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18/01/09
As Israeli terrorism in the Gaza Strip reached a dead end and the zionist leadership was forced to call a “unilateral ceasefire” due to insurmountable Palestinian resistance and the outrage of ordinary people around the globe, Irish activists continued their solidarity work.
In both Dublin and Belfast, members of éirígí have been highlighting the necessity of Irish citizens boycotting Israeli goods and the corporate sponsors of the world’s latest apartheid state.
Starbucks coffee shops in Belfast were rebranded with near identical logos, reflecting the true ethos of the corporation’s chief executive Howard Shultz as ‘Zionist Coffee’. Coffee place mats, branding the ‘Zionist Coffee’ logo were placed throughout Belfast city centre, exposing to customers the nature of the relationship between the corporation and the Israeli government.
As well as having followed the US military to establish stores in occupied Afghanistan, Iraq and even in the notorious Guantanamo Bay torture centre, the Starbucks CEO, Shultz proudly accepted the “Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award”.
Meanwhile éirígí activists in Dublin, in conjunction with the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, organised yet another Boycott Israel protest. The focus of protest on this occasion was a Sea Spa stall inside the busy Gervis Street shopping centre. The beauty products being sold on the stall are stolen from occupied territory in Palestine’s West Bank, which is illegal under international law. Last week, a similar stall was the focus of an éirígí action in Belfast’s Castle Court shopping centre.
In what it now becoming a familiar pattern, banners and posters were unveiled to chants of “Free, Free, Palestine”. As with so many of the recent Boycott Israel protests, support from the general public was widespread with many shoppers giving words of encouragement to the protesters. This support became even more obvious when security guards who were attempting to forcefully move the protest out of the shopping centre were repeatedly challenged by passers-by.
With the point having been made, the protesters moved outside onto Henry Street still chanting “Free, Free, Gaza” and “Boycott Israeli Goods”. Once outside, the protest was joined by more supporters who remained at the door of the shopping centre for some time.
éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac an Mháistír said: “The Israeli regime may have called a ceasefire as a result of its inability to break Palestinian resistance, but its war machine still has its finger on the trigger in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
“As Gaza mourns its dead, the illegal settlements are being reinforced, the apartheid wall looms as large as ever, and the theft of Palestinian land and the decimation of Palestinian livelihoods continue unabated. Last week, two Palestinian parties were barred from running in the upcoming election inside the zionist state.
“Israel displays all the symptoms of a fascist apartheid state and it must be shunned as such. éirígí’s actions are aimed at raising awareness of what Israeli or zionist products are and encouraging an all out boycott of same.”