Friends of Palestine boycott divestment and sanctions action

A dozen activists gathered at Carousel shopping centre on May 2 as part of a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) action against cosmetics company Seacret.

Friends of Palestine WA (FOPWA) called the action in support of the international BDS campaign called for by Palestinian civil society. The aim is to place pressure on Israel to adhere to international law and to end the illegal occupation of Palestine. This pressure can be created by such actions as boycotting Israeli products.

Seacret is an Israeli company that manufactures its products using resources from the Dead Sea – Palestinian land occupied by Israel. The Palestinians themselves are denied entry to the Dead Sea by Israeli military forces.

The activists converged on the stall and consecutively emerged from the crowd to theatrically announce to people passing by the source of Seacret’s products.

On the previous Seacret action organised by FOPWA, centre management had arranged for police to be present before activists arrived. On this occasion, security was caught off guard even though the action was publicly announced.

After the FOPWA activists had made their point at the Seacret stall, the action progressed into a march with the activists shouting chants such as “Free, free Palestine, occupation is a crime” through the centre. Food court patrons listened sympathetically to a speech by FOPWA activists about the BDS campaign and why the occupation needs to be ended.

[This article by Sarah Ross was written for Green Left Weekly and published also on the Friends of Palestine website.]