Cape Town - The Congress of South African Students (Cosas) provoked anger on social media when its members decided to protest Israel’s actions in Gaza by placing the heads of pigs in the kosher section of Woolworths stores.

A photo tweeted by ANC_BRANCH shows a man with a pigs head, apparently in the kosher and halaal section of a Woolworths branch in Sea Point, Cape Town.



In a statement released by Cosas, the body said it supported the call by Boycott Divest and Sanctioning Israel (BDSI) not to buy from Woolworths.

“We are not being bombastic when we say will bring the supporters of Israel pigs - we are being revolutionary,” Cosas in the Western Cape said.

However, BDSI distanced itself from Cosas’s actions.

“We believe that the methods used, namely placing pigs heads in South African Woolworths stores, are very controversial and may not have been properly thought through.

“It may be argued that the placing of pig heads is a form of militant human rights action however there is a great amount of sensitivity surrounding halaal and kosher food.

“The pig heads have now effectively made various Woolworths Stores a complete no-go zone for those that buy kosher or halaal as those areas are now contaminated,” said in a statement.

The retailer has previously said that less than 0.1% of its products are sourced in Israel.



Woolworths told News24 it would be releasing a statement on the matter.



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