working hard to continue getting our products into stores.'
