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Pro-Palestine activists remanded under UK Terrorism Act

US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) (L) talks with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during a rally with fellow Democrats before voting on H.R. 1, or the People Act, on the East Steps of the US Capitol on March 08, 2019 in Washington, DC. (AFP photo)
Palestine Action activists who stormed Elbit Factory.

Members of various pro-Palestine groups have come out in a show of solidarity with fellow activists who are on trial for standing up for Palestine.

Several members of the direct action group, Palestine Action, are facing the long arm of British law for raiding a site belonging to the UK-based Israeli arms company, Elbit Systems.

The British state is trying to criminalize voices for Palestine. So it's unsurprising.

Considering the British state's link with Zionism historically, and right now, then of course people are going to smash up arms companies’ private property.

… in relation to the kind of massacres you're seeing in Palestine, they're going to criminalize (that) so it's not shocking, but of course, despicable.

Protestor 01

The raid on Elbit took place last week. Video footage shows Palestine Action members crashing a modified prison van into the Elbit factory gates doing as much damage as they could to the facility, near the Southwest city of Bristol.

This led to 10 activists being detained by the British police, which was not surprising.

What surprised the activists was that they were arrested under the UK's terrorism legislation and allegedly held in solitary confinement.

That allows the police to detain them for up to 28 days without charge, which is an incredibly long time for what amounts to basically burglary, aggravated burglary, some damage and some burglary.

So we sense that it's a way of intimidating the wider movement.

Alex Taylor, Plymouth Active Friends of Palestine

The UK has seen months of national Palestine solidarity movement calling for an end to the Gaza genocide and to the UK government's complicity in it.

Palestine Action members say the leaders of the protest movement are too compliant.

We're sick of it. These leaders should be talking about, at least talking about boycott actions and instructing us on what our on the ground campaign should be in between demonstrations.

 And they're shirking from this, and we feel that they are more interested in their own survival than the survival of the Palestinian people.

Alex Taylor, Plymouth Active Friends of Palestine

Palestine Action has been successfully targeting Elbit Systems sites across the UK for years.

The company supplies 85% of Israel's military drones and land-based equipment, lethal weapons the regime uses to kill Palestinians.

Three of the 10 detained members of Palestine Action are currently on trial at the Westminster Magistrates Court.

A verdict is yet to be delivered, but Palestine Action and their supporters are saying they are not going to be intimidated into allowing such blatant genocide to continue.


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