[News] Palestine Action charges dropped again

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeastmonitor.com
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220926-palestine-action-charges-dropped-again/>
Palestine Action charges dropped again
September 26, 2022
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Charges have been dropped against five Palestine Action activists
concerning alleged criminal damage and aggregated trespass for causing the
shut-down of the Shenstone factory of Israel's largest arms company. The
activists had been due in court last week for a plea hearing for protesting
against Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems in Shenstone in July, but
they have been allowed to walk free. The charges were dropped due to an
"unrealistic chance of conviction," said Palestine Action.

The Elbit factory in question makes engines for UAVs — drones — which are
used against Palestinian civilians. The five had been charged with criminal
damage and aggravated trespass on 22 August, following their arrest in July
when they locked themselves to the gates of the factory which was shut down
as a result. Red paint used by the group to symbolise the blood of
Palestinians killed and wounded by Elbit drones was sprayed over the
factory premises and gates, and inside the gate security office.

This is not the first time that an "unrealistic chance of conviction" has
led to charges being dropped against Palestine Action activists. Four
walked free in February after shutting down Elbit's Shenstone factory. The
charges were dropped after three activists were acquitted at
Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates Court in December 2021
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20211211-palestine-action-acquitted-in-first-trial-hope-for-anti-drone-protest-strategy/>
for locking themselves to the gates and throwing paint at the same factory
in January of the same year.

Elbit is said to supply over 85 per cent of Israel's drone fleet. It uses
the Shenstone site for the manufacture of drone engines and parts,
including the Watchkeeper drone sold to the British government for use in
foreign military interventions. Palestine Action says that the drones are
also used for surveillance and repression of migrants and others by the
UK's Border Force and police agencies.

"Even though they were discourteous enough to drop the charges 'after' I
booked my train tickets," said an activist called Randeep, "this further
confirms what we already knew: we are not the criminals, and frustrating
Israel's colonisation of Palestine is not only a moral duty but a legally
sound one."

The group's statement confirmed that, to date, no Palestine Action activist
has been convicted for shutting down an Elbit Systems site; all have been
either acquitted, seen their charges dropped or had their cases thrown out
by judges. While the Crown Prosecution Service, police and Elbit's lawyers
have been working to get activists imprisoned, and thus silence those
standing up to the company whose products are used in contempt of
international law, both Palestine Action and the courts have demonstrated
that the "crimes" of the activists pale in comparison with the war crimes
committed by Israel using Elbit's drones.

Another Palestine activist is due to appear at Manchester Magistrates Court
today, 26 September, charged with "highway obstruction".
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