23 December 2023 , 14:05
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Pro-Palestinian protesters have marched on London's Oxford Street on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
A crowd of a few hundred people brought traffic to a standstill as part of the demonstration organised by direct action group Sisters Uncut on Saturday afternoon.
The group urged Christmas shoppers to boycott allegedly "Israeli-linked" brands. Protesters gathered in Soho Square chanting "free Palestine" before marching on London's main shopping street.
Security guards blocked the entrance to fashion shop Zara, while dozens of officers followed the march.
Pro-Palestinian protesters chanted "boycott Zara" outside one of the fashion brand's Oxford Street stores. Stopped outside the shop, which had closed its doors, the crowd chanted "Zara, Zara, you can't hide, stop supporting genocide". Leaflets distributed by Sisters Uncut said: "No Christmas as usual in a genocide. The UK is complicit. Don't fund genocide in Palestine. Boycott Israel."
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The group urged Christmas shoppers to boycott allegedly 'Israeli-linked' brands (PA)Earlier this month, online activists called for a mass boycott of the high street fashion giant Zara after an image was used on its Instagram that some claimed was exploiting the war in Gaza. One image showed a model standing in a wooden box surrounded by bits of debris, which some compared to images of those trapped between rubble in the current war zone. Other social media users have hit out at the brand, calling the images "insensitive", "tone deaf" and even "mocking" the conflict. One branch of the Spain-based chain in Montreal was vandalised with pro-Palestine messages after the images were published.
Zara removed the pictures from its social media pages, and said in a statement that it regretted the "misunderstanding" over the pictures. Protesters were also seen outside Marks & Spencer in London on Saturday, which had similarly come under fire from activists over a Christmas advert showing stockings on a fire.
Protesters also appeared outside Marks & Spencer (Ray Tang/LNP)Videos from the run-up to Christmas this week have meanwhile showed huge crowds took amassing in Central London as they set off to do their Christmas shopping. In one clip, people are seen becoming angry and distressed at being halted above the Tube station on Oxford Street, unable to move or enter the station to get home.