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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Josh Salisbury

Pro-Palestinian protesters target Boxing Day sales at Westfield Stratford

Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted shoppers during Boxing Day sales at Westfield shopping centre in Stratford.

A crowd of demonstrators staged a protest outside chain stores including Zara and Starbucks on Tuesday.

Footage posted online by activists showed a demonstration outside a Zara store which appeared to be closed. Police were also pictured near the entrance to an H&M store.

Footage showed protesters chanting: "While you're shopping bombs are dropping."

A Met Police spokesperson did not confirm whether any shops were forced to close as a result of the disruption. The activists were later led outside where they carried on their protest.

A spokesperson said the group was "small", adding: "Officers supported security staff to remove the group from inside the retail premises.

"They continued their protest peacefully outside with no disruption to other members of the public. The group has now dispersed."

The demonstration comes days after pro-Palestinian protesters marched on Oxford Street, urging Christmas shoppers to boycott "Israeli-linked" brands.

A few hundred brought traffic to a standstill as part of the demonstration, organised by direct action group Sisters Uncut, with security guards blocking the entrance to a branch of Zara while the demo occurred.

Earlier this month, Zara pulled an ad following complaints that it contained pictures resembling images from the Israel-Hamas war.

The campaign, called The Jacket, contained a series of images in which the model was pictured against a background of cracked stones, damaged statues and broken plasterboard.

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".

However, some viewers suggested they were similar to images emerging from Gaza.

The company said it regretted a "misunderstanding" about the pictures, after some customers "saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created".

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