LONDON: British cosmetics chain Lush on Wednesday shut down its UK shops, factories and online sales for the day to protest the devastating humanitarian effects of Israel’s war in Gaza.
The international retailer said it displayed signs reading “stop starving Gaza — we are closed in solidarity” across shuttered shop windows.
“Whilst Lush is losing a day of takings, this also means that the UK government is losing a day of tax contributions from Lush and our customers,” the company, which sells its products in over 50 countries, said on its website.
Lush said it “shares the anguish that millions of people feel seeing the images of starving people in Gaza” and called for the UK government to end arms sales to Israel.
London has in recent months suspended some export licenses to Israel for arms used in Gaza, but some UK-made parts, such as components for Israeli F-35 jets, are still exported there.
Lush, which has over 100 shops in Britain, faced a backlash in 2023 after a Dublin store displayed a sign urging “boycott Israel,” which the company called an “isolated” incident.
It has since launched a “Watermelon Slice” soap resembling the fruit which has come to represent solidarity with Palestinians, with the profits going to mental health services for children in Gaza and Israeli-occupied West Bank.
UK cosmetics chain closes for a day in Gaza protest
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UK cosmetics chain closes for a day in Gaza protest
- The international retailer said it displayed signs reading “stop starving Gaza — we are closed in solidarity” across shuttered shop windows
More than 1,000 councilors in UK sign Palestine pledge
- Issue could prove decisive in local elections set for May, campaigners say
- Campaign pledges councilors to ‘uphold inalienable rights of the Palestinian people’
LONDON: More than 1,000 local councilors in the UK have signed a pledge of solidarity with Palestine, in what could prove to be a crucial issue in upcoming elections, Sky News reported on Saturday.
Many Labour-run councils face the prospect of losing power in the local elections, set for May.
The issue of Palestine could play a decisive role in key sections of the electorate, campaigners have said.
The document, launched by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and signed by 1,028 councilors so far, pledges signatories to “uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people” and prevent councils’ complicity in “Israel’s violations of international law,” including by divesting from pension funds invested in arms companies.
Zoe Garbett, a Hackney Green councilor who signed the pledge, told Sky News: “I think that this is really important to uphold the rights of the Palestinian people and to make sure that we can make ethical investments. They want to see their council representing them on a national level.”
She added: “We know that most people really want to see an end to the genocide in Gaza, and an end to wars and conflicts all across the world, and they want to see their local representatives standing up for them.”
Of the signatories to the pledge, 245 councilors are from the Green Party, 338 from Labour, 104 Liberal Democrats, 38 from the Scottish National Party, 17 from Plaid Cymru, 12 from Your Party, three Conservatives and many independents.
Labour has faced significant pressure from its traditional voter base over the issue of Gaza, especially after Prime Minister Keir Starmer appeared reluctant to call for a ceasefire.
Key London borough councils, dominated by Labour, have seen councilors sign up en masse to the pledge.
In Islington, a Labour stronghold, 59 percent of councilors signed the pledge, while 49 percent signed in Tower Hamlets.
Similar trends have taken place in Sheffield — where no party has overall council control — and Bradford.
Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East, said: “I think that so many Labour councilors have been so keen to sign the Palestine pledge as councilors because it puts on record that support for Palestine and distinguishes them from the position taken by the leader of the Labour Party.”
Alongside PSC, Britain’s most significant pro-Palestine group, the pledge is also supported by the Palestinian Youth Movement Britain, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, The Muslim Vote and the British Palestinian Committee.
PSC political organizer Dan Iley-Williamson said local councils in the UK “administer pension funds that invest more than £12 billion ($16 billion)” in weapons firms linked to Israel.
“The mass movement for Palestine — which has brought millions onto Britain’s streets — is not going away,” he added.
