A Good Day For Die-In

bristol | protests | news report Saturday January 17, 2009 22:53 by Boycott Israeli Goods

Bristol activists highlight trade links with Israel, and continue the call for a boycott of Israeli goods.

Today activists in Bristol continued to demonstrate their solidarity with the people of Palestine, taking to streets and staging protests against some of the city’s key collaborators with the Israeli state. The protesters embarked on a short tour of the city informing residents of the links between Bristol and Israeli state violence, distributing leaflets and staging die-ins at several high street stores.

The Targets

Tesco: Stocks a large amount of produce grown in the occupied territories and purchased from the Israeli state.

Boots Chemist: Trades with Israeli pharmaceutical companies

The Body Shop: Stocks Dead Sea/’Dead Civilian’ Products purchased from the Israeli state.

Lloyds TSB: This wunch of bankers closed the account of Palestinian aid charity Interpal under pressure from the Israeli government. This makes this bank directly responsible for preventing aid from getting to the people of Gaza.

The Action:

First on the list, a Tesco store was targeted with activists ‘dieing’ in the shop entrance whilst many more distributed leaflets to members of the public in the street. The doors were swiftly barred to protestors outside and the dead, only wishing to Rest in Peace, were dragged around and trod on for a short while by confused security and then barred from ever shopping at the store again to their lasting misery. Worthy of particular mention is the security guard who appeared to lose his mind, removing shopping baskets from their stand which he then proceeded to brandish as a club, waving it in the faces of anyone who came near him before more media-savvy members of staff could calm him down and persuade him that it probably wasn’t a great idea in publicity terms. This strange outburst was witnessed by a great many members of public who seemed horrified by how Tesco deals with peaceful protesters….Every little helps!

Another die-in occurred on the pavement outside Boots Chemist. The police barred activists from entering but a large amount of members of the public gathered round to see what was going on and left with leaflets explaining Boots’ ties to Israeli violence.

The protest, marching behind a banner to chants of ‘free Palestine’, next moved into favourite Bristol activist haunt Cabot Circus with nine protesters ‘dieing’ in the doorway of The Body Shop. A huge amount of shoppers gathered round to watch and, despite some surprisingly desperate people trying to buy toiletries, the familiar faces of Cabot Circus security stopped anyone from entering the store. Aside from threatening to allow activists’ heads to be crushed in the automatic door no move was made by the security or police to remove the dead, who were once again eventually resurrected and continued on to Lloyds TSB.

Another street die-in forced Lloyds to lock their doors, which were promptly smeared with ‘blood’ and covered with ‘bloodied’ paying-in slips. Again many members of the public were sympathetic to the cause and horrified to discover that their high-street bank had the blood of Palestinian innocents on its hands.

There were no arrests at any point and a hell of a lot of leaflets distributed and debates had. The people of Bristol responded to the links between Israeli state violence and their city, their shopping habits and their lives, many pledging to join the boycott of Israeli products and some even intending to join in the grassroots activism to free Gaza.

Unrelated actions were also taken last night: acts of criminal damage against Tesco, Boots and Lloyds in Bristol and the awe-inspiring decommissioning of EDO MDM, Brighton bomb factory, which caused thousands of pounds worth of damage and may very well the nail in the coffin for those coffin fillers.

Pressure will continue in Bristol, both against those who help fund the Israeli state and at Raytheon, the arms manufacturer/death factory. Join in, here or where you are, and help us put an end to Israeli state violence.