ICJP issues legal notice to Sainsbury’s and notifies Northern Ireland Executive over stocking of illegal Israeli settlement products
13th June 2025- The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has issued a legal notice to Sainsbury’s, regarding their continued stocking of illegal Israeli settlement products on shelves. ICJP has also written a letter to the Northern Ireland Executive asking how it is ensuring that businesses in Northern Ireland are complying with their obligations under international law.
Pressure on Sainsbury’s has mounted even further because the BDS Belfast Campaign has also written to the Northern Ireland Consumer Council, complaining about Sainsbury’s continued stocking of settlement products.
The action follows a sustained campaign of pressure against Sainsbury’s for its stocking of Israeli products and illegal Israeli settlement goods in Northern Ireland. BDS Belfast has coordinated this campaign, which included significant community support against a specific Sainsbury’s supermarket in West Belfast. That one shop location alone, at Kennedy Centre Belfast, was the subject of a petition of 4,500 individuals, in October 2024, who called on Sainsburys to stop stocking the products. Sainsburys is still yet to respond to this petition.
This is the latest ICJP action in relation to supermarkets’ stocking of illegal Israeli settlement products. In October 2024, ICJP issued notices to Asda, Aldi, Lidl GB, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose & Partners, asking for clarity on what products they sell from illegal settlements and what steps they are taking to end the sale of these products.
In December 2024, ICJP then wrote to DEFRA Secretary of State Steve Reed MP asking for the department to table legislation and implement clear, robust and enforceable guidelines prohibiting the import and sale of products from illegal Israeli settlements in the UK.
ICJP Legal Officer Mira Naseer said:
“Following the ICJ’s landmark Advisory Opinion in July 2024 and in light of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, it is unacceptable that businesses continue to stock products from illegal settlements. Consumers in Northern Ireland have made it clear that they do not want products that support the unlawful military occupation on their shelves.
Supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, must abide by their business and human rights obligations. The Northern Ireland Executive must take decisive action to regulate businesses in order to meet its own obligations under international law.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- ICJP is a legal organisation based in London, working to uphold international law and defend the rights of Palestinians.
- For more information or for media inquiries, please contact the ICJP news desk at press@icjpalestine.com.