Rioters attack Starbucks and loot shops in anti-Israel demo
Rampage: Starbucks in Kensington High Street fared the worst of all the businesses attacked by pro-Palestinian demonstrators on SaturdayFROM THISISLONDON.CO.UK:
Rioters attack Starbucks and loot shops in anti-Israel demo
Mark Blunden and Rashid Razaq
12.01.09
TRADERS told today how pro-Palestinian demonstrators caused hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage when they ransacked businesses near the Israeli Embassy.
The policing bill for Saturday's protest has topped more than £1million. Three officers and 20 demonstrators were injured.
An angry mob targeted shops and cafés in Kensington High Street, looting and smashing windows as violence flared during the rally.
Starbucks bore the brunt of the vandalism as masked protesters ripped out fittings and equipment after clashes with riot police.
A few doors down, at the Stick and Bowl Chinese restaurant, waitress Mai Chen narrowly escaped injury when rioters threw a metal bar through the window. Restaurant manager Daniel Foo said: "They threw bottles, shoes and sticks and one bracket that cracked an officer's riot helmet and put her on the floor. Another came through our window, but we need the whole front replaced because the weight of the crowds buckled it."
About 200 hardcore protesters led the rampage after thousands had marched peacefully from Speakers' Corner, Hyde Park, to Kensington Gardens, near the embassy in Palace Green.
Looters smashed the window of the Top Gun clothes store, stealing leather wallets and bags before throwing red paint into the shop.
Iranian businessman Mike Miri, who owns the store, said: "We think we were deliberately targeted as the name sounds American." Police arrested 24 people after seemingly indiscriminate attacks on a dental practice and a newsagents. Dr Dave Jamus feared looters would steal the £20,000 worth of paintings from his Kensington Dental Spa after they smashed through the glass frontage.
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