"Boycott Israeli Apartheid!" at Waitrose in South Woodford

On Saturday 7th November, South Woodford Waitrose unwittingly played host to a group of demonstrators from Waltham Forest Palestine Solidarity Campaign (WFPSC) and Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG). The group was protesting about the stocking of Israeli goods at the store, whose sale funds the Israeli Government's illegal Apartheid system of oppression and occupation in Palestine.

The loud, expressive but good natured demonstration, during which protestors wore florescent jackets proclaiming "Boycott Israeli Apartheid" and called out the names of products that they wanted customers and the store to boycott, drew mixed attention from shoppers. Many Waitrose clients were keen to understand the nature of the rumpus taking place in an area by the chilled meat cabinets, but some were virulent in their condemnation of the protestors and what they stood for. Those condemning the protest shouted personal obscenities, tore up leaflets and threw objects at the protestors.

The police were already in evidence at the store before the demonstration began, having read the Waltham Forest Guardian notice carefully submitted by the demonstrators announcing their intentions.

Naomi Wimborne Idrissi and Ellie Merton, organisers, explained: "There was nothing covert about what we did. We announced it loudly and clearly on WFPSC's website, giving times, locations, meeting points, contact details - the lot - and we press released it to all our local news media. We were extremely open and yet when it came to the actual protest, the whole place was crawling with police support officers, and one very large copper at the entrance. So we found it best just to pop into the store wearing mufti first, and then gather ourselves sensibly, before getting dressed up in our florescent tabards and demonstrating for about 15 minutes. Inside the store we chose an location that was not going to block the shoppers from going about their business, but would still enable them to see our protest. Most importantly, we were extremely good natured and jolly in our approach, a deliberate attempt to reach out to people in an accessible and interesting way. We raised a lot of support and positive curiosity by our approach."

Naomi added: "The police and security staff couldn't have been more gentle and helpful. They did nothing to reproach us. In fact they spoke in terms of sympathy and understanding for what we were doing. However, it was their job to ask us to leave the premises. We complied as genially as we could muster under a barrage of abuse from one or two loudly pro-zionist defenders whose behaviour really was an embarrassment to everyone around. I think we were quite shocked at the venom one of the ladies showed when she started spitting and throwing things at us. There were other pro-zionist protestors outside, however, who were far more reasonable and able to engage with us in perfectly civil conversation which was extremely productive and positive."

Ellie summed up: "It was a really good demonstration and we shifted a lot of leaflets in a short space of time, getting the message about Boycotting Israeli Apartheid out to people who had never considered it before, but now understand its merits. We didn't just target Waitrose, however! After Waitrose we drove over to Morrisons in Chingford, stickered up some Israeli produced citrus fruit and dates, and had a really good chat with the store manager there. He was enormously sympathetic and their store had already withdrawn a range of Israeli products so that there were only a tiny handful of products left for us to find."

"We're so pleased that the Boycott message is getting out there and people are supporting Palestinians like they never did before - Gaza has not been forgotten."