Palestine Action activists in UK court for storming Israeli arms firm
Ten pro-Palestine activists involved in a direct action protest against a subsidiary of the Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems in the United Kingdom were expected in court after the British police used powers under the so-called Terrorism Act to detain them last month.
Members of Palestine Action were to stand their plea hearing at Old Bailey Crown Court in London on Friday.
The activists were arrested in early August after crashing a modified prison van into an Elbit Systems factory in the Filton area of Bristol.
Video footage shared by the group showed members of the direct action group spraying red paint and using sledgehammers to damage machinery inside the facility.
In response to the arrests, dozens of pro-Palestine activists staged a protest outside Hammersmith Police Station on August 11, where some of the detainees were taken after their arrest.
Samuel Corner, 22, Leona Kamio, 28, Hannah Davidson, 51, Charlotte Head, 28, Zoe Rogers, 20, Jordan Devlin, 30, and Fatama Rajwani, 20, are all accused of causing £1 million of damage in a break-in at the Elbit Systems UK factory on August 6.
A spokesperson for Palestine Action described the use of the Terrorism Act as “unprecedented,” and condemned the police for attempting to discredit their activists.
“Now, more than ever, Palestine Action and the Filton Six need the support of the public to push back against these authoritarian attempts to protect Israel's weapons industry,” Palestine Action said in a statement.
Palestine Action has been targeting Elbit Systems sites across the United Kingdom, including factories in Leicester, Oldham, and Shenstone, as well as the company's London headquarters, for years.
The group uses direct action tactics to disrupt operations and draw attention to Elbit's role in supplying various types of arms and munitions to the Israeli regime.
Elbit's weapons have been used in attacks against Palestinians, including in the ongoing genocidal war in Gaza where Israeli forces have killed more than 41,118 people, mostly women and children.
Elbit supplies 85 percent of the Israeli military’s land-based equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
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