Pro-Palestine activists accused of 'intimidation' with Israeli boycott
Jewish activists in Brighton say pro-Palestine canvassers are engaging in a 'campaign of intimidation' by knocking on the doors of locals and asking them to boycott Israeli products.Members of the Brighton and Hove Apartheid-Free Zone (AFZ) group were filmed going door-to-door in the city on February 7, asking residents to sign a pledge against goods manufactured in Israel.The group says it is expressing solidarity with Palestinians who have been killed and displaced in Gaza, taking inspiration from the Anti-Apartheid Movement that targeted South Africa in the latter half of the 20th century.But local Jewish activists have accused the group of engaging in a targeted campaign to whip up feelings of antisemitism towards British Jews.Vicky Bhogal, who runs local campaign group Jewish and Proud, alleged that by engaging in door knocking the group was 'finding out who has got Zionist leanings and who hasn't, and where they live'.'It was insidious, and it was dangerous,' she told the Jewish Chronicle, describing their activities as a 'campaign of intimidation that is next level'.She followed the AFZ group - who wore bright pink high-visibility jackets - around, filming them as they went door-to-door. The campaigners, in turn, appeared to be filming her on a body-worn camera.The AFZ says it wants people to boycott Israeli goods in line with the wider Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which aims to pressure Israel into ceasing its military action in Gaza as it continues its war with Hamas. Pro-Palestine activists are seen knocking on a door in Brighton as they seek to discourage people from buying Israeli products The activists handed out leaflets expressing solidarity with Palestinian people with the goal of creating an 'apartheid-free zone' in Brighton Jewish activist Vicky Bhogal accused the group of seeking to invoke antisemitism - a claim that it has deniedDescribing Israel as a 'racist and genocidal state' on its website, it accuses the country of the 'illegal occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian land', a claim Israel denies.Activists told Sky News that they viewed Zionism - the movement that supports the creation and maintenance of a Jewish homeland - as akin to apartheid, but have denied claims that they are antisemitic or racist.Asked if the group was antisemitic, one doorknocker called Seymour, told the broadcaster: 'No. We're anti-racist.' But asked if they were anti-Zionist, he replied: 'Yeah, sure. Because the Zionist ideology is an apartheid ideology in our view.'He added of door-knocking: 'It's no different from the actions of a political party like the Conservative Party or the Labour Party who also go door to door and ask people how they feel.'Challenged on the fact the activists were not asking people to oppose Jews, Ms Bhogal said: 'They know they can get away with this. 'They know they can go around door to door eliciting support for this seemingly really nice... "just don't buy Israeli avocados".'Any campaign against Israel is a campaign against British Jews. You can't separate it. The way I see it, the modern face of antisemitism is anti-Zionism.'The issue has split communities in Brighton, a city normally famed for its reputation for tolerance and inclusion. It prompted Peter Kyle, MP for Hove and Portslade and the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, to call for police to investigate the AFZ activists.But Sussex Police says it had been unable to find any evidence of criminal activity and will not be investigating.Mark Sewards, the chair of Labour Friends of Israel, wrote to local Green MP Sian Berry urging her to condemn what he called the 'dangerous, divisive and intimidatory' door-knocking campaign.But Ms Berry told Sky News that she believed the activists were 'well intentioned, and were not intending to alarm any Jewish residents specifically with this choice of engagement activity'.She added: 'Seeking to raise awareness of the horrific recent actions against Palestinians in Gaza of the current government in Israel, and the wide international recognition of these as war crimes, is legitimate, and can extend to boycott(s).'Israeli boycott groups like the Brighton and Hove AFZ have sprung up in greater numbers following Israel's incursion into Gaza following the October 7 attacks by Hamas, which killed over 1,200 people, mostly Israelis.Since then, the war with Hamas has killed an estimated 72,000 Palestinian people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Authority. It has also levelled most of the Gaza Strip and displaced 1.9million Palestinians.Israel's actions in Gaza under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have prompted accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing, which it denies.But those who believe Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians are behind campaigns like the AFZ and calls to boycott companies that do business with the state, and companies of Israeli origin. The activists wore bright pink high-visibility jackets and carried Palestine flags ahead of the campaign a week ago The issue has divided locals in Brighton, a city normally renowned for its toleranceThe BDS movement calls for direct action against firms that invest in Israel, among them oil giant Chevron, IT frms Intel, Dell and Microsoft, as well as companies with business interests in the country such as Coca-Cola and McDonald's. It has also pressured local councils into divesting pension funds from Israeli firms.The campaign against Israel has echoes of the Anti-Apartheid Movement of the late 20th century, which was credited with putting the issue of South African apartheid, and how to oppose it, front and centre among the general public.By the 1980s, almost every region in the UK had an AAM group seeding local opposition to South African goods; wider campaigns even targeted sports teams, musicians and global corporations that continued to do business with the country.In the years since the October 7 attacks, and Israel's ongoing campaign in Gaza, there has also been a rise in antisemitic incidents across Britain.A poll by YouGov last year, commissioned by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, also found that half of young Brits feel uncomfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel.It also concluded that half of Brits believe Israel is treating Palestinians in the same way that Nazis treated the Jews.
