Anti-Israel activists shut down Christmas shopping on Oxford Street in London on Saturday and blockaded stores supposedly for supporting Israel’s war against Islamist Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
Oxford Street, Britain’s most famous shopping street was blocked off by around 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters on what is expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year, the day before Christmas Eve.
Blocking off entrances to stores, activists were heard demanding that Christmas shoppers boycott “Israeli-linked” brands. According to GB News, leaflets given out by protesters said: “No Christmas as usual in a genocide. The UK is complicit. Don’t fund genocide in Palestine. Boycott Israel.”
Storefronts for major brands including Omega, Italian leather goods company Furla, and the Spanish fashion brand Zara were all forced to close down during the protest.
“Zara, Zara, you can’t hide, stop supporting genocide,” the activists reportedly chanted in apparent response to an advertising campaign earlier this month that drew controversy for supposedly using similar imagery from the war in Gaza, a charge the firm denied, stating that the ads were developed prior to the October 7th Hamas terror attacks on Israel.
“While you’re shopping, bombs are dropping,” they reportedly chanted.
The protest was organised by the radical feminist group Sisters Uncut, who proclaimed on social media: “NO BUSINESS AS USUAL AS PEOPLE ARE TRAPPED UNDER RUBBLE. CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED.”
According to The Telegraph, the genocidal refrain “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was also heard at the demonstration. The phrase serves as a call to arms demanding the eradication of the state of Israel and its people from their ancestral homeland, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Metropolitan Police had a limited presence at the demonstration and did not make any arrests while shops were forced to close on Oxford Street, the Daily Mail reported. It is unclear if the police were made aware of the protest beforehand and if they were, why there was no effort made to keep the shopping street open.
GB News political commentator Darren Grimes said in response to the latest anti-Israel protest: “Our capital city is under siege by these protests”
“Shops are locking their doors on the most important piece of real estate all year,” Grimes added.
Typically, December 23rd is one of the busiest days of shopping for Christmas in Britain, with UK shoppers spending nearly £1.6 million on the same day last year.
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