Britons support anti-Israel French activists

British pro-Palestinian campaigners have staged a protest in London to express solidarity with French activists on trial for protesting against the Israeli regime.

Campaigners gathered outside the French Embassy and marched to the French Consulate in the British capital on October 30.

They condemned the French government’s move to bring a case to court against four members of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign group over charges of inciting racial hatred.

The BDS, which was launched in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian non-governmental organizations, seeks to increase pressure on the Israeli regime to stop its occupation of the Palestinian lands.

Protesters raised concerns that some of BDS activists could be imprisoned for up to two years if found guilty of boycotting Israeli products.

Demonstrators were carrying placards reading, “Stop France harassing BDS”, “Boycott Israeli goods” and “Shame on France, French democracy prosecutes people for boycotting Israel”.

In September, British pro-Palestine activists held protests in a number of locations across the UK to voice their anger at the sale of products from the illegal Israeli settlements in the county’s supermarkets.

Campaigners took part in the Sodastream National Day of Action to call on stores not to stock Israeli settlement-made products.

Moves to tighten a boycott grip on the Israeli regime gained momentum in the UK since April 2012, when Britain’s fifth-largest food retailer, the Co-operative Group, extended a boycott of goods from illegal settlements that have been produced on occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank.