LONDON: Morrisons, one of the UK’s largest grocery stores, has removed a Ramadan calendar that listed the location of Al-Aqsa Mosque as being in Israel.
The supermarket giant removed the calendar less than 24 hours after a campaign was initiated by pro-Palestinian group Friends of Al-Aqsa.
In a statement, the FOA said: “Al-Aqsa is in East Jerusalem and has been under illegal occupation by Israel since 1967. The third-holiest site in Islam is frequently subjected to violent raids by the Israeli occupation forces as well as Israeli settlers.”
Al-Aqsa Mosque and compound are highly revered by Muslims and is said to be the location from which the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. It is also the site of intermittent flare-ups in tension between Palestinians and Israelis, as Jews also claim the same location as one of their religion’s most holy sites.
On Monday, the FOA launched a social media campaign encouraging individuals to get in touch with David Potts, the chief executive officer of Morrisons, urging him to take action over the calendar product.
A message sent by the group to Morrisons, said: “By allowing this item to be sold in your stores and online, Morrisons is complicit in Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, which Amnesty International has now described as apartheid. Your sale of this item is an attack on Palestinian rights.”
Shamiul Joarder, head of public affairs at FOA, said the “victory shows that the British public is increasingly aware of Israeli apartheid and will increasingly hold companies to account for their complicity in the illegal occupation of Palestine.”
A spokesperson for Morrisons said: “As soon as this was brought to our attention, we removed the calendar from sale.”
