16 September 2012

Campaign to Close Down Sodastream Shop Begins in Earnest

Despite Police Harassment Almost Total Public Opposition to the Ethnic Cleansing Shop

Local Argus newspaper covers the protest - and gets it wrong as per usual!

Sodastream has turned into Ecostream - a Greening of Ethnic Cleansing


Not a customer in sight
The shop manager resorts to offering free drinks to entice custom
Over the road the Christian Zionist is engaged in conversation with Police as to how to best shut the campaign down
Sodastream (or Ecostream – its attempts to endear itself to Green  Brighton) is beginning to make itself very unpopular in Brighton.  All 750 leaflets we produced were taken as barely a single customer entered the shop.  In fact I counted just one person buying anything in two hours.  So desperate were they that at one stage they started distributing free drinks in order to entice customers in!”
Our christian Zionist tries to figure out how to use a camera phone - whilst dragging round her poor dog

Picture of all 4 main Zionists - the one farthest from the camera  tried to act the heavy, the 2 middle ones are the Christian Fundies and the one nearest the camera likes to proclaim that there is no ethnic cleansing (& also  pigs can fly!) 
There was not only a very good turnout of Brighton PSC supporters, but lots of people actually joined in spontaneously after being given leaflets.  The stall was always busy.  This is even more remarkable since PSC was also running a stall at the clocktower as well!
2 of the many leafleters from PSC

There were just 4 main pro-Zionist supporters trying to harass the main demonstrators – two of whom, as is nearly always the case now – were Christian Fundamentalists.  It would appear that one form of bigot attracts another.   They seemed to spend most of their time engaged in conversation with the Police along the lines of ‘why are you allowing this protest’.  Christian bigots don’t seem to like free speech and beliefs that differ from their own. These Christian fundamentalists only support Zionism as a means of getting the Jews to go to Israel in order to hasten the 2nd coming of Christ, when most Jews will perish in the fires of Armageddon!
The Christian Zionist Leaflet - Does Our Work for Us!
They professed themselves concerned with ‘anti-Semitism’.  I was even told that I was a ‘Jewish self-hater’ to which I replied ‘no.  It’s you I hate!’  In Nazi Germany the same Christian Fundies set up the German Reich Church to distance themselves from the idea that Christianity & Jesus were Jewish.  If you think I’m being a somewhat severe, in comparing Bishop Muller to today’s Christian bigots, have a look at the video below.  This is Pastor John Hagee, President of Christians United for Israel, the most powerful pro-Zionist movement in the United States.  Hitler was appointed by god no less, to hunt down the Jews and send them to Palestine.  This is the kind of madman (& woman!) that these Christian bigots represent.  Anti-Semitic to the core.  They even put out a leaflet, which apart from being almost wholly inaccurate and racist, contradicts itself within 2 sentences – there was never a place called Palestine and then tells us that the Roman Emperor Hadrian called the land Palaestina.  Such is the sophistication of the Christian bigot!
2 distinctly annoyed Zionists on the left
But at least they don’t pretend in 2 states.  The Palestinians were occupying Israel.  There isn’t even a Palestinian language.  In fact there isn’t an Israeli language either!  Hebrew was recreated by the Zionist settlers.  And of course they make no distinction between Jews, Israel and Zionism. the non-Christian Zionists tried getting physical at one stage but backed off when he was caught out.  One of the Christian Zionists dragged round her dog on a leash.  It was difficult to tell which was the dumb mutt!
Sodastream's premises used to be a Post Office before becoming a place where you could buy stolen goods

But Brighton Police, who have earned themselves a reputation for their hostility to protests and demonstrations, did their best to harass the demonstration, threatening, without any justification, to arrest anyone using the megaphone towards the end.  They’d had some complaints – most of which came from the Zionists.  But it didn’t matter much as we simply began chanting, which further annoyed them.
Our regular Palestine stall does better business than Ecostream!

They arrived in force with a police minibus and another car, but however many police came they couldn’t beautify a shop that sells stolen goods and trades in the products of ethnic cleansing.
The police were out in force - looking for an excuse to stop the protest

The Zionists’ leaflet also used what I call the Hitler defence.  Israel has invented your micro-chip and mobile phone.  All nonsense as these are US companies or their Israeli subsidiaries operating under license.  But this is a familiar argument which says that whatever else he did, at least Hitler built the autobahns and made the trains run on time etc.
Sodastream’s shop is understood to be on a short 6 months lease.  We hope to make it even shorter.


30 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. So. you want to come to my store and preach to me about civil rights or Palestinians. Fuck you, you upset the people I work with who I love and respect, who are moral, ethical people and harass, bully and intimidate them. Next Saturday, pull that shit on me, an out and proud homosexual male, and I'll tell you white middle class ***** a thing or two about segregation, discrimination and ethnic cleansing. Bring it on you BDS c****, bring it the **** on.

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  3. I decided to keep this comment, not because it says anything of value, but sanitised it is an indication of the mentality of those we oppose.

    Clearly we are already getting to them! Mind the post above is probably more articulate than the rest of the Zionists and Christian Fundies who were there.

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  4. Well....I hope you bring it on Tony. :-)

    Good luck with shutting this place down.

    Hope you have a good and healthy New Year.

    Best regards,
    Dr. Bill

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  5. As a matter of fact the point of the picket is to inform the public of the origin of the goods sold in the shop. We think they have a right to know the circumstances under which the goods were made.

    The staff are not the object of the picket and have certainly not been bullied or harassed. You on the other hand have attempted to bully and harass peaceful protesters picketing lawfully in a public place. You have also attempted to bully the police into removing our peaceful protest. People can judge your character for themselves based on the threats you made above.

    And what may one ask do your sexual preferences have to do with this issue?

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  6. 'Anonymous', what in Theodor Herzl's name does your sexuality have to do with anything? Moreover, why does the skin-colour and class of the protesters require a designation from you? Based on the evidence above, I'm fairly sure you couldn't tell your laces from your heel, so I certainly wouldn't rely on you to discern the racial and social components of a group of people.

    I'm delighted to hear that your staff are 'moral', 'ethical' people, and if that is indeed the case then I must commiserate you on having to find new staff to fill the void left by their resignations.

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  7. The post above has not come from any manager of SodaStream UK or ecostream, as has been claimed.

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  8. I think we can take it from ecostreams comment above, that the comment has indeed come from the current manager. It contains information about which I would certainly have been unaware and we have the original anyway.

    It has what might be called the 'ring of authenticity' but I perfectly understand why Ecostream would wish to deny it for the record!

    No doubt others will judge what is and is not authentic.

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  9. Best wishes to everyone involved in the dissemination of relevant and ethical information regarding this shop.

    For my part, I hope it is forced to close.

    Keith

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  10. Anonymous's comments are certainly in line with Ecostream manager's rude and aggressive behaviour on the day.
    Encouraging Christian-Zionists to counter-leaflet the picket and make a lot of noise, was not the brightest of ideas either.
    Nor was demanding that a large police presence stand by the door conducive to shoppers who might otherwise want to go in to buy your products!

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  11. Whilst I don't agree with the language of the shop staff member:I agree with their sentiment!

    Tony, you are nothing but a bigot and a racist. I hope you are not claiming benefits for this nonsence........

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  12. If it is bigoted or racist to oppose racism then I plead guilty! Such is the Alice in Wonderland 'logic' of the Zionists.

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  13. Tony

    Zionism isn't racism. You need to get your history books out! Israel is not occupying anyone elses land but their own. Indeed, in terms of the Balfour declaration, they should be building more new housing far outside of the current borders.

    Do you really think that the Fakestinians, sorry Palestinians, want peace? No:They want to destroy Israel.

    Come on:get busy with the fizzy......

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  14. This campaign will only ever result in this company leaving Brighton with their tail between their legs and many more people fully understanding the unethical origins of the goods this company make.

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  15. I'll leave the fizzy to you, since you clearly need it.

    No of course Zionism isn't racist.

    Establishing a Jewish state in a land where the majority weren't Jewish wasn't an example of racism.

    The exclusion of Arabs from large sectors of work in Israel (because they don't serve in the army - classical indirect racial discrimination) isn't racist.

    The refusal to recognise 100 Arab villages and the refusal to allow any Arab towns, unlike their Jewish equivalents to be built, isn't racism. Granting Arab local authorities less than 1/3 of what Jewish towns get isn't racist. Segregating higher education so that there are only 4 mixed secondary schools in Israel isn't racist. The fact that 60% of Israel's youth would remove the very limited democratic rights (such as the right to vote) from Israeli Arabs isn't racist. The fact that a majority of Israeli Jews would like Arabs to leave isn't racist. The fatwa by the Chief Rabbi of Safed, Shmuel Eliyahu (son of a former Sephardic Chief Rabbi) that Jews must not rent to Arabs and when an 89 year old holocaust survivor ignored him was subject to villification and abuse, this is not racism. The fact that this was endorsed by hundreds of other rabbis and he is a paid state official doesn't imply racism either. And the fact that the Jewish National Fund, together with the Israel Lands Administration administers 93% of land in Israel which is verboten, off limits, to non-Jews and Arabs, that isn't racist either.

    Do tell me what your definition of racist is because I imagine the Nazis prior to the holocaust would have fitted quite easily into it. After all, they were only defending the German volk.

    And do tell us which history books it is that you are referring to. None that I know, not even a decent Zionist version makes such a pretence. After all the complaint of Benny Morris, who exploded the myth that the Palestinians weren't expelled and subject to massacre in 1948 when he gained access to the Haganah archives is not that it didn't happen but that it is a pity they didn't finish the job (Yigal Allon's complaint among others).

    So which fairy tale book were you referring to because judging by your fondness for certain drinks it would appear that you need to grow up.

    But I forgot that British imperialism, via the Balfour Declaration 'gave' it to the Zionists. The question is whether Britain had any right to give the land of the Palestinians to anyone.

    As for peace, I believe Hitler too believed in such a peace - the peace of that comes with total surrender.

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  16. I find it childish how anyone against your protest is automatically put down by you as a bigot or an idiot dragging a dog around on a leash. (How else would you like her to take her dog out. Floating on a magical cloud?) Someone against your views is entitled to them just as you are. Your points are also false. I saw most of the campaign on two weeks. 1.the shop has been open for about 3 months and didnt in fact open to your protests at all. 2. It has never been a large protest. Around 6 people with a table is not large at all. 3. The shop was indeed busy and not empty as stated in your comments. 4. I saw no evidence at all of the police threatening anyone more precisely they were being very good at letting you protest when many tax payers would rather they were being better used instead of having to be there to control a protest. I would like to know why this store has been targeted and Robert dyas just across the street has been left alone even though you state they sell these products too?

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  17. If you oppose the campaign against Sodastream, which is actively involved in the removal of Bedouin from nearby lands, which is based on stolen lands and which is using the stolen resources of the West bank you must be a bigot.

    It is no surprise that the most anti-Semitic group of all, Christian Fundamentalists, are your natural partners and allies. Google 'John Hagee and Hitler' or 'Glenn Beck and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories'.

    Most people take their dog to the park if they have one. They don't drag the dumb mutt around the street (I'm talking about the dog not the woman though many have understandably been confused).

    The fact that you have thse Christian fascists proclaiming that the indigenous Palestinians are 'occupying Israel' just shows who your allies are. Next you will be aping Ahava and bringing the EDL alongside. Indeed maybe you should because at least they are honest fascists.

    Why the assumption that 'tax payers' don't support protests. maybe middle class twerps like you don't but most trade unionists pay tax. This store specifically sells only Israeli produce and is based on a settlement. Robert Dyas and others aren't. But if the store closes we promise to divert our attention to the Robert Dyases of this world!

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  18. I think you will find most people walk their dogs in the street what an absolutly mental thing to say! I pay my taxes thank you very much and think the police should be doing better things but have to spend their time organising idiots like you who can't keep a protest calm and respectful. Before you say you do you don't I have witnessed both weekends worth of protests. I have no alliance with you or the shop I just can't stand people like you making lies up about people and preaching your views in a blinkered and actually sickening way. Also I'm pretty sure most of your lies about people including calling myself a twerp are actually slanderous as you don't know me and I infact spoke to you in person and wasn't rude in any way.

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  19. Greenstein, the police are on your case - the sooner you are behind bars the better

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  20. Well naturally I should be behind bars. isn't that what they do in the 'only democracy in the Middle East'.

    Our Christian Fundie wasn't walking her dog in the street, she was dragging the poor Mutt around as she tried to drown out the protest with her raucous singing (and putting off anyone who might be tempted to buy some of Soda sorry Ecostream's poisons.

    If I call u a twerp it is because your views are exactly that. The fact that the shop is selling products from the Occupied Territories is a fact. That the Bedouin living nearby are and have been displaced by the Israeli Military is also a fact. As for paying taxes what do you want? A medal? We didn't ask for the Police to be called and I witnessed some of your friends asking the Police why they 'allowed' the protest to happen.

    Clearly you have some very undemocratic friends and hence my adjective is not misplaced.

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  21. Clearly you don't listen. I'm not on anyone's side. Also your the one that accused me of not paying taxes so don't get sarcastic with me when I state I do. You may not ask for the police to be called but because you have no respect for local residents or businesses unfortunately they have to be there to control your protest. Again anyone with opposing views to yours is a twerp apparently. Blinkered view on life tony.

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  22. I haven't mentioned taxes. Clearly you have forgotten what you wrote and said. It is an irrelevant point. No doubt many racists pay taxes as did supporters of the Nazis but that didn't make their message right.

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  23. Idiotic Israeli Supporter20 September 2012 at 19:02

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  24. Christian fundamentalists wish to see a Jewish 'return' to Palestine in order that they can then burn in the fires of Armageddon.

    Suggest you google Pastor John Hagee and Hitler and see his lovely little speech on Hitler being god's messenger boy. Or is that not anti-Semitic. He is the leader of the main Christian Zionist group in the USA.

    Or the nutcase Christian Fundie at Ecostream who insists that the Palestinians are occupying Israeli land. Maybe just a fascist if you prefer that.

    In fact you probably do prefer it since at Ahava you welcomed the EDL along. Didn't do you much good to see Jonathan Hoffman dancing along with Roberta Moore of Kach and EDL did it?

    The Christian Fundamentalist belief that Jews should 'return' is predicated on the idea that they don't belong here, in Britain. Come to think of it Zionists also believe Jews should 'return'. Another reason why Zionism and anti-Semitism are 2 sides of the same rotten coin.

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  25. Why the assumption that 'tax payers' don't support protests. maybe middle class twerps like you don't but most trade unionists pay tax. That's your comment? So you did mention tax? I think the fact has started to be proven that your blog is lies about people passing by and the staff in the shop. A few points about Hitler don't prove anything about the rest of the human race. Good luck with your little protest. No doubt if the shop does close you will claim it as YOUR victory even though its probably based on a number of different factors Inc rent. Business rates and general business that has nothing to do with your tiny protests. I will be moving away from the area soon hopefully and out of mind out of sight. Your a very bigoted man and are very blinkered in your aims. You seem to be happy to upset the masses just to further your cause with your awful little troupe of hippy style protesters and in reality your protest is having absolutely no effect on the shop. No one talks about the protest no one knows its there other than two hours on a Saturday when in those two hours they seem to do more trade thanks to the attention given by you. I would love to see if its absolutely hammering it down out there one Saturday if you all turn up. Let's see how much you care then about your cause then. The amount of shops worldwide that sell these products. Closing one shop will make no difference to these people. Its the equivalent of a grain of sand being removed from a desert. All I can suggest to the people reading this that you just ignore this tiny man and let him spend his time how he wishes and just wait for the natural conclusion of nothing to happen in the big scheme of things. No doubt I will see you again this weekend tiny tony and after three everything will return to its natural state.

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  26. The usual tirade about how terrible it is to mount these protests. No matter that Bedouin are being ethnically cleansed from the area around the factory and the Industrial Park, all that you are bothered about is the inconvenience to these leeches.

    There was also a Boycott of Nazi Germany in 1933, led by the labour movement and Jewish workers. Who helped destroy it? The Zionist movement which preferred to trade with Nazi Germany (Ha'vara) it was called. Just as there were boycotts of slave grown sugar and Apartheid in South Africa.

    People like you will always sympathise with men of property and the racists in society. It may be only one shop but it's the only one in Brighton.

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  27. Amazing how much a so-called neutral party claims to know so much about both pickets and also manages to find their way to this blog!

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  28. Yes there are no flies on these Zionists. However it's nice to see them so angry when they are posting. Kinda gives the game away!

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  29. The gay staff member has been whinging on www.thingbox.com uk gay forum site about the protest. He comes across as clueless there as he does here. People have explained the issue to him but he is unwilling to listen and throws a tantrum whenever anyone disagrees with him.

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  30. Thanks. I find it difficult to understand what his being gay has to do with his running an apartheid store.

    Indeed being gay says nothing or next to nothing about your politics. You can be a member of Queer Against Cuts (good) or an organiser of Brighton Gay Pride and cooperate with the Police in attacking other gays and subversives.

    It is a fact that some of the most notorious neo-Nazis in Britain - Martin Webster (with John Tyndall and Colin Jordan the key figure in the post-war British neo-Nazi scene and co-founder of the Greater British Movement that helped set up the National Front) and Nick Crane, violent leader of the British Movement before he succumbed to aids, were both gay and did nothing to combat homophobia.

    And in the Nazi party itself, Ernst Rohm and the leaders of the SA storm troopers were almost all gay but the most vicious racists and anti-Semites of all.

    So the manager of Brighton's Ecostream is in good company!

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