Protests at 50 Indigo Bookstores in Canada Highlight Company's Connection to Israeli Military

The peaceful demonstrations included read-ins inside stores, banner drops, handing out bookmarks, speeches by authors, prayers honouring children killed in Gaza, and performances by poets and musicians, including of Jewish folk songs outside Indigo’s flagship location at Bay and Bloor in Toronto.

“I, for one, don't want my books to be sold at a bookstore whose CEO supports genocide,” said award-winning Iraqi author Sinan Antoon, in Canada to present at the Toronto International Festival of Authors. “Those who profit from genocide and destruction and who finance apartheid and ethnic cleansing should be called out and condemned everywhere. Shame on them,” he added.

Four Indigo stores in Vancouver, Coquitlam, Montreal, and Lasalle closed abruptly, locking their doors to the public in response to the protests.

"It was clearly an eye opening moment for people who encountered our protest outside of Indigo and realized this bookstore in their neighborhood was connected to the horrific violence carried out by the Israeli military that they've been seeing on the news every night," said Vanessa Lorusso with Free Palestine BC.

“Several people said they would go inside and give up their Plum Points membership card based on what they learned at the protest, while another person who was about to enter to apply for a job said that he had changed his mind and wouldn’t work for a company whose profits might be supporting genocide” added Lorusso.

These peaceful demonstrations aimed to raise awareness about the financial support provided by Indigo CEO Heather Reisman and her husband Gerald Schwartz to the Israeli military through the HESEG Foundation, which funds non-Israeli "lone soldiers" enlisting in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

“Every purchase from Indigo enriches Reisman and Schwartz, who together own 60% of shares in the company, and in turn have been using these profits to funnel nearly $200 million of tax-subsidized dollars into their charity, the HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers. HESEG’s only purpose is to support the IDF by financially supporting foreign nationals, so-called “lone soldiers,” to serve in the Israeli military” explained Gur Tsabar with the coalition Jews Say No to Genocide. “Right now, as the people of Gaza experience genocide, we have a moral obligation to name and hold accountable companies that are aiding in the slaughter of Palestinians, and that’s exactly what thousands of people did across the country at Indigo bookshops on Wednesday” Tsabar added.

The IDF is actively committing war crimes in Gaza and enforcing an apartheid system in Palestine, systematically violating the rights and lives of Palestinian civilians.

“Indigo kills kids is a statement of fact”, said Dr. Yipeng Ge, an Ottawa-based physician who recently worked in Rafah, Gaza. “Over 16,000 children have been killed by Israel in Gaza in these past 11 and a half months. The United Nations has added Israel to a global list of perpetrators who have committed violations and harms against children. All children deserve protection, including Palestinian children who are being massacred by Israel with funding and material support from groups like Indigo through ties to the HESEG Foundation.”

Last Tuesday, the Federal Court ordered a temporary shutdown of the boycott campaign website, IndigoKillsKids.ca, in response to Indigo suing the campaign and calling an emergency injunction hearing where they claimed that the website harms their trademark and copyright. Palestine solidarity groups are undeterred and have vowed to continue their boycott and public education campaign against Indigo at the relaunched boycottindigobooks.com.

“If a multi-million dollar corporation like Indigo can quietly call an emergency injunction hearing on just a few day’s notice to force telecommunications companies in this country to block access to a website publishing basic facts they don’t like about their company, what’s next?” asks Rachel Small, with World BEYOND War. “This is a blatant suppression of political dissent and an attack on free speech, in this case involving a corporation whose profits are funding and contributing to mass murder,” added Small.

Since the Indigo Kills Kids campaign launched, Indigo has been scrambling to mitigate the campaign’s impact on their brand, both in and out of the courtroom. The company appears to be attempting to erase the mandated purpose of the HESEG Foundation (as officially described in Canada Helps) from the internet by removing the foundation’s English-language website altogether, and attempting to rewrite their Wikipedia entry, as well as through Heather Reisman sending out an urgent email to all Indigo employees last week.

The donations made to HESEG through Reisman and Schwartz’s Charitable Foundation are subsidized by Canadian taxpayers. Corey Balsam, National Coordinator of Independent Jewish Voices, called on the federal government to act. “Just last month, the Canada Revenue Agency revoked the charitable status of the Ne’eman Foundation for supporting Israeli lone soldier projects. By the same standard, the CRA should take swift action against the HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers, which funds a foreign military.”

Indigo Kills Kids is a grassroots initiative pushing back against the financial and moral support that Heather Reisman and Gerald Schwartz provide to the Israeli military. As part of yesterday’s Day of Action, the campaign called on Indigo and its leadership to:

Drop Lawsuits: Indigo Books & Music Inc. must drop its lawsuit against the Indigo Kills Kids campaign, and Heather Reisman must drop the charges against the "Indigo Peace 11" protesters.

End Support for the IDF: Heather Reisman and Gerald Schwartz must cut all ties with the HESEG Foundation, and remove themselves from positions of power or divest from Indigo Books & Music Inc.

CRA Accountability: The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) must hold Heather Reisman, Gerald Schwartz, and the directors of Canadian charities accountable for funding the IDF and illegal settlements in the West Bank.

More information on the campaign is online at boycottindigobooks.com, a new website which was launched in response to Indigo’s censorship of indigokillskids.ca