Following a prolonged campaign of fortnightly protests in London (recorded in past PNs), the Israeli cosmetics firm Ahava shut its Covent Garden shop in September. Shaftesbury PLC, the shop’s landlord, refused to renew Ahava’s lease because of the effect of anti-occupation demonstrations (and pro-Israeli counter-demonstrations) on adjoining stores. Ahava manufactures its products at the illegal Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Shalem in the occupied West Bank. Solidarity activists have switched their attention to Ahava’s collaboration with King’s College London in research on the toxicity of nanotechnology.
Topics: International solidarity, Israel-Palestine