Grassroots pro-Israel activists in the UK have launched a novel campaign with a dual purpose: combating the boycott movement targeting Israel while helping the homeless at the same time.

Sussex Friends of Israel, a group based in Brighton on England’s south coast, is calling on consumers around the country to buy Israeli products and donate them to homeless charities to mark what it is calling “IsrAction Day” on December 21st, the fifth day of Chanukah and four days before the Christmas holiday, traditionally a time of charitable giving.

The idea for IsrAction Day crystallized over the summer, when Sussex Friends of Israel countered BDS demonstrators outside the Israeli-owned Ecostream store in Brighton. As part of their strategy of engaging passersby, the group handed out free snacks, donating the leftover food to a local homeless shelter.

Now, working with similar groups in Manchester, Nottingham and Birmingham, Sussex Friends of Israel intends to implement a local strategy on a national level. Boosting this aim, the long-established Jewish Chronicle newspaper today announced that it was “proud to lend its support” to the initiative in a cover story.

Sussex Friends of Israel is encouraging pro-Israel groups in the US and elsewhere to follow their example.

“This is a simple initiative that can be implemented anywhere in the world,” Sussex Friends of Israel spokesperson Fiona Sharpe told The Algemeiner. “It can be supported by large organizations or by individuals.  The message is the same – buy Israeli produce, give it to homeless shelters and food banks.  While our support for Israel is always foremost in our minds, we must also remember those in need in our own communities.”