M&S Picket Report 13/11/03

Tonights picket of Marks and Spencer on Oxford St, London organised by FRFI and MPAC was a lot more successful than the previous week. The demonstration was deliberately quiet and more sombre than usual to to observe, in remembrance week, the lives of all the Palestinians which have been taken since the creation of Israel.

The picket was opened with the normal chants denouncing Marks & Spencer and Israel, with facts given out on the open mike about the atrocities which the Zionists have committed. Many people stopped as usual to discuss and find out more, and as always quite a few turned from going inside the store.

A list was produced of some of the Palestinians killed in the last 3 years by Zionists settlers, it included an 80 year-old man and a 3 month-old baby. As each name was read out (there were over 45, which wasn’t the total figure) each member of the picket picked up a flower and laid it in front of the store. The police weren’t too happy but we weren’t doing anything illegal. The reading of each name and the laying of the flower was accompanied by the respectful chant ‘we remember’. We also held candles, with each one marking the life of a Palestinian killed.

Theatre was also employed with a Zionist soldier accompanied by a grinning Bush and Blair hovering over a Palestinian, which got a lot of people stopping and wondering what the hell was going on.

It was great to see more people than last week with quite a few new people joining us. Despite recent pressure from both the Zionists and police the 3 year-old weekly pickets are continuing with further success, providing an opportunity for those wishing to build a consistent and focused action.

The pickets of course continue. Next week, in order to welcome Bush to London on the main STWC demonstration, it will be starting a little later than usual but will still be going ahead. There will also be a picket at the M&S in Ilford, Essex on Saturday between 12 till 2pm.

FRFI welcomes and urges everyone to come along and be a part of a movement attacking the biggest British corporate sponsor of Zionism and to take a stand on the street against the alliance of British fascists and Zionists who are out on the street against us.

We welcome constructive debate, recommendations, questions and comments. We have no time for mindless rhetoric from Zionists pasting lies about the pickets on this site. Nor do we have time for inactive ‘left’ supporters of the British Labour Party who have nothing better to do than spout sectarian insults, as they have done over the last 2 weeks.

Victory to the Intifada!