Last week, Palestine Action carried out a bold occupation at Israeli arms company Elbit System’s newest facility in Filton, near Bristol. They used a repurposed prison van to break through fencing at the high security site, before entering the building and destroying equipment and spraying ‘blood red’ paint.
In a major police escalation, six people were arrested at the site and have been held without charge and with limited access to lawyers, under terrorist legislation. Three more were also arrested at the weekend in connection with the protest.
Yesterday afternoon, supporters gathered outside Hammersmith Police Station where some are believed to have been held as ‘terror suspects’ for nearly a week. A total of sixty police officers attended the small solidarity protest, where speakers included the mother of one of the ‘Filton 6”. There was one arrest, apparently in connection with the use of a small camera drone.
Elbit describe the facility as a research and development facility, engineering equipment for the UK military, but activists claim to have seen (and destroyed) Thor quadcopters and other equipment such as the TorchX command and control systems currently used in the Gaza genocide.
The Horizon factory was opened in May last year by Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely with an invited assortment of UK government officials and arms industry delegates. In what has been described as a clear call for genocide, Hotovely said last year that “every mosque, school and second house was a legitimate target in Gaza”.
After the action, police released information claiming that the protesters had been armed with weapons, and they had assaulted two officers along with a factory security guard. Palestine Action claim this is an attempt to smear activists, and point out that the group are trying to save lives and stop injuries, not cause them.
Netpol issued the following statement:
“It has been frustrating that some media coverage has failed to challenge claims about alleged injuries to officers during a recent protest. The police have a long track record of lying about protests – look back to the claims made about Kingsnorth in 2008.
Everyone should exercise the greatest level of scepticism about any claims made by Avon and Somerset Police, who invented ‘broken bones’ during the Kill the Bill protests in 2021”.
Cage International have announced support, stating “This abuse of counter-terrorism legislation is clearly designed to intimidate and silence those who dare to challenge the complicity of states and corporations in war crimes and human rights abuses. Direct action has proven so effective in challenging state-sanctioned atrocities that authorities are resorting to intimidation tactics and harsh legal measures to silence and undermine those who dare to take a stand”.
A fornight ago, two Palestine Action activists were arrested under Section 45 of the 2015 Serious Crime Act on suspicion of being part of an ‘organised crime group’. This law was designed according to the Home Office at the time, to target drug and people traffickers, along with fraud, cybercrime, child exploitation and gun supplies. It’s the first time it has been used against a protest group, one that is actively trying to stop the flow of weapons.
Human Rights lawyer Raj Chada said “The rhetorical language of politicians and the manner in which police have investigated protest groups is beginning to resemble the investigation of organised crime or terrorist groups. That is not acceptable in a democracy.”
The fear is that any successful use of organised crime or terror laws against one group, could pave the way to more widespread use against all sorts of protest groups, especially climate campaigners (who are already being imprisoned at an exponential rate).
Defending their campaign against Elbit Systems and the companies that support it, Palestine Action have said “Britain has a responsibility to prevent the occurrence of genocide. When our government fails to abide by their legal and moral obligations, it’s the responsibility of ordinary people to take direct action.“
Last year, Palestine Action sprayed red paint at Twickenham stadium in protest at their hosting of the ‘International Armoured Vehicle’ arms fair. Today, it was announced the event will not take place there again.
