On the 29th August Liverpool Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! took to the streets in a rolling picket which stopped outside of five banks and corporations within Liverpool city centre – all well known to materially support the racist Israeli state. Alongside supporters and many new faces, Liverpool FRFI moved from location to location with banners, flags and non-stop chanting calling for a ‘FREE, FREE PALESTINE!’.
The first stop was at Holland and Barrett to highlight their role in selling products looted from the Palestinian dead sea, before marching to the BBC Merseyside building where a brilliant speech drew attention to the total lack of coverage on the recent relentless bombing campaign on Gaza. In the centre of town, the picket stopped at M&S which has a historic relationship of economic support of the state of Israel, disproportionately stocking Israeili food items and clothes. Here shoppers and people in the city centre began joining in on the protest, with chants of “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” The march proceeded on to HSBC and Barclays, where prepared speeches drew attention to the vast and insidious power that banking and the City of London have over counties like Palestine, through their vast investment in Israel and its extremely powerful military.
Not losing momentum, the rolling picket settled in the centre of town for a speak-out, with an open mic for all anti-racists; this attracted a range of supporters, many of whom spoke on the soundsystem without notes or prior preparation. Alongside supporters and many new faces met through this event, we are hitting the ground running with organising another event through weekly Fight Racism, Fight Imperialism meetings, if you’re based in Liverpool and want to get involved get in contact with us at [email protected]!
We continue to support the Palestinian people in their fight against imperialism and racism!
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(Gallery images credit: @moosejaw/Moose Jaw Media)
