Pro-Palestinian protestors march on Zara and Puma in London’s busy West End
Pro-Palestinian protestors descended on Oxford Street on one of the busiest shopping days of the year targeting high street chain Zara and urging Christmas consumers to boycott “Israeli-linked” brands.
Hundreds of demonstrators streamed into the West End waving Palestinian flags, playing music, letting off coloured smoke and bringing traffic to a standstill on Saturday afternoon in an event organised by Sisters Uncut.
The direct action group said on social media that “thousands of people joined us today to say ‘no Christmas as usual’ in a genocide.”
Starting from Soho Square, they marched along Regent Street, Carnaby Street and Oxford Street, chanting “while you’re shopping, bombs are dropping” in reference to Israel’s military attacks on Gaza in retaliation for the 7 October Hamas assault.
Protestors stopped outside two Zara stores, both of which had been closed and were guarded by security, where they shouted the slogan “Zara, Zara, you can’t hide, stop supporting genocide”.
Another Zara store was also targeted by protestors, in a separate day of action, in Cardiff city centre on Saturday.
It comes after the Spanish-based retailer pulled an advertisement earlier this month which contained pictures resembling images from the Israel-Hamas war.
The campaign, entitled The Jacket, contained a series of images in which the model was pictured against a background of cracked stones, damaged statues, broken plasterboard and mannequins wrapped in plastic.
Some on social media suggested they were reminiscent of the news pictures coming out of Gaza in recent weeks.
Zara said the campaign presented “a series of images of unfinished sculptures in a sculptor’s studio and was created with the sole purpose of showcasing craft-made garments in an artistic context”.
The firm said it regretted a “misunderstanding” about the pictures, after some customers “saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created”.
A Puma store on Carnaby Street was also the focus of the demonstration.
The sports company was included in brands to boycott on leaflets being handed out, after the firm’s sponsorship of Israel’s national football team.
The Metropolitan Police said the protest was “a pre-planned event by Sisters Uncut” at which they had “a policing presence”.
But the spokesperson added: “The march has now moved from Oxford Street and it is fully open.
“There have been no arrests.”
