On Saturday 9^th August a woman wearing a traditional Palestinian dress and scarf (keffiyeh) was barred from entering the London Strand branch of Whittard of Chelsea. She was informed by a Whittard employee she could only enter if she removed her keffiyeh. She rightly refused.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=4194916377460401

Video footage of the incident has gone viral and there is intense public anger over Whittard’s blatant anti Palestinian discrimination. No public apology was made and no reported disciplinary action against the staff member has taken place. Whittard have even disabled comments on their Instagram account.

Whittard claim on their website to “maintaìn ethical conduct and integrity within our business.” Yet they fail to meet their own standards.

**ACT NOW**

Leave a one star review on the Trust pilot site telling Whittard you will boycott them for anti-Palestinian discrimination. Do the same on Google reviews.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.whittard.co.uk

Cancel any existing subscriptions with Whittard, informing them you do not wish to buy from an anti- Palestinian company.

Email Whittard of Chelsea at info@whittard.co.uk using the template below. Please copy in info@mpacuk.org.

Dear Whittard of Chelsea,

I’m highly concerned by a video widely circulating on social media showing a staff member at your Strand store refusing entry to a woman wearing a Palestinian dress and keffiyeh (scarf). She is advised she may enter on removing her keffiyeh and rightly refuses to do so.

 I am shocked at the anti Palestinian racism displayed by your employee and the failure of Whittard of Chelsea to publicly apologise for the enormous offence caused by this incident.

Gaza is subject to the worst genocide of the 21^st century according to many global authorities such as Amnesty International, Medicin Sans Frontieres, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Studies and many independent UN experts. It is a devastating time for Palestinians and their supporters. It is absolutely outrageous that your store employee refused entry on the basis of Palestinian dress. This is blatant discrimination, yet you claim to ““maintain ethical conduct and integrity within our business” on your website.

I ask you to publicly apologise for the distress caused, and to take disciplinary action against the employee and as a goodwill gesture make a donation to UNRWA.

Yours faithfully,