Palestine Action

Palestine Action
Founder	•  Huda Ammori •  Richard Barnard

Palestine Action is a pro-Palestinian protest network that uses civil disobedience tactics to shut down and disrupt multinational arms dealers. In particular, the group targets UK-based operations that provide weapons used in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Protests

Palestine Action was founded on 30 July 2020 when activists broke into and spray-painted the interior of Elbit Systems' UK headquarters in London.

On 19 May 2021, during the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, four members of the group dressed in red boiler suits climbed onto the roof of an Elbit Systems-owned drone factory in Meridian Business Park, Leicester. The occupation lasted six days, and a total of 10 arrests were made for conspiracy to commit criminal damage and aggravated trespass.

The group have staged similar occupations of Elbit Systems sites in Bristol, Oldham in collaboration with Extinction Rebellion and Tamworth in collaboration with Animal Rebellion.

On 10 June 2021, three protestors from the group "stormed, scaled and occupied" an APPH drone factory in Runcorn. Activists daubed red paint on the exterior, dismantled drone and aircraft machinery and destroyed windows. The next day all three were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and aggravated trespass.

On 14 June 2021, the fourth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, a similar occupation protest was staged at an Arconic factory in Kitts Green, Birmingham by three protestors. Arconic provided the cladding that allowed the rapid transmission of fire across Grenfell Tower, and according to Palestine Action provide "materials for Israel's fighter jets". The occupation ended when two activists were arrested from the roof of the building two days later. One activist was remanded in prison and immediately went on hunger strike. The activist said they would end their strike if any one of four conditions were met: release of Palestine Action protestors; the eviction of Elbit from its London headquarters by property firm LaSalle Investment Management; the closure of all Elbit Systems’ British operations or; release by the government of all correspondence and documents relating to its dealings with Elbit and its subsidiaries.

Free Palestine

In April 2022, two Palestine Action protestors chained themselves to the gates of a drone factory of UAV Tactical Systems at Meridian Business Park in Braunstone. Other activists gathered nearby with signs stating "Free Palestine". Three protestors were arrested. A spokesperson for the group said that "Direct action will not cease until all Elbit sites are closed."

Blackmail

On 6 October 2022, eight Palestine Action activists known as the Elbit Eight were to appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court, on charges of burglary, criminal damage and blackmail, pertaining to actions spanning the first six months of Palestine Action. The jury trial was expected to last 4 to 5 weeks and, if found guilty, three of the eight would face a potential 14-year jail sentence for blackmail charges:

“In two years of direct action, Palestine Action have severely disrupted the smooth functioning of a business built on bloodshed. For this, we are facing intense political repression.

"Let it be known that we stand as the accusers, not the accused, and we fully intend to expose Elbit’s many war crimes, in particular, the Israeli arms company’s role in 74 years of occupation and dispossession lived by the Palestinian people.

"#ElbitIsGuilty, we are not.”

Of the Elbit Eight, three – Huda Ammori, her fellow Palestine Action co-founder Richard Barnard, and their comrade Emily Arnott – faced the most serious charge of all, that of conspiracy to blackmail.

The charge is based on how the activists wrote to the company that provided Elbit’s London office space, encouraging its executives to evict the weapons manufacturer, and promising to expand their campaign if this request was not met. The maximum penalty for blackmail under English law is 14 years in prison.

However, for reasons unclear, that Elbit Eight trial has been postponed until at least November 2023.

Quick acquittal

In November 2022, after a week and a half trial, five Palestine Action activists who threw paint at Elbit’s London HQ were acquitted in under an hour by a jury at Southwark Crown Court.

 

Known members

3 of the 4 of the members already have pages here:

Member	Description
Huda Ammori
Richard Barnard	Supporter of Palestine but charged with "expressing an opinion that is supportive of a proscribed organisation contrary to Section 12 (1A) of the Terrorism Act 2000".
Sarah Wilkinson	Roving reporter on genocide in Gaza and the West Bank for MENA Uncensored

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Activism on trial: The Elbit Eight and Palestine solidarity	Article	16 November 2023	Fatimah Yasmin Ahmed	Eight activists are on trial this week at London’s Snaresbrook Crown Court for disrupting a lethal link in Israel’s military supply chain within the UK. Over the next six weeks, the Elbit Eight will fight in court to prove that Elbit Systems is guilty, and they are not.
Document:Eight activists go on trial for disrupting Israel’s weapons trade	Article	10 November 2023	Mohamed Elmaazi	The trial of the Elbit Eight takes place at a time when Israel is waging a genocidal war against Gaza – using weapons from Elbit Systems and several other British firms.
Document:Lawyers For Israel Oppose Conscience	blog post	20 May 2023	Craig Murray	Convictions based on “intent” to do something you have not actually done, are generally dubious. The Shenstone defendants have been told by Judge Chambers they will get prison sentences. Expect these to be vicious.
Document:Tracker was added to Palestine Action co-founder's phone	blog post	29 August 2024		“A tracker was found in a phone returned to us after myself and Richard Barnard were arrested for being co-founders of Palestine Action, a direct action network against Israeli weapons factories. Never use technology the police have touched. Thankfully we never did.”

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References

This page imported content from Wikipedia on 11 September 2022.
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