Victory to the Intifada’s usual Thursday evening picket urging shoppers to boycott Marks and Spencer, in solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people against Israeli oppression, was lively and vital in the run up to Christmas. At least 50 supporters joined the demonstration outside the Marble Arch store and lots of interest was generated among Christmas shoppers. Victory to the Intifada thanks all the different groups and individuals who turned out and helped make the protest vibrant and influential. It is essential that we spread the truth about the situation and build a movement to challenge all Zionists and sever the support for the Israeli state.

The fanatical Zionist group Betar continues to oppose us, distributing deceitful propaganda in their attempts to distort the facts about the predatory, terrorist state of Israel and deny Israel’s culpability for its own violent history and continuing atrocities against and humiliation of Palestinians, but their numbers were low this week. Picketers drowned out the vitriolic drivel of the Zionist fascists with loud and angry chanting. The boycott of Marks and Spencer has been active for three years across Britain to support the Palestinians and we will not be silenced!
Many different voices were heard through the megaphone to explain the importance of the boycott of Marks and Spencer as a focus for the Boycott Israeli Goods campaign to send a clear signal to Zionists everywhere that the ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the Israeli state will not be ignored or tolerated, despite the support Israel receives from the British government and media machine. We can make a difference: our pennies can be spent wisely to hurt Israel’s financial and ideological backers, the only way they understand – in the pocket.

Lots of essential information was distributed, both verbal and written, outlining recent brutalities against Palestinian civilians by the Israeli army and Israeli policies affecting Palestinian water supplies, farming and other livelihoods, movement and trade, housing, health and welfare and the Right of Return for Palestinian refugees – over five million in the world today. The apartheid wall continues to be built seizing more land from Palestinians, and the Israeli settlements connected by exclusive roads carve up the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Picketers sang alternative Christmas carols drawing attention to the ongoing suffering of the inhabitants of Bethlehem and elsewhere in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, though regrettably this week without the musical accompaniment of the Salvation Army. Potent lyrics were also rapped through the megaphone.

Literature was also available on the terrifying oppression of the people of Colombia by their government and paramilitary groups, to which the British Labour government exports military equipment, training and methods of torture. Information about Cuba’s struggle against imperialism in their attempt to build a better world that will serve human needs not capital could also be obtained, countering the frequently spread lies about Cuba.

On Saturday 20th December, Oxford Street’s busiest shopping day, the Oxford Street Intifada mobilised many supporters who braved the wind, cold and rain to show solidarity with the Palestinian people. The racist and fascist tendencies of the Metropolitan police were exposed once again when they tried to reserve the area opposite the main doors of Marble Arch M&S, used by Victory to the Intifada for three years before the Zionist counter demonstration was set up, for the Zionist fascists who had informed the police that they would arrive at 12.30. Pathetic excuses for this blatant bias were given. Threatened with arrests as soon as we arrived at midday, picketers were consulted on how they would prefer to deal with this police harassment and the majority was keen to make sure the event went ahead, even if we were forced into a pen further up the road. The police steward, however, managed to negotiate an agreement that we would take the more prominent spot at 12.30 if the Zionists hadn’t turned up. They didn’t and the demonstration was energetic, dynamic, colourful and hard-hitting.

Placards expressed slogans such as ‘Israel steals land’, ‘Zionism is anti-Semitic – end all racism’, and ‘your knickers buy tanks’. The megaphones were utilised throughout with alternate chanting and speeches, five minutes for each speaker so that all who wanted to could make themselves heard and educate Christmas shoppers about the Palestinian struggle against Israeli terror. Picketers informed the passing public about Marks and Spencer’s historical involvement with the Israeli state, Israeli expansionism, Palestinian political prisoners, ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, the apartheid wall, the hidden agenda’s of the so-called Peace Processes, the deliberate slow starvation of Palestinian livestock by the Israeli state and the massacres of Palestinians by Israel. Direct experiences of the enforced degradation of Palestinian people were voiced.

The success of the event could not be dampened by the rain, cold wind or police actions. Many thanks to all those who attended and showed that the struggle for justice for the oppressed Palestinian people will never be abandoned. Victory to the Intifada regrets that there will not be a picket this Thursday because circumstances beyond our control mean that M&S will be closed! There will, however, be a picket on New Year’s Day from 4pm to 6pm. Join us and help to expand this vital movement, and contribute your knowledge about the situation to those less aware, on the streets where it counts.

Victory to the Intifada!