Palestine Action activists on trial in UK over attack on Israeli arms maker

The proscribed Palestine Action group’s six members have been tried by British authorities, who claim they intended to damage Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems’ property.

In the trial on Tuesday, the defendants admitted to having carefully planned the assault on the Bristol-based arms manufacturer in early August 2024, which was alleged to have harmed a police officer and caused property damage.

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The six men and women were a team members who “achieved to cause as much damage as possible and obtain information about the company,” according to Woolwich prosecutor Deanna Heer. They deny the charges of violent disorder, criminal damage, and aggravated burglary.

One of the defendants is also accused of striking a police officer with a sledgehammer while trying to arrest another defendant.

Heer claimed that in a show of protest, the six people sprayed the walls with red paint and fire extinguishers. The Elbit facility also housed computers and other technical goods, according to the prosecutor.

The defendants’ GoPro cameras and police body cameras captured footage of the defendants slashing property at a factory that produces weapons, including drones, on the court.

In July, almost a year after the incident at the Bristol facility, the British government designated Palestine Action, a group that activists formed in 2020, as a “terrorist” organization.

The detainees are a group of 24 activists connected to the group, who have been detained multiple times and have been incarcerated without trial for more than a year, breaking the UK’s six-month pre-trial detention cap.

Their prosecution has drawn international attention, highlighting a feature of how Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration deals with pro-Palestinian sentiment.

In recent weeks, UK police have made hundreds of arrests in support of the activist group and the detainees, despite the protests that have taken place.

As British authorities enforce what they call “anti-terror” laws, more than 500 people were detained in London alone on October 4 during the Palestine Action protests.

Judge Jeremy Johnson told the jury that they were unrelated to the case despite having the right to express their opinions about Israel’s two-year occupation of Gaza during the court hearing on Tuesday.

He urged the jury to “judge the case on the evidence,” and claimed that the jury’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action was unrelated to the case.