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Picket of Marks and Spencer Marble Arch 11/9/03 in support of the Intifada

FRFI Victory to the Intifada Group | 11.09.2003 21:21 | Social Struggles | London

Victory to the Intifada’s (VTI) mobilisation brought over 80 protesters on to Oxford Street with banners, placards and street theatre. They joined the weekly picket supporting the Palestinian struggle by opposing M&S’s corporate sponsorship of the State of Israel. The picket is now facing opposition from Zionists and BNP members who for two weeks in a row have set up a stall supporting Israel. They fly the Union Jack alongside the Israeli flag and hand out leaflets defending Israeli supremacy in the Middle East. Zionists who justify the existence of the State of Israel by reference to the Holocaust are standing shoulder to shoulder with virulent Holocaust deniers.

M&S trade with Israel to the tune of £250 million per year, sell goods made in the Occupied Territories labelled as made in Israel and have openly stated that ‘one of its fundamental objectives is aiding the economic development of Israel’ (Lord Marcus Sieff, M&S Chairman 1999).

Victory to the Intifada have been targeting M&S for almost three years with pickets outside various stores around Britain to highlight British involvement in the ongoing war against the Palestinians.

On tonight’s lively and noisy protest, VTI members and supporters were joined by members of the Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC), the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), Green Ribbon, Indymedia and others.

Against the background racist drivel of the fascists, the M&S picketers told the passing public about the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the daily atrocities against the Palestinians that go unreported in the mass media. Loud chanting drowned out the fascists/Zionists who used the fact that today is the second anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Centre to express their racist sentiments about Arabs and Muslims. However demonstrators picketing M&S exposed how this date coincided with Europe’s biggest arms fair held in east London (DSEi), where one of the main sellers of anti-personel weapons, including cluster bombs, is Israel.

Victory to the Intifada!
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!
Down with British Labour support for Zionist Israel!
Oppose fascism in all its forms!

Join the picket every Thursday from 6-8pm outside M&S Oxford Street Marble Arch.

FRFI Victory to the Intifada Group
- e-mail: victoryintifada@hotmail.com
- Homepage: http://www.revolutionarycommunist.com

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

Make sense!

12.09.2003 00:14

Please stop sounding like Dave Spart. Most of us are very unhappy about M and S suppporting a deeply unpleasent Israeli government. But you lot just sound like exclusive tedious Trots. How many of you have actually been on the front-line?

Saladin


Reply to earlier comment

12.09.2003 01:04

And how many issues do you demonstrate about? Have you been on the front line of all of them? Or are you just trying to wind us all up, as you have no issues to demonstrate about? Are you really a Zionist trying to imply we're leftist and therefore deadly scum, or are you a leftist trying to diss the SWP for their (likely) involvement? I'm pretty sure you are the latter, but actually advancing an argument, or even simply an indication of your personal position is a far better use of this wonderful reporting system.

(I didn't attend the demo, however, I'm a member of several organisations, including PSC, STWC and (tradgically) the SWP and Socialist Alliance, and attend various forms of demonstration regularly).

Rebel W


Not making sense

12.09.2003 15:37

Who is Dave Spart? As it turns out the picket was organised by the Revolutionary Communist Group who are not Trots and it appeared that although members and supporters of a number of other organisations turned out, the SWP was not among them.

Who is Dave Spart?


concerned with the truth

24.11.2003 17:03

im confused ...

i read on one web page about the jewish links of Marks and Spencer and wonder how people can be upset with a company supporting its historical location, yet on another one that 'M&S is supporting Zionism' ...

i always think that there are more than two sides to every story but what is the truth? Surely your problem is with the Israeli government and not Marks and Spencer? If i moved to Turkey and invested in the British economy would that be seen in a similar light? Im not trying to cause an offensive reaction ... just concerned with the truth ... what does 'some' products are labelled from isreal that aren't really - is that 10, 100 or 1000?

in any case ive not bought anything from M&S in years but that doesn't really help anyone

Truth

truth