[News] Palestine Action Activists Found NOT GUILTY After Defacing Israeli Arms Company
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Mon Dec 6 16:09:24 EST 2021
palestineaction.org <https://palestineaction.org/not-guilty/>
Palestine Action Activists Found NOT GUILTY After Defacing Israeli
Arms Company
6 Dec 2021
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*PRESS RELEASE 06/12/21
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*
* Palestine Action activists, the ‘Elbit Three’, have been declared
‘not guilty’ after taking action against Elbit Systems’ subsidiary
UAV Engines in February 2021.
* The landmark case – the first time that individuals have gone to
trial for direct action taken against Elbit Systems – represents a
significant defeat for both Elbit and the Crown Prosecution Service,
who attempted to prosecute people taking a stand to undermine the
production of Israeli drones.
* Criminal damage charges were brought after activists locked onto
gates and threw red paint over the premises of Elbit subsidiary UAV
Engines in Shenstone, Staffordshire. The factory produces drone
engines for a range of drones manufactured by Elbit Systems, who are
Israel’s largest private arms company.
* Activist: “You have to do something, if you do nothing then Elbit
continues to make its smart weaponry which enables Israel to kill
efficiently. Elbit has no business being allowed to be in the UK. It
has no values that are shared with humanity”
Three Palestine Action activists, dubbed the ‘Elbit Three’, have today
been found not guilty of criminal damage charges in a trial taking place
at Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court. The trial, which commenced on
Friday 3rd December, saw Elbit Systems and the Crown Prosecution
Service attempt to criminalise individuals who took a stand against the
manufacture of drones and drone parts. The products manufactured at the
site of the protest, the UAV Engines factory in Shenstone,
Staffordshire, are key components for a range of Elbit’s combat drones,
used extensively by Israel for bombardments of Gazan civilians.
Elbit Systems are Israel’s largest private arms company, supplying 85%
of Israel’s drone fleet. Their /Hermes/ drones, manufactured with
UK-made components, are regularly deployed in bombardments of Gaza, with
Elbit also supplying a range of surveillance equipment, armaments, and
specialist military technologies for the Israeli military and police.
Palestine Action have undertaken a campaign of sustained direct action
against Elbit Systems – across their 10 sites in the UK – with this
action in Shenstone having occured in January 2021, six months since
Palestine Action launched. Despite many dozens of actions taken, and
over £15,000,000 in damages caused (according to police), this is the
first time that activists had faced trial, with all previous charges
having been dropped in the run-up to trial dates.
The presiding judge, Judge Waites, stated that the Crown had failed to
prove that convicting the defendents would be proportionate with their
freedom to protest. He stated further points which included: Palestine
is an important issue, the arms trade is an important issue, the
defendants believed in what they were doing, and the location was
specifically chosen. These are the points that Palestine Action has long
stated: through targetted and deliberate direct action, individuals can
make a measured impact on the lives of civilians in Palestine by
disrupting and undermining Israel’s arms trade.
This verdict represents a serious defeat for Elbit Systems, who have
long maintained that their business is lawful and that they are
therefore to be protected from such actions. This belief has been shared
by the British state: the police have offered a round-the-clock rapid
response and extensive protection to Elbit’s death factories, and the
CPS have attempted to prosecute those who take a stand against Elbit’s
business of bloodshed.
The defence, represented by Palestinian barrister Mira Hammad and
Richard Brigden of Garden Court North (instructed by Kelly’s
solicitors), presented their case that the action taken was to prevent a
greater crime. An activist involved in the trial elaborated, stating
that the action was taken to shut down the factory for one day in an
attempt to stem the flow of drones and stop the bombings. They stated
that Elbit provide 85% of Israel’s drones, with Elbit describing
themselves as the ‘backbone’ of the Israeli airforce, adding that there
is extensive documentation of the drones being used for attacks on the
civil population of Gaza. They stated that this is not only during
intensive military excursions, but also for extrajudicial killings and
indescriminate bombings – with Elbit drones being linked directly to the
killing of four children playing on a beach in Gaza in 2014.
Another activist, Sarah, later stated that:
“Throwing this paint may not protect Gaza. What protects Gaza is
stopping the bombing. Elbit produce weapons, tanks and drones used to
commit crimes against humanity, and this is what is is unlawful. Export
licenses should not be granted while Elbit continue to violate human
rights. In the face of these crimes, you have to do something. If you do
nothing, then Elbit continues to make its smart weaponry which enables
Israel to kill efficiently. Elbit has no business being allowed to be in
the UK. It has no values that are shared with humanity”. Following this,
a standing ovation was given from the public gallery.
*ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS*
Pictures, free for publication, can be accessed here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7kg6roy4zy1p9z0/AACk7pfRqvJUTR-l6w-ThSTca?dl=0Initial
press release for the February action:
https://palestineaction.org/action-roof-shenstone/
If you would like any further information on Palestine action, please
contact media at palestineaction.org or our press line at 07404569733
Palestine Action is a direct-action network of groups and individuals
formed with the mandate of taking direct action against Elbit Systems’
UK locations at grassroots level, calling for them all to be shut down
and for the British government to end its complicity in Israeli apartheid.
Recent
actions:https://www.thecanary.co/trending/2021/10/13/protestors-take-action-against-deeply-unpopular-liverpool-arms-fair/
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-palestine-israel-activists-occupy-elbit-drone-london-office
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-palestine-israel-activists-occupy-elbit-drone-london-office>https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/palestine-action-activists-shut-down-israeli-drone-factory-in-leicester
A Palestine Action activist on why he takes action against Elbit
Systems: https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/06/why-we-took-direct-action-against-apartheid/
<https://tribunemag.co.uk/2021/06/why-we-took-direct-action-against-apartheid/>
*Elbit Systems*
Role of Elbit drone in killing of four children paying on Gaza beach in
2014:
https://theintercept.com/2018/08/11/israel-palestine-drone-strike-operation-protective-edge/
More on the death and destruction inflicted by Elbit’s drones upon Gaza:
https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/
Elbit surveillance technology for Israel’s apartheid wall:
https://www.facing-finance.org/en/database/cases/elbit-systems-surveillance-system-torch-for-the-separation-barrier-in-israelpalestine/
UK Ministry of Defence signs £102 million contract with Elbit Systems UK
for “sensor-to-shoot” system:
https://www.army-technology.com/news/uk-mod-orders-elbit-detect-and-destroy-system/
Post Views: 783
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20211206/eea18727/attachment.htm>
More information about the News
mailing list