Majority oppose boycott, data shows

FOLLOWING the brouhaha surrounding the misguided BDS campaign directed against Woolworths I decided to follow the proceedings of the Woolworths AGM in Cape Town on News24 to ascertain the extent to which public opinion was being swayed by the insistence of boycott, disinvestment and sanctions (BDS) shareholders to cut all ties with Israel.

I directed my attention towards the number of messages being posted, together with their respective "like" or "dislike" responses.

I categorised these responses into two groups: those that were anti-BDS in nature (those which approved the sale of Israeli goods), and those that were pro-BDS in nature (those that rejected it). I tallied and calculated the total for each type, yielding a sample size in excess of 30700 responses. The results were staggering, to say the least: 95.08% were against the boycott of Israeli goods and 4.94% approved of it.

The conclusion we can confidently draw is that the overwhelming majority of the public do not support the boycott of Israeli goods.

This removes all doubt with regards to the wishes of the average Woolies shopper.

My figures are available to anyone wishing to examine them while a simple examination of the webpage http://www.fin24.com/Companies/ Retail/LIVE-Will-boycottwoolworths- come-to-Woolworths-AGM-20141126 will enable anyone else to undertake the same exercise.

Neville Kahn Sandringham, Johannesburg