Anti-Israel activists disrupted Boxing Day shopping in London and Toronto malls on Friday, demanding that the UK government free jailed activist vandals and that the Canadian government impose a two-way arms embargo on Israel.
Activists associated with Prayers for Gaza hung Palestinian flags and banners from the banisters in the Westfield Stratford City shopping center. As activists chanted for the release of Palestine Action vandals, fliers calling for the boycotting of all Israeli goods and services on Boxing Day were dropped from upper floors to the bottom of the shopping center.
Instagram posts by activists showed them struggling with security, who tried to pull their banners and flags from the banisters.
Prayers for Gaza said that the “takeover” of the mall was done to raise awareness about their demands to the UK government to cut defense industry ties, ban goods from Israeli settlements, and end the operations of Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems in the country.
The group also demanded the release of 24 Palestine Action activists jailed in connection with an August 2024 attack on Elbit Systems UK’s South Gloucestershire Horizon facility and the June raid on the Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire.
Seven of the Palestine Action activists had begun a hunger strike on November 2 in a bid to secure their release, expel Elbit subsidiaries from the country, and deprescribe their organization, but by Wednesday, three had ended their protest.
Protests in Toronto
Toronto activists held a similar Boxing Day protest at the Eaton Centre, according to the Palestinian Youth Movement Toronto, also hanging banners from upper floors and dropping pamphlets to disrupt shopping.
A PYM representative said that protesters acted “on the busiest day for shopping day for so-called Canada” because while “people are spending money,” the Canadian government was supposedly sending weapon components to Israel.
“Demonstrators are demanding that the Canadian government impose a full, two-way arms embargo, close the US export loophole, and end Canada’s political and military support for Israel’s actions,” PYM Toronto said on social media.