Victory at M&S Protest

Victory to the Intifada! | 23.04.2004 10:04 | Anti-racism | London

After last weeks arrests protesters gathered on Oxford St outside Britains biggest sponsor of Israel - Marks and Spencer.

I know I write this each week but last night was actually a really good demonstration outside of Marks and Spencer on Oxford St. Particularly so considering the harassment by the coppers over the previous weeks and the illegal arrests of two comrades last week. The Met are still deciding whether to press charges against the two - they've promised to let us know shortly. Any charges will be dilligently and successfully fought against.

Yesterday's demo started with the return of our megaphone by the cops (again out in large numbers, including the Forward Intelligence goons) but only after many delaying tactics such as 'will give you the megaphone back - but we don't have the right paperwork just at the moment' etc.. After about half an hour the hand-over commenced to loud cheers by the crowd and we began to use it....
....But lo and behold! The bugger didn't work. Odd. It worked just before the cops nicked it but now, after being locked away, it ceased to operate and no sound came out.

No doubt the coppers were planning to have a little giggle between themselves over our inability to use a megaphone. Unfortunately for them we have megaphones coming out of our backsides and brought one along which we quickly used...

...at which point the cops intervened and claimed that we would not be able to use the chant 'victory to the intifada!' Apparently this may cause offence to passers by and therefore we could not use it. We'll, if there were to be any ethnic-cleansing murderous Zionists about it probably would cause them offence, but such people are not going to stop us from showing our support to the most just struggle of our time...the intifada...a struggle against brutal occupation and murder.

This is a significant political point. We are called 'Victory to the Intifada!' and not 'Hands off Palestine' for example, because we align ourselves to the legitimate and just struggle of the Palestinian people by a brutal occupier funded by the West. We are not addressing ourselves to the imperialists...'please stop lying Mr Blair. Please stop killing loads of people.' No, instead we say 'victory to the intifada..victory to the Iraqi resistance...victory to the just struggles of the Nepalese, Phillipino, Indian, Venezuelan, Cuban, Colombian and all people's of the world fighting imperialism'.

Intifada is not some crazed concept based on mindless terrorism as the media would like it to be portrayed. Even the more passive likes of Ghandi back in 1948 to Mandella today have supported the inalinable right of the Palestinian people to struggle against occupation. So after the police threatened arrests for using the word 'intifada' (which is an insane condition anyway as the word constantly appears in the mainstream media) the first slogan to come from our lips was...'victory to the intifada!' Every single person chanted this and the police backed down. We will continue to use this slogan and if anyone has a problem with it.....well tough.

It is imperative that we keep up the pressure against Marks and Sparks and against Israel. The intensification of the occupation is heightening with NINE children being killed in one city yesterday alone. The harassment by the police against us exposes the links the British state has to Israel. The reason we have so much intimidation by the cops is because we are continuous, we are organised and as last night showed - we are getting bigger. People do want to defend our democratic right to protest and people do want to demonstrate in support of Palestine. The police and the Zionists are afraid of what we may become. If we were ineffective, inward looking, isolated, sectarian then there would be no real problem from the police as we wouldn't be growing. But the demos ARE growing. It is not just VTI/FRFI on them now but people and individuals from different groups, different backgrounds.

If we stop then we are sending out a clear message to the cops and the establishment: you win, we don't have the right to protest. We don't have the right to support the Palestinian people. Well, I for one don't just consider it my right but my duty to support the oppressed of the world. Vanunu, a true Jewish hero, has just been released after surviving 18 years in Zionist Gaols, 12 years of which were spent in solitary confinement. Their intent was to break him, they failed. Two hours on Oxford St a week is the least we can do to show our support for Palestine. Join us! Fuck M&S. Fuck the police's harassment. Fuck the Mussolini loving Zionists. Please 'scuse my language but all these numbskull fascist and religious zealots can suck my you know what if they think they can stop what has now been started.

Victory to the Initifada!

Demonstrations against Marks and Spencer continues every Thursday between 6 till 8pm on Oxford St (Marble Arch end).

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

Comments

Hide the following 11 comments

BNP parade?

23.04.2004 11:01

What the fuck are you on about? The only British nationalists outside M&S on Thursday nights are the group of British Zionists from Betar-Tagar. They are not members of the BNP and object to any such insinuation, which is their right; but they do wave both union jacks and star-spangled banners as well as Israeli flags, and make very clear their alleginance to British imperialism and their anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, anti-Communist sentiments. A passer-by could well mistake them for a 'BNP parade' that had tangled itself up with a group of Zionists to form some strange alliance. Whatever impression the you'd get of the VTI demo if you didn't know what it was about and didn't stop to find out, it wouldn't be that one.

A more realistic realist

O.K

23.04.2004 11:04

It does make us happy and we will continue. Thanks!

Just Deserts

23.04.2004 13:19

well done!

some time ago my girlfriend was going to go shopping there for a desert for dinner, and you stopped her, gave her some info, and she decided not to shop there!!

she never listens to me, so i was quite suprised, well done for getting the message through to her.

ofcourse, we didn't have a desert that nite. :-(

legal comment

23.04.2004 13:42

Redmond-Bate vs DPP ruled that all protest by its nature is offensive. Therefore, that the police said the use of the word 'infitada' was offensive is not a crime in itself, their confiscation of the megaphone was illegal. For them to act it has to amount to causing 'harassment, alarm or distress' (sec. 5 of the CJA) or to be a breach of the peace, it has to be such that the person is using it to provoke violence towards people or property.

For more information see the legal booklet at www.freebeagles.org

FtP

dont be stupid

23.04.2004 15:33

You must be out of your mind if you think that passer bys think that the zionist demo could mistake it for a bnp demo.

They are a bunch of jewish kids, like 15 and 16 year olds wearing skull caps and talking very nicely.

it is the VTI people who look very extreme to the public

the real realist

clarification

23.04.2004 15:33

Thanks for your comment. The Free Beagles guide is certainly a good source of information on the Public Order Act and recommended for anyone organising a 'static demonstration'. However what actually happened is that two arrests were made under the auspices of Section 14. These were unlawful as the claim was that we were in breach of a condition imposed on the demo under that section not to use a megaphone; whereas the only conditions that can be imposed relate to the time, place and number of participants.

The situation you refer to is one where section 5 of the Public Order Act would be used against us. No-one has actually been arrested for this, or even formally cautioned, but it is this section they would use in the shouting 'Victory to the Intifada' scenario. We argue that our rights under Article 10 of the European Convention (freedom of expression) are stronger than the rights of hypothetical passers-by who might be offended. Case law is on our sideon this point.

VTI legal person

Yesterdays News

23.04.2004 15:48

It is laughable to suggest this is in any way a protest of note. The grubby little Facsists come along with a few Jew hating lefties and generaly make a fool of themselves while being ignored by the thousands of shoopers going in to spend their money.

I passed it the other day and presumed it was a bunch of beggers.

Mike

why is that stupid, stupid?

23.04.2004 15:51

VTI demo - Palestine flags, no union jacks anywhere to be seen

Betar demo - Israeli flags - several, union jack - one, US flag - sometimes

Neither demo is a BNP one but if you had to say which one bore most resemblance and had most connection to British nationalism, if any at all, which would you pick?

realistic realist

yes it is stupid

23.04.2004 16:59

If would say that the VTI protest has more of a likeness to a right wing demo.

It is more agressive in nature and the slogans that are shouted are load and dictitorial. There is a more intellectual nature to the pro israel demo because the people there seem very eager to engage with long conversations with the public.

I also think that waving the stars and stripes, union jack as well as the israeli flag is far less aggresive than the palestinian demo that waves only the palestinian flag. This in itself is not aggresive but coupled with shouts of "vitory to the intifada" gives the picket a radical jihad like APPEARENCE.

This put against kids wearing skull caps who shock passer byes with the knowledge they have at that age, makes the VTI protest seem confrontational

realistic realist

What matters

23.04.2004 19:34

Ok, so there are the predictable hostile postings by supporters of Sharon. What matters is that this picket of M&S works. Loads of ppl come over to find out and express support, loads of ppl don't know about M&S' proud funding for the Israeli policies and are shocked to learn of it. Ppl I spoke to yesterday include one of their staff who now intends to raise it with others there. Targetting accessories to crime has proved very effective elsewhere - animal rights, GM - and M&S is very vulnerable on this.
Ppl often ignore demos, but they're not ignoring this one!
Let's make it bigger. The more of us there are, the more ineffective is police intimidation.

Ann

By the way

23.04.2004 22:25

the 250 million punds in trade that M&S has with Israel is actually not that large a sum compared with its trade with other countries. However, VTI's assertion that M&S is the biggest sponsor of Israel is probably at present incorrect but was valid a couple of years ago.

You will find that other retailers such as BHS now trade more with Israel than M&S.

smart ass

Kollektives

London Topics

Major Coverage

Other IMCs