The boycott Marks and Spencer pickets have been taking place around Britain since the 2nd Initifada began. Marks and Spencer is the biggest corporate sponsor of the Zionist occupation in Britain. The pickets aim to bring solidarity for the Palestinian people on to the streets of Britain and to highlight the British governments historical links to the Zionist movement (particularly the Labour Party).
Last Thursday around 20 British Zionists turned up before us with a stall handing out leaflets about why British people should buy Israeli goods, with placards showing pictures of people killed by suicide bombs, with Israeli flags and Union Jacks. They had a megaphone which they used to espouse the usual racist insults against Arabic and Muslim people and calling on people to shop in M&S.
They have promised to return this Thursday. It is vital that we have a huge turnout to show them that active solidarity for the Palestinian people cannot be chased or intimidated off the streets. Please come to demonstrate against Zionist brutality and in support of the resistance this Thursday 11 September outside the flagship Marks and Spencer on Oxford Street, near Marble Arch from 6-8pm.
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Excuse me, Frank
10.09.2003 17:14
I don't get it. You say that they were intimidating you. How precisely, because you didn't describe any actions on their part which appear out of place. Did you leave something out that they WERE doing improperly? Kind of hard to imagine why you would fail to mention it if they were. Or are you complaining that there were a whole bunch of them willing to put out this effort on their side of the matter and it amde you guys look like a puny bunch by comparison? Well hell, that's not intimidation, simply your failure to have convinced enough people that they should join you in support the Palestinians comapred to their success in convincing people to supprot the Israelis.
It's not the "rightness of your cause" in your own eyes that entitles you to have the larger crowd in a demo vrs counter-demo situation like this but your success or failure in convincing other people.
Might I humbly suggest something. I ask you to consider carefully whether this is your fight. Because if it isn't, if this is a minor issue of yours among many closer to home, your disappointment may be simply that you ARE at a serious tactical disadvantage against people for whom the issue is primary. The effort you put in here takes away from the amount of effort you have available for all your other causes -- but if THEY don't have all these other fish to fry they are easily going to be able to outdo you even with comparable size bases of support. In other words, you are bound to "lose" (locally) where you can't afford to throw in your full resources to JUST this fight and perhaps should consider it a symbolic gesture.
In other words, ask yourself which of your other causes are you willing to put less effort into so that you can divert those resources to THIS fight and for all of us out here reading your plea for assistance, which of OUR other causes are you asking us to give up in oreder that we might do so (you need to convince your readers of THAT).
Mike
e-mail: stepbystepfarm mtdata.com
Crumbs
10.09.2003 17:49
P.S. I know a good Arms Dump in the Docklands.
Nice Man