CODEPINK urges May 4 protests, boycotts of Trader Joe’s over Israeli goods

CODEPINK’s May 4 boycott push put Trader Joe’s crews on the front line of a familiar retail flashpoint: customers asking about product sourcing while activists target specific shelves and store entrances. The group urged supporters to press the chain over Israeli goods, but also told participants not to remove items from shelves or damage property, a sign the pressure campaign was meant to stay inside normal store operations even as it put managers on notice.

The campaign’s petition asks Trader Joe’s to stop selling Israeli products until Israel respects international law and human rights for Palestinians, and it also calls for a teach-in and a meeting with activists. CODEPINK said the petition had more than 12,000 signatures when it held a Trader Joe’s headquarters protest in Monrovia, California, on Nov. 4, 2024. The group also staged Trader Joe’s actions in Los Angeles on Nov. 2, 2024, and in Las Vegas on Nov. 27, 2024, with additional store actions in Santa Monica and Culver City.

CODEPINK’s current materials name several Trader Joe’s items it says are Israeli products, including feta cheese, Bamba puffed peanut and corn snacks, Dorot garlic cubes and Dorot ginger cubes. The group has framed the campaign as part of its broader Palestine and BDS organizing, using videos and calls to action to drive attention and keep the boycott message circulating online.

Trader Joe’s describes itself as a national chain of neighborhood grocery stores focused on value and quality, but its website does not include a public statement responding specifically to the boycott campaign. For store leaders, that leaves the issue to be managed at the floor level, where shopper questions, possible demonstrations and requests for manager conversations can create extra work even when normal store traffic continues.

The dispute is not new. In 2022, Trader Joe’s changed the name of its “Israeli Couscous” to “Pearl Couscous,” saying the product had switched to a domestic U.S. supplier. Reporting from that period also noted that the chain still carried Bamba sourced from Israel and that some ingredients associated with Israeli cuisine were sourced from Belgium and Greece. For a company known for tight product curation and strong crew culture, sourcing fights like this can quickly turn into questions about signage, shelf labels and how workers answer shoppers at the register and in the aisles.