The national grocery chain Whole Foods is in the middle of a whole lot of controversy for directing a marketing campaign at Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan -- and then taking it back. 
 
 On July 27, food writer Yvonne Mafei wrote about celebrating Ramadan on the Whole Foods company blog, the Whole Story. 
 
 "Ramadan is fast approaching, and I'm getting my kitchen ready for a month of celebration with my family and community," Mafei wrote. "In case you're not familiar with Ramadan, it is an incredibly important holy month for Muslims. For us, it is a time of reflection -- a time to develop compassion for those who live with hunger and thirst as a way of life, and to do something to help them." 
 
 The post was accompanied by a promotion announcing a gift card giveaway during the Muslim holy month and directed customers to try a new line of halal-certified products called Saffron Road. 
 
 For a socially conscious company that calls itself "mission driven," offering up a few menu choices and gift cards for an important Muslim holiday seemed like a no-brainer. 
 
 The post -- and an accompanying date recipe -- generated enthusiastic comments, such as, "This is great. Finally a major retailer has recognized its Muslim customers" and "Whole Foods your support of Ramadan is very much appreciated." 
 
 But within days anti-Muslim bloggers like Debbie Schlussel, made it clear that they did not appreciate a major national retail chain embracing the Muslim holy month and accused the company of "Islamo-pandering" and being a "shill for jihadist interests." 
 
 It all might have ended there if it weren't for an internal Whole Foods email obtained by the Houston Press that suggested that after the negative reaction from conservatives, some Whole Foods stores would now downplay any mention of Ramadan. 
 
 The email read in part, "It is probably best that we don't specifically call out or 'promote' Ramadan ... We should not highlight Ramadan in signage in our stores as that could be considered 'Celebrating or promoting' Ramadan." 
 
 In a statement to ABCNews.com, Whole Foods indicated that the email may have been misunderstood. 
 
 "Whole Foods Market is NOT canceling our current halal promotion, which is centered around the timeframe of Ramadan..." but the statement went on to say, "We have 12 different operating regions and one region reacted by sending out directions to promote Halal and not specifically Ramadan after some online negative comments." 
 
 But that statement is not likely to stem the tide of negativity being directed at Whole Foods Market, because now comments are pouring in from the other side -- customers angry that the socially conscious grocer seemed to capitulate so quickly to anti-Muslim sentiments. 
 
 One commenter named Bunnie Watson wrote on the Whole Foods blog: "Just disappointed to hear that Whole Foods has capitulated to a vocal minority that does not believe in the freedom to observe non-Christian religious practices in America." ||||| By Debbie Schlussel 
 
 **** UPDATE, 08/09/11: Anti-Israel Whole Foods “Caves” After Schlussel Ramadan Post, But Not Really **** 
 
 Don’t be surprised if you hear the words, “Ramadan Mubarak” (a blessed Ramadan), at a Whole Foods near you. The company is bragging that it is the first national supermarket chain to have a Ramadan marketing campaign, complete with social media. And the folks at HAMAS financier and unindicted co-conspirator, CAIR Action Network, are have allahgasms about it. I’m not surprised by this development. As longtime readers know, I haven’t set foot in Whole Paycheck a/k/a Whole Foods since I discovered (and reported to you) that the company was not only selling–but pimping and promoting–“Canaan Fair Trade” and “Palestinian Fair Trade” Olive Oil, olive oil that funds Palestinian Islamic terrorism and its supporters, including, among other things, scholarships at HAMAS terrorism universities. (More here.) 
 
 Whole Foods Wishes Vegan Jihadists a Happy Ramadan 
 
 After I wrote about this, Whole Foods PR hacks sent out press releases and e-mails lying and denying. But none of what the company said was true and since I wrote about this, I received many reports from Whole Foods customers that Israeli olive oil and other products had been removed from the shelves of many Whole Foods, replaced by the Palestinian terrorism olive oil. My reports didn’t stop ignoramuses like Michelle Malkin Fraudkin from blindly urging people to buy goods at jihadist-enabling Whole Foods, merely because its CEO was under fire for opposing Obamacare. Only morons–and that includes Fraudkin, bigtime–believe that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, even when they enable and financially support Islamic terrorism. 
 
 And, now, there is the Ramadan crap, solely for monetary reasons. Yes, like ALL other American corporations, Whole Foods is whoring itself out to Islam for profits. And as more and more Muslims populate America through immigration and high birth rates, more and more corporations will shill for jihadist interests. It’s that simple. We’ve already seen it with Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and others. And now this from Whole Jihad Foods. The question is, how long ’til Whole Foods no longer carries pork and other non-halal products? Answer: Not long. 
 
 Even scarier, the Whole Foods’ Whole Planet Foundation acknowledges “an ongoing charitable relationship” with halal foods maker Saffron Road. What exactly does that mean? Where is that Whole Foods charity money made from your Whole Foods purchases going? Is it going to hateful mosques that openly support Hezbollah and HAMAS (which is pretty much every mosque in America)? Is it going to support extremist Muslim schools? Why take the chance and continue to buy at Whole Foods? You don’t know where your money is going. But, for certain, it’s going for Ramadan promotions and giveaways. 
 
 Check out this blatant Islamo-pandering from Whole Foods’ “Whole Story” blog: 
 
 More: 
 
 Whole Foods has become the first prominent supermarket chain to run a Ramadan marketing campaign–and they’re hoping Muslim customers will return the favor as they break fast. Even though Muslims traditionally forego meals during the day, lavish evening Ramadan meals could mean big bucks for the natural foods giant … as well as brand loyalty from a demographic not traditionally courted by megastore advertising. Whole Foods is teaming up with Halal frozen entree brand Saffron Road (who sell a variety of Indian-, Thai-, and Moroccan-flavored dinners) to host several promoted blog items on Whole Foods’ website along with sponsored giveaways of Saffron Road food and supermarket gift certificates. Additional content for the campaign is being added by Yvonne Maffei of the My Halal Kitchen blog. While it is a relatively small promotion, it also marks a new benchmark for the Muslim-American community: the first coordinated Ramadan promotion by a national supermarket chain. . . . The “campaign focuses on reaching Muslim consumers online where they are already having conversations about halal foods, grocery shopping, and preparing for Ramadan,” Saffron Road spokesperson Lisa Mabe tells Fast Company. Saffron Road maintains a heavy social media presence and an ongoing charitable relationship with Whole Foods’ Whole Planet foundation, and hopes the promotion will further strengthen their brand awareness. . . . With Whole Foods’ self-consciously granola self-presentation and liberal-, cosmopolitan-skewing customer base, they are the ideal chain to attempt a marketing project aimed squarely at Muslim-American consumers. 
 
 Here’s a tip, Whole Foods: there is NOTHING “cosmopolitan” about Islam. In fact, Islam is the antonym to cosmopolitan. Retro is in. Retro back to the year 622 and the values of savages will NEVER be in. 
 
 Whole Foods . . . For the Organically Conscious Jihadist. Way more humane because, hey, “free range chickens” can run away from the IED. allahu natural fruitbar.
– Whole Foods has ended up with egg on its face after first touting Ramadan then running scared. The company decided to promote some of its halal foods for the Muslim holy month—then backed off when it was ripped by anti-Muslim bloggers. "Ramadan is fast approaching, and I'm getting my kitchen ready for a month of celebration," food writer Yvonne Mafei noted in the Whole Foods company blog last month. The company offered gift cards and directed customers to its halal-certified foods, reports ABC News. Several customers hailed the new interest. "Finally, a major retailer has recognized its Muslim customers," wrote one reader. But anti-Muslim bloggers quickly ripped the posts, with one accusing "anti-Israel" Whole Foods for being "a shill for jihadist interests." Then came this internal email, obtained by the Houston Press: "It's probably best that we don't specifically 'promote' Ramadan. We should not highlight Ramadan in signage as that could be considered 'celebrating' Ramadan." Now Whole Foods is getting slammed again for "[capitulating] to a vocal minority that does not believe in the freedom to observe non-Christian religious practices in America," or so wrote a (former?) customer. A Whole Foods rep says it actually hasn't abandoned the campaign, and noted that the company has 12 operating regions, and the email came from one of them: "Every region operates autonomously. They have their own set of leadership, their own offices."