Great Britain
Pro-Palestinian protest: Mice thrown into McDonald’s
McDonald’s has condemned incidents in the UK where live mice were thrown into restaurants. photo
© Nick Ansell/PA Wire/dpa
Footage shows men with Palestinian flags dumping crates of mice or rats into McDonald’s restaurants. The police are investigating.
The fast food chain McDonald’s has condemned incidents in the UK in which pro-Palestinian activists allegedly threw live mice into restaurants en masse.
Police in the city of Birmingham previously said they were investigating a case in which live rodents were dumped at a McDonald’s restaurant on Monday. According to the BBC, this was one of several incidents of which videos were circulating online.
The footage shows men with Palestinian flags dumping crates of mice or rats into McDonald’s restaurants. Some of the animals were allegedly dyed in the colors of the Palestinian flag. The activists allegedly wanted revenge for the fact that the chain’s restaurants in Israel had given out free meals to soldiers.
Restaurants fully cleaned after incidents
According to the British news agency PA, a McDonald’s spokesman emphasized that the individual license holders in Israel had made independent decisions. “McDonald’s Corporation does not finance or support any government involved in the conflict,” the spokesman said. Local business partners operating restaurants under license would devise promotions independently, without McDonald’s approval. The fast food chain said the restaurants were completely cleaned after the incidents and exterminators were called in.
The police said they had opened an investigation into disturbing public order. It said: “We understand the stress this has caused and this is not acceptable under any circumstances.”