Toiletries chain Lush has closed all its UK shops for a day “in solidarity with Gaza” and called on the UK government to act to help end “the death and destruction”.
The shop famous for its strongly scented soaps and bath bombs said it would not open its stores on Wednesday and would keep its website closed to “send into Gaza our love and a strong message that we stand in solidarity”. The company has more than 100 shops in the UK and Ireland, whose windows display the slogan “Stop starving Gaza”.
Bosses estimated they would lose around £350,000 in sales for the day, and they would also have to cover staff wages bills amounting to another £300,000.
Instead of its usual home page, the Lush website consists of a black page, with the same message and “We are closed in solidarity” in capitals.
Another page reads: “Across the Lush business we share the anguish that millions of people feel seeing the images of starving people in Gaza, Palestine. Like the rest of the world, we struggle to find ways we can help whilst the Israeli government is preventing urgent humanitarian assistance from entering Gaza.”
The chain, which has often taken controversial stands on political issues, has also shut its factories for a day.
In 2018, the company was slated for a campaign that sought to highlight the scandal over undercover police officers forging intimate relationships with women they spied on.
The high-street chain adorned its store fronts with fake police tape reading “police have crossed the line”.
On Wednesday, no products were available on the Lush website. Instead, a message read: “Shutting our shops is not an easy decision – we ask for forgiveness from any customers we inconvenience should they come to us on 3rd September and find us closed. However, we know that many of our customers share the same anxiety about the current situation in Gaza.”
It added: “Whilst Lush is losing a day of takings, this also means that the UK government is losing a day of tax contributions from Lush and our customers. We hope they too hear the message our closure sends, with more government action needed to bring an immediate stop to the death and destruction, including an end to arms sales from the UK.”
The UN says there is mounting evidence that “widespread starvation, malnutrition and disease” are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths in Gaza caused by an Israeli blockade on the territory.
The latest export licensing figures available, from May this year, show that the UK approved £127m of military equipment to Israel in single issue licences between October and December last year.
This was less than it would have been without a partial suspension of arms sales. In September, foreign secretary David Lammy said the UK would be suspending 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel, over concerns they could be used in violation of international humanitarian law.
Of the lost sales and wages bill, a Lush spokesperson said: “It’s sad that it’s easier for us to take this financial loss than it is for us to get the equivalent amount of aid into Gaza.”
