Boon has been selling flowers in Kentish Town in north London for ten years, and this week was left “deeply upset” by a large anti-Israel demonstration on the high street which damaged her shop, Natasha’s Flowers.
“They vandalised my boxes with their posters, they have put their stickers all over my stuff, they have broken my canopy, they were on top of the boxes last night jumping up and down, and they have also now used my electricity.”
On Thursday afternoon, it is understood that the protesters connected to Boon’s electric supply to power their loudspeakers for chants and speeches. Addressing the protesters via her Instagram, Boon said: “You are vandalising my property. This is not OK and you are causing harm to your community.”
[Missing Credit]
“Today we lost two major funeral orders. It was really quite sad because people rely on calling us to make orders and the lady could not hear me on the phone [...] because of the amount of background noise. In the end, she left the order because it became too stressful for her, which I completely understood.”
The problems began on Wednesday when a planned demonstration surrounded Boon’s stall. The florist asked protesters to move away but was told by the group that the council had approved the protest and they refused to move.
“Then it escalated within minutes and there were hundreds if not thousands of people all surrounding my stall, shouting,” Boon said.
She lost multiple customers throughout Wednesday and had to decline phone orders.
Boon said, “Customers trying to purchase from the stall were forced leaflets [from the protesters] and then they left the stall without buying as they could not shop or look without being approached [by the protesters].”
“I was extremely upset that they also broke my equipment including a canopy which set me back a fair bit. Standing on my flower boxes and also covering my equipment in flags and merchandise as if I was running the protest.”
“The damage done to the canopy is a couple of hundred pounds,” she added.
Several locals have expressed outrage at the way Boon has been treated, and members of the community have said they will buy flowers from the seller to help make up for the shortfall in her earnings this week.
Natasha Boon at her stall before it was vandalised[Missing Credit]
It is understood that protesters had sought permission from Camden council to protest in Kentish Town until 8pm, but locals say that the demo was only disbanded at 9pm.
Anti-Israel demonstrators took over the Kentish Town market area where Natasha Boon has sold flowers for a decade. A count-demonstration also arrived with Israeli flags (Photo: Daniel Ben-David)[Missing Credit]
The organisers of Camden’s Gaza Week, which is supported by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, asked protesters to “join us in Kentish Town” “If you are appalled by our MP’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza and the genocide of Palestinian people.”
“We’re taking a public space in the heart of Keir Starmer’s constituency, creating a space of learning, mobilising, energy and community resistance.”
A counter-demonstration also took place at Kentish Town, with pro-Israel protesters waving Israeli flags and holding up a sign that read “Hamas are terrorists.”
Camden PSC were approached for comment about the flower shop incident.
