Transport for London (TfL), the transport network for the UK’s capital, on Wednesday stated that it would immediately remove numerous posters that urged commuters to boycott international sports brand Puma because of its sponsorship of the Israeli Football Association (IFA) which has teams in illegal settlements.
The posters, apparently part of efforts by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, display the logo of the sportswear company Puma alongside the words “Boycott – Give Puma the boot,” with a picture of Israeli occupation soldiers arresting Palestinian youths, a regular occurrence seen on the streets of the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
We international community is constantly implementing #BDS, which will completely destroy the #racism ◢◤#Freedom4??
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All over the London underground: #BoycottPuma subvertising Puma, complicit sponsor of the Israeli Apartheid Football Association
v. @ DaysofPalestine・3h pic.twitter.com/aqxiCPBGY9— KAKAPO➤Endangered (@178kakapo) October 23, 2019
The words at the bottom of the poster refer to Puma as “proud sponsors of Israeli apartheid.
TfL described the incident as vandalism and set to removing them from its trains on the Northern and Bakerloo Lines. A spokesman for the TfL told the UK-based pro-Israeli newspaper the Jewish Chronicle that,
“These adverts are absolutely not authorized by TfL or our advertising agent Global. It is fly posting and therefore an act of vandalism which we take extremely seriously. We have instructed our contractors to remove any of these posters found on our network immediately.”
Thank you, Donegal Celtic!
Belfast football club stands with Palestinian teams calling to #BoycottPuma over its support for illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land.
Oct 26, join Boycott @Puma Day of Action, 50+ actions in 20 countries. https://t.co/kVtn4OkN7I pic.twitter.com/Y3cze6KHPe
— PACBI (@PACBI) October 21, 2019
On Twitter, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) described Puma as “the main sponsor of the Israeli Football Association (IFA) who have teams in illegal settlements, based on stolen Palestinian land.”
PACBI urged people to rise up and join the second “global day of action” against Puma tomorrow. Protests will be held outside Puma stores and offices as part of the civic movement.
Palestinians in Gaza who lost limbs due to Israeli sniper fire call to #BoycottPuma.@Puma supports Israel's illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land and helps whitewash Israel's attacks on Palestinian sports.
Join 2nd Global Day of Action, Oct 26. https://t.co/kVtn4OkN7I pic.twitter.com/zMJ1BVK8Uj
— PACBI (@PACBI) October 18, 2019
The BDS movement has been and is targeted by a huge campaign of suppression by a variety of organizations, lobbying groups and countries.
(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)
