Pro-Palestinian protesters descended on the British supermarket chain Tesco after one of the stores suspended an employee for refusing to handle Israeli goods.

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement called for the retailer to “withdraw disciplinary action” against the employee in County Down, Northern Ireland.

BDS alleged Tesco had suspended the worker “for refusing to handle blood-soaked Israeli goods,” and added that the employee now “faces disciplinary action for having a conscience and not supporting genocide.”

After the incident at the Northern Ireland branch, Tesco stores dotted across the UK experienced a wave of protests. Last week, pro-Palestinian groups organized a protest outside a branch in Newcastle.

People Before Profit activists said it was standing in “full solidarity [with] Tesco workers and all those facing victimisation at work for refusing to handle Israeli goods,” according to the Telegraph.

A petition, which has collected several thousand signatures, was also set up in support of the employee.

The petition read that: “To be forced to take money for goods which founded genocide, under the threat of disciplinary action, is unconscionable. All retail workers have the right to decline to handle these blood-stained items.”