Pro-Palestinian protester releases mice in UK McDonald’s
Rodents painted in colors of Palestinian flag scurry across floor of branch in Birmingham, England, amid calls to boycott chain because Israeli branches gave meals to soldiers
A pro-Palestinian protester released a horde of mice painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag into a McDonald’s branch in Birmingham, England on Monday.
Footage of the incident, which sent some diners scrambling to escape the rodents, was shared on social media.
Palestinian activists have called for a boycott of the McDonald’s fast food chain after McDonald’s Israel announced that it had provided meals for IDF soldiers fighting in the war that erupted when the Hamas terror group attacked on October 7, killing over 1,400 people in Israel, the vast majority of them civilians.
The UK McDonald’s management confirmed the mice incident and said that the branch has been “fully sanitized” the Daily Mail reported.
In the clip, titled “enjoy your rat burgers,” a man is seen arriving in a car at the McDonald’s located in the Star City leisure complex in Birmingham. The car is fitted with a fake license plate reading “PAIISTN.”
Wearing a Palestinian flag on his head, the man opens the trunk of the car, pulls out the box of mice, which had been colored red, black or green, then enters the McDonald’s and dumps them on the floor. Diners flee as the mice scurry across the floor.
Hamas supporter throws mice in a packed London McDonalds, while shouting “fuck Israel”.
Multiculturalism has failed. pic.twitter.com/Y7VUV6ryL7
— Turning Point UK ???????? (@TPointUK) October 30, 2023
The man is heard shouting, “Free fucking Palestine” and then as he walks back to his car he adds, “Boycott Israel” and “Fuck Israel.”
The footage was apparently filmed by an accomplice. It ends with text on the screen reading, “Targeted boycott. The Big Three. Start by boycotting these brands that are directly involved in supporting the Israeli apartheid.”
In addition to McDonald’s, it lists Disney and Starbucks.
As the video ends a voice can be heard, apparently from a phone call, saying that “All the alarms are going off” and that the doors to the McDonald’s are closed.
“Successful mission,” responds a voice.
A McDonald’s spokesperson told the Daily Mail, “We are aware of an incident in our Birmingham Star City restaurant this evening. The restaurant has been fully sanitized and our pest control partners have been called out to conduct a full inspection.”
Days earlier there was a protest outside a McDonald’s in Bristol were pro-Palestinian supporters shouted calls for a boycott and said the food chain is “killing innocent people.”
A video of that incident was also shared on social media.
Protesters in Bristol, calling for a boycott of McDonald’s pic.twitter.com/nVtLJ47n9g
— London & UK Street News (@CrimeLdn) October 25, 2023
War erupted when Hamas carried out a devastating attack on October 7. Some 2,500 terrorists burst across the border into Israel from the Gaza Strip by land, air and sea, killing over 1,400 people and seizing some 240 hostages of all ages under the cover of a deluge of thousands of rockets fired at Israeli towns and cities.
The vast majority of those killed as gunmen seized border communities were civilians — including babies, children and the elderly. Entire families were executed in their homes, and over 260 people were slaughtered at an outdoor festival, many amid horrific acts of brutality by the terrorists.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and remove it from power in Gaza. The IDF has carried intensive strikes on Gaza saying it is hitting terror targets while striving to minimize civilian casualties. Hamas and other terror groups have continued to barrage Israel with rockets, displacing over 200,000 people from their homes while over a million are repeatedly forced to run to bomb shelters.
McDonald’s Israel has posted to social media that its branches are offering meals at a 50 percent reduction to IDF soldiers and that since the war started it has given out over 100,000 free meals to members of the security forces, emergency services, hospital staff, and residents of communities near the border with Gaza who bore the burnt of the Hamas assault.
Other franchises of the chain around the world have clarified that are not under the same ownership as the Israel branch. Some have made donations for people in Gaza.
The Walt Disney company said earlier this month that it will donate $2 million to humanitarian groups in Israel, including $1 million for the Magen David Adom ambulance and medic service.
Meanwhile, Starbucks has become embroiled in a mutual lawsuit with its workers unions, some of which have posted pro-Palestinian messages on social media leading pro-Israel supporters to call for a boycott. The unions have maintained their right to post independent content while Starbucks’ official statements on the war have expressed sympathy for innocent victims in both Israel and Gaza.
Britain’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman has ordered a review of terrorism and extremism laws after the police asked for clarification about slogans at pro-Palestinian demonstrations held in Britain, drawing hundreds of thousands of people.
Metropolitan Police chief Sir Mark Rowley has also called for reviewing the legal definition of extremism, the Daily Mail reported.
Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry has reported over 8,000 deaths from Israel’s strikes. The figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. Israel says it killed some 1,500 Hamas terrorists inside Israel on and after October 7.
