AceShowbiz -

Pharrell Williams' promotional deal with South African retailer Woolworths has led to a protest in the country. On Monday, September 21, around 500 pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered outside Cape Town's Grand West Casino where Pharrell was due to perform later in the day.

Protesters were seen holding signs which read, "Boycott Pharrell," "Boycott Apartheid" and "Free Palestine" in response to Pharrell's collaboration with Woolworths, the South African company accused of using Israeli agricultural products grown in Palestinian territory. According to Reuters, Pharrell's concert was scheduled to go ahead despite the protest.

One of the protesters named Ashraf Salie said, "By working with Woolworths, Pharrell supports Israel, a country that supports the oppression of Palestine, a country that is the new apartheid state." Some passing motorists hooted support to the protesters.

The South African branch of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel (BDS) movement which launched the protest said in a statement, "Pharrell Williams has been targeted because of his deliberate and informed decision to collaborate with Woolworths. Woolworths is a company that maintains unjustifiable trade relations with Apartheid Israel and is the current target of the biggest consumer boycott campaign seen in South Africa since democracy."

"Pharrell goes as far as describing Woolworths as a company that cares about where their products come from - while Palestinian life and land is usurped each time Woolworths unethically buys Israeli products stolen from Palestinians," the statement continued.

Pharrell was hired as Woolworths' style director earlier this year. Woolworths denied BDS' allegations that the company source was produced from the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, asserting that less than 0.1 percent of its food comes from Israel and all imports comply with the guidelines of the South African government.