For over two and a half years, the apartheid state of Israel has been committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. This genocide is the culmination of decades of theft of Palestinian land, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing. Zionism has become a fascist project bent on the eradication of the Palestinian people. Instead of condemning this ongoing genocide and punishing the state perpetrating it, every major western state, including the UK, continue to materially support state of Israel.

My name is Aidan. I’m an organiser with the Industrial Workers of the World, a proudly anti-Zionist union, and I have been a steadfast supporter of Palestinian liberation for years. When I moved to the UK and started working at Old Spike, a chain of local coffee shops, I wore my Palestine badge every single shift to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.

All of my coworkers and the vast majority of customers who commented on my badge said they supported it. But two racist customers made complaints about my support for the Palestinian people. Old Spike, instead of dismissing these Zionist complaints as racist hogwash, decided to create a new company-wide policy prohibiting Palestine badges or symbols in all of its coffee shops.

This suppression of support for Palestine is a widespread problem. Nurses and doctors at the NHS are harassed and even fired for showing support for Palestine. Companies that congratulate themselves for EDI policies ban any support for Palestine in the workplace. Even social media posts made by workers outside of working hours are scrutinised for being too militant in their opposition to literal genocide.

This shameful erasure of Palestinian identity and solidarity is a part of the genocide - an attempt to cover up the mass murder of Palestinians perpetrated by Israel with the full support of the UK government. That’s why we’re fighting back. We’re organising to end the repression of Palestine in the workplace - and we’re starting by suing Old Spike. As part of our legal case, we’ll be arguing that – just like white supremacism or homophobia – Zionist beliefs are not worthy of respect in a democratic society.

We’re asking for your support to fight Zionist erasure of Palestinian symbols. Please donate to the campaign, share it widely, and send an email to Old Spike (you can contact them here: https://oldspikeroastery.com/pages/contact-us) demanding they rescind this racist policy and apologise to the Palestinian people: Click Here For Our Suggested Form E-Mail!

Your donation will help us send a message to Old Spike that our legal team is properly resourced and in a position to take the case to trial if necessary. But we plan on giving any and all excesses, to the Hind Rajab Foundation – who internationally prosecute Zionist war criminals, and MECA – who are helping to rebuild Gaza. Likewise any damages for discrimination obtained through this litigation will be donated to these charities.

This is one struggle, this is one fight. We are only fighting on one front in the battle against Zionism and we want to do our best to support and to link our work to the amazing activism others are doing around the world.

If you are a worker who has faced repression and discrimination in the workplace: reach out to us! The only way we will win is by organising together. You can reach out to us at [email protected] to get support with your case or organising your workplace.