Outside a protest took place before and during the concert, along with a counter-protest organised by the Zionist Federation.  Present alongside the Zionists were ultra-right EDL-type counter-protesters with their assorted collection of flag combinations. Also shown were some placards of victims of Israeli oppression, as well as the famous J-BIG “It’s KOSHER to Boycott Israeli Goods” banner.

Some of the chants heard both outside (and inside) the Royal Albert Hall included:

“The settlements are out of tune with international law”

“The Apartheid Wall is out of tune with international law”

“The siege of Gaza is out of tune with international law”

It wasn’t too hard to find a concert-goer who decided to boycott the IPO’s concert. I’m sure there were plenty more, as someone who was inside, I noticed there were many seats that remained empty throughout the performance.

The first action took the form of a choral disruption. Afterwards several different groups of activists shouted and chanted at intervals throughout the concert.

The scene outside:

See the press release

We believe that our action was lawful and justified.

Today’s judgement illustrates the complicity of the authorities in allowing companies to profit from the occupation. Throughout the trial neither the Judge nor the prosecution challenged the assertion that the settlements are illegal in international law.

Irrespective of today’s judgement campaigners believe that they are still the victors. As a result of the collective efforts of activists, Ahava’s flagship Covent Garden store will close this September. This demonstrates the efficacy of grassroots action in creating real and tangible change. We call for mass participation in the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, building a movement that can directly challenge Israeli apartheid and occupation.

Press contact: thewallmustfall@gmail.com

Background:

Ahava Blockaders Finally on Their Way to Court

Ahava: The Occupier Becomes the Occupied

Fifth Blockade of Ahava Shuts the Shop for Business

Protestors last night disrupted the British Olympic Ball to send a message to its sponsor, BT, to cut its ties with Bezeq, supplier of telecommunications services to Israeli checkpoints, military bases and illegal settlements in occupied Palestine.

As celebrities and officials arrived at Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane for the £500-a-ticket event protestors waved banners and shouted slogans in support of the boycott of companies that profit from, are complicit in and actively supporting Israel’s continued occupation of Palestine and the on-going presence of illegal settlements in the West Bank.

The highlight of the protest saw a pro-Palestine samba band emerge from a pink limousine at the red carpet entrance, causing great embarrassment to the organisers and drawing attention away from the celebrities and towards the demonstrators’ concerns.

Police arrived and were soon being aggressive with the participants in the peaceful protest – described as having a “carnival atmosphere” by one BBC reporter present – and attempted to force them away from the entrance. The demonstrators resisted this antagonistic policing but eventually took up a position near the massed press.

Later, after the police had departed, the cyclists taking part in Critical Mass arrived to block the street outside the hotel, join the demonstration and enjoy the samba music.

In January 2010 BT announced that Bezeq had “joined the BT Alliance programme with a Gold Partner status”[1]. Bezeq provides communications technology to the Israeli military in the West Bank and Gaza where violence against Palestinians is the norm. It also serves the checkpoints, which limit Palestinians’ freedom of movement around the West Bank. Bezeq reinforces and supports the expansion of settlement activity in the West Bank by providing telecommunications infrastructure for the settlements that are illegal under international law.

The company also insists that its employees have served in the Israeli army, effectively excluding Palestinian citizens from the workforce as almost all Arabs are excluded from military service in Israel.

BT pays lip service to its commitment to upholding human rights and supporting “an inclusive workplace, where people have equal opportunities and are judged on merit alone.” The affiliation with Bezeq, a company with an appalling human rights and equal opportunities track record, undermines these evidently empty platitudes.

The boycott of Israeli settlements and companies complicit in the construction of and support for these settlements is rapidly gathering pace in the UK and around the world as civil society rejects Israel’s illegal activities and disregard for human dignity and international law. Civil society calls on BT to cut its ties with Bezeq with immediate effect to show that it takes its ethical and moral commitments seriously.

The protestors call on civil society to boycott BT until it has terminated its ties with Israel’s illegal occupation.

In celebration of the recent court victory in which four campaigners were acquitted for blockading the Covent Garden Ahava shop in 2009, approximately 60 protesters gathered outside its doors in Monmouth Street, central London, to celebrate and continue promoting boycott, divestment and sanctions against the Israeli occupation. While demonstrators were met by the usual Zionist counter-demonstrators, on this occasion they arrived flanked by the openly racist English Defence League.

Ahava, the cosmetics retailer and spa outlet, manufactures its products on the illegal Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Shalem. It has openly flouted tax requirements by exploiting the EU-Israel trade agreement and violates UK DEFRA guidelines in respect of proper labeling. The campaign against Ahava supports the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions as a global nonviolent means to challenge the Israeli Occupation of Palestine and the ongoing siege upon Gaza.

At the outset the small group of around ten EDL members remained close to the Zionist contingent of Ahava supporters, handing out leaflets. Over the course of the demonstration they began to take an increasingly prominent role, culminating with the unfurling of a flag of St. George and chanting “E-E-EDL.” This was accompanied by racist remarks towards a number of Ahava protesters who were of Asian/Middle Eastern descent. What was more surprising, and unsettling, was the apparent unwillingness of the Zionist contingent to distance themselves from the EDL.

Vice chair of the Zionist Federation of Britain Jonathon Hoffman was present and took no action to put some distance between the two groups. This comes only days after a recent report in the Israeli paper Haaretz claiming that the Board of Deputies of British Jews were not affiliated with the EDL and did not want anything to do with them. The stark contrast between the formal statement and the reality in front of the Ahava shop, in which senior members of the ZF stood along side EDL members, undercuts any public statements and underlines the racism inherent in the Zionists’ agenda.

The EDL’s history of far right opinions and racist chanting and abuse — as well as their violence and hatred towards Muslim communities — have earned them a variety of unflattering labels, including ‘fascist’. Jewish groups have long since been targeted by right-wing, racist and fascist groups, so to see the Zionists and the EDL united against Palestinians illustrates that as far as the Zionist Federation is concerned, the enemy of one’s enemy may become an ally no matter what they stand for. That they were welcomed by the Zionists may be shocking to some, but might also be reflective of their desperation for support in the UK.

This is not the first instance of the two groups coming together in support of each other. In the immediate aftermath of the brutal attack on the Mavi Marmarra flotilla by Israeli commandos in which nine human rights activists were murdered, the EDL joined up with Zionists outside the Israeli embassy in Knightsbridge to show support for the Israeli state’s violent actions.  In addition, the EDL marched to Downing Street two weeks ago with Israeli flags being held alongside British and St. George flags.

Despite their presence and the racist slurs they shouted at members of the Ahava demonstration, the protest took place without violence.  The verbal abuse hurled by EDL members and their Zionist partners was met with a series of police cautions. Numerous members of the public stopped to chat with Palestinian solidarity activists and showed support. A small brass band played music to entertain the masses and build a celebratory spirit as many people chanted for justice and for an end to the sale of Israeli and Settlement produce.

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17th August 2010

Additions:

Since the publication of the original report, a few points have been raised which are felt important to incorporate.

1) In noting that the event passed without violence, it is important to recognise there was no explicit physical violence. Racism is a form of verbal violence and must be acknowleged as such. Similarly, although no physical violence took place, the EDL did threaten physical violence to at least two members of the Ahava protest.

2) Regarding police cautions: There were a total of five referals for prosecution to the Crown Prosecution Service for racially aggravated offences.

3) Where the Board of Jewish Deputies have sought to distance themselves from the EDL, this must not be confused with the lack of efforts by the Zionist Federation at the demonstration itself to do the same. The  two are distinct organisations and must be considered and treated as such.

On the 9^th, 10^th and 11^th of August 2010, four protestors will appear in court facing the charge of aggravated trespass for having twice blockaded the Israeli-owned cosmetics shop, Ahava. Intending to prevent the sale of illegal settlement goods, the trial forms part of an ongoing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against the cosmetics shop and other consumer goods retailers which trade in products manufactured or grown on Israeli Settlements which have been recognised as illegal under international law by both the United Nations and the British government.

The London based campaign against Ahava compliments a larger international campaign against the company which mis-labels it’s products “Dead Sea: Israel”. Protests against Ahava have taken place in the US, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and France, with the French collective CAPJPO (Coordination pour une Paix Juste au Proche Orient) bringing the case against Ahava to French courts.

Irregular protests had taken place outside the shop over the course of 2009, including the first ever blockade in the midst of Operation Cast. In September 2009 two protestors went into the shop and locked onto a concrete block to prevent them being moved, in December 2009 the action was repeated.  However it was in 2010 that the campaign really gathered momentum and has seen protests take place outside the Covent Garden shop on a fortnightly basis. In addition, the actions have been supplimented by formal complaints to Camden Trading Standards calling for investigations, formal complaints to police, parliamentary questions and lobbying of MPs.

The campaign incorporates a wide number of organisations inclusive of ISM-London, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods, Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Kings College Palestine Solidarity, and many others. What the blockaders set out to accomplish was what the government, Camden Trading Standards and the police have so far refused to do; stop the trade in illegal settlement goods. They are now due in court to prove their actions were justified.

In response to the forthcoming court case a large demonstration has been called for the 14^th August from 12 noon till 2pm. Bringing together concerned people to send a clear message regarding the ongoing trade in settlement produce and Israeli produce in general. More information on the trial and what comes from it will be posted in the forthcoming week so do look out for notifications.

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Ahava’s products are manufactured on the Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Shalem and where the factory is a cooperative integral to the settlement, consequently profits go towards making the illegal settlement financially viable. Where the Fourth Geneva Conventions state that it is illegal for an occupying power to transfer civilian population into an occupied territory, and that an occupying power must not appropriate natural resources from an occupied territory, Ahava’s business practices thus serve to violate international law. Additional information on Ahava can be found here.

Furthermore, Ahava’s business practices are due to come before the Russell Tribunal on Palestine which will next convene in London in November 2010. The peoples tribunal will place the company’s actions within the context of international law and consider its complicity in possible war crimes

The BDS initiative [7] was born in 2005 through a call by Palestinian civil society groups and organisations seeking a global non-violent means to challenge the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine. It has been taken up by numerous groups and organisations internationally and has become a unifying global movement for those seeking justice for Palestine.

Ahava, 39 Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, London , WC2H 9DD

On Saturday the 17^th July, activists gathered outside Ahava for the ongoing campaign against a company profiting from Israels occupation of Palestine.

The fortnightly demonstration saw once again a contingent of approximately 30 protestors gather to inform the public and get the message across about Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions as a means to bring an end to the occupation, as well as highlight the economic links by companies such as Ahava with illegal Israeli Settlements which thieve precious Palestinian land and natural resources.

As per usual, the protest was accompanied by a group of Zionists peddling lies about the history of the conflict and distorting the reality of the Israeli state’s occupation, human rights abuses against the Palestinians and violations of international law. Despite their presence and intimidatory tactics, the protestors continued unperturbed. When the ever-present Richard Millet, a well known Zionist who frequently attends these demonstrations, continued his efforts to harass a lone individual who was giving out leaflets, it came as a relief when police decided to intervene and give him a formal warning for harassment. Where Zionists have made every effort to intimidate participants at the Ahava and other BDS mobilisations, it is hoped the police caution will keep their aggressive tactics at bay.

Protestors however focussed on the task at hand of increasing awareness over the issue of Ahava and the brutal Israeli occupation, and spoke with numerous members of the public about it. The wealth of support from passers by was duly appreciated and always acts as a boost to those who attend each fortnight.

The regular protest continues to see new faces attend each time and the BDS movement steadily grow and gain strength.

Ahava’s products are manufactured on the illegal Settlement of Mitzpe Shalem which sits upon stolen Palestinian land. The settlement is considered illegal under both British and International Law and takes precious natural resources away from Palestinians reducing their capacity to create their own viable economy. The Palestinian call for BDS aims to reduce the international community’s financial, cultural, sporting and academic engagement with the state of Israel as a non-violent means of challenging the apartheid system which sees restrictions on movement, economic restrictions, house demolitions, land theft, indefinite detention without trial and brutal violence against Palestinians and human rights activists in both the West Bank and Gaza.

The next demonstration will be on Saturday the 31^st July from 12pm – 2pm.

Ahava, Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, London

For updates, reminders and news on protests and events, please sign up to the ISM-London email list or Twitter feed.

A group of activists dropped a 12 foot dingy outside Downing Street at around 8.30am this morning to protest against the British government’s continued support for Israel in the wake of its deadly raid on the Gaza Freedom flotilla on Monday May 31^st.

The activists drew attention to the influence of the Zionist lobby over many MPs and the media, an influence that reinforces the impunity enjoyed by Israel even when it commits murderous crimes in breach of international law. The demonstrators made an explicit link between the Zionist lobby and the UK government’s proposed changes to universal jurisdiction, which are due to be introduced this month.

The boat was positioned directly in front of the gates of Downing Street and flew a sail reading ‘SOS! Israeli Pirates Sinking Our Laws! Rescue Universal Jurisdiction’. Protesters gathered around the boat chanting pro-Palestine slogans as well as ‘End Israeli piracy, no more impunity!’

There were no serious confrontations with the police, who seemed wary about engaging with the demonstrators in front of the video cameras and photographers present. After 20 minutes the activists decided to take the protest into the decision-making heart of the UK, and headed with the boat for parliament itself.

Police at parliament were shocked at the sight of a boat heading towards them and only reacted when the activists attempted to enter the grounds, pushing them back outside and shutting the gates. The boat was left in front of the Commons while the chants about Israeli impunity continued. Eventually the activists carried the boat over the road and left it with the Democracy Village camp in Parliament Square. Everyone dispersed peacefully around 9.45am.

While there has been much publicity surrounding Israel’s attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, the UK government has managed to keep its plans for changes to universal jurisdiction very quiet. Following the political embarrassment caused by the issuing of an arrest warrant for war crimes against former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni last December, for her active role in the atrocities committed in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, the government (both Labour and the coalition) has sought, under pressure from the Zionist lobby, to abolish private prosecution in universal jurisdiction and international cases.

This amounts to a gross politicisation of the British judicial system, placing the power to prosecute war criminals solely in the hands of the government. Strategic and diplomatic partners will thus enjoy even greater freedom to commit crimes against humanity safe in the knowledge that their friends in Westminster will not prosecute them should they come to the UK.

This is an issue that will have massive repercussions for those seeking justice not only for the Israeli crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territories, but also for those people whose lives have been devastated in conflicts such as in Sudan, Rwanda, Cambodia, Former Yugoslavia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Colombia and Sri Lanka, to name just a few. It is up to civil society to oppose the government’s proposed changes. British judicial tradition dictates that one is innocent until proven guilty. If the politicians and leaders of countries like Israel have nothing to hide, let them prove it before a court of law. The proposed changes will only make justice an even more distant possibility for those fighting for the rights of the dispossessed and destroyed in these conflicts.

Video:

The Zionist Federation are planning a demonstration to for “Israels right to defend itself”: or Israel’s right to turn a strip of land contain just under a million and half people into an open air prison and massacre people trying to break the blockade.

Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods have called for all pro-Palestinian activists to hold a counter demonstration to show the Zionist Federation that dancing on the graves of those trying to bring aid to besieged Gaza will not go unopposed in the streets.

Meet 7PM TONIGHT outside the Israeli embassy (2 Palace Green, London, W8 4QB), bring flags, banners and noise.

Around twenty pro-Palestine activists descended on the Sainsburys supermarket at Holborn on Saturday May 15^th to protest the on-going sale of produce originating in Israel and its illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Protestors gathered together goods produced in Israel and its settlements before sitting down in the store, unveiling a banner and addressing shoppers using a megaphone. The activists explained how the sale of these goods serves to support the economies of the settlements, the continued illegal Israeli encroachment into Palestinian land, and the suffering that this dispossession causes. Shoppers were urged to check the origin of the goods they purchase, and to join in the boycott of Israeli and settlement goods.

Protestors sang songs in support of the Palestinian resistance and promoting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel’s illegal actions, before leaving and singing again outside the store. Members of the public reacted very positively to the protest and were keen to learn more about what they were purchasing and the potential impact of their spending. Shoppers expressed the wish that stores’ labelling was more accurate to allow them to make more informed decisions concerning their spending choices.

The protest was timed to coincide with the 62^nd anniversary of the Nakba, or ‘Catastrophe’, when in 1948 Israeli forces butchered their way into Palestine killing thousands and forcibly expelling almost a million more, creating a refugee population of around 5 million that lives to this day in overcrowded camps in the West Bank, Jordan and elsewhere, and founding the independent state of Israel.

Israel continues to seize swathes of Palestinian land in the illegally occupied West Bank as more and more settlements are built on stolen land. Many of these settlements rely heavily on the export of fruit, vegetables and herbs to be economically viable, with most of the produce ending up in Europe.  The existence of foreign markets for these goods propagates the on-going injustice and suffering of dispossessed Palestinians.

All UK supermarkets continue to stock settlement goods and, despite recently tightened guidance on labelling from government agencies, many continue to allow unclear and inaccurate labelling of goods.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign has been called for by over 170 Palestinian organisations and demands the boycott of Israeli and settlement goods as a form of global non-violent resistance to Israel’s on-going occupation.