Victory to the Intifada picket of M&S, Oxford Street, London 17 February 2005

The pickets of M&S continue every Thursday from 6-8 in London outside M&S at the Marble Arch end of Oxford Street. The boycott of Israeli goods is something we can all do to take a practical stand against the Zionist settler regime of Israel. M&S is Britain’s biggest corporate sponsor of Israel and is singled out for its pledge to support the economic development of the state of Israel. At the British Israeli Chamber of Commerce dinner last December, the guest of honour was Stuart Rose, chief Executive of M&S.

The handshakes in Palestine, the bourgeois press writing of peace talks and new phases will not deter those who know that for the Palestinians, nothing is about to change.

The right of return for Palestinians is not on the agenda, the demolishing of the apartheid wall is not on the agenda - in fact its construction is continuing daily, the humiliation and arrests of Palestinians by the Israelis who have the ‘wrong’ papers and are in the ‘wrong’ place are still taking place, the harassment of Palestinians at checkpoints at the whim of the young Israeli guards still goes on and, this week, yet another young women was forced to give birth at a checkpoint, in labour but not allowed through.

With these daily events, for the Palestinians, nothing has changed with the election of Abbas and his handshake with Sharon.

The pickets are lively and noisy and there is an open mic for all on the picket to use. We urge all those who stand against racism, who stand against occupation, who stand against British support for Israel, to come along to the pickets, take part, bring ideas and help defend our right to protest on the streets of London and defend the rights of the Palestinian people.

Victory to the Intifada!
No to the Wall, the wall must fall!
No justice! No peace!