Drew Robson is personally appealing to you to support him and Palestine Action activists in court.
Hello friends, In January 2021 (Edited), myself and some activists from both Palestine action and Extinction Rebellion North, took direct action against Elbit systems, Israel’s largest arms firm, in Oldham, Manchester in the UK.
Whether it’s Hermes 450’s patrolling the skies and raining hell on children, or bullets cutting through men, women and children, the crime of being Palestinian means you are under fire from Israel.
The weapons used by Israel are manufactured in the UK, in our towns and villages. It is my profound belief that the arms industry, of which Elbit Systems is part of, is an immoral industry built on occupation and apartheid – We at Palestine Action are in total opposition to it.
Palestine Action are a direct action network with our main focus and main target being Elbit systems.
In two years we have successfully shut down two Elbit war factory’s in the UK – the London HQ and the war factory in Oldham!
Our movement is growing stronger by the day.
Elbit Systems routinely test their weapons on Palestinians and then market them as battle tested so they can be sold around the world with that stamp.
Some of these places include Kashmir, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In addition to this, Elbit Systems manufacture internationally banned weapons including carcinogenic chemicals, flesh burning weapons and much more. Across their 8 British sites they manufacture artillery, surveillance equipment and military drones.
Their clients are all over the world and some of the most oppressive regimes and governments buy arms from them.
We are here to pressure these war criminal’s to leave the UK and shut their killer factory’s down!
Palestine action took direct action and targeted the Elbit Systems site in Oldham on several different occasions, and many other groups both local to Oldham and the wider area continually kept the pressure on. One example of this would be having weekly vigils outside of the factory and protesting for its immediate closure.
The Oldham factory is now closed down, and it is a direct result of these constant combined efforts of protests!
We planned to take direct action against the Oldham Elbit factory in Jan 2021, and arrived at the site in the early hours of the morning.
We climbed on to a ledge above the entrance and covered the whole factory in red paint and smashed lots of windows. Some people locked themselves to the doors and gates by their necks using bike locks and had to be cut free by the police removal team.
Due to our actions, the Elbit Systems factory was closed for several days, and we were arrested following the direct action and detained by Police until the next day. On release, we were told by Police that we would attend court.
At the magistrate’s court we plead “not guilty” to criminal damage and opted for a Crown Court trial.
The reason for the “not guilty” plea was that we believed we were preventing a greater crime of crimes against humanity, and therefore we are innocent!
The Crown Court trial is to be held at Manchester Crown Court, with the date being set for 17th January 2023!
The trial is likely to proceed for the whole of the week of 17/01 and potentially it could lead in to the following week of 23/01.
Our objective is to gather as much support as possible for the first day of the trial on Tuesday 17th January to show the courts, media and general public that there is a huge opposition to Elbit Systems manufacturing weapons in the UK.
Elbit Sytems do not want more negative publicity and to be exposed for their part in Palestine war crimes- the trial on the 17th January has the potential to bring a massive amount of negative publicity. Our aim to to maximise that negative publicity to Elbit Systems during this court case.
Palestine Action will be calling for Elbit Systems to take the stand in Crown Court – we urge anyone and everyone available to come to Manchester Crown Court for the week of 17th January to voice you’re opposition to Elbit Systems…Let’s make the first day of the trial a huge event.
As the trial is expected to proceed for the whole of the week of 17/01 and potenially into the following week of 23/01 – we welcome as much support as possible and invite you to attend as much as you are able.
Please bring banners, signs and Palestine flags when attending court, with additional messaging such as…
#NOT GUILTY!
#FREE PALESTINE!
#SHUT ELBIT DOWN!
#ELBIT’S OUT OF OLDHAM!
Please follow Palestine Actions Instagram and Twitter pages for updates on this trial and on how you can support other Palestine Actionists who have taken direct action against Elbit Systems and are now facing the courts.
https://www.instagram.com/pal_action/
If YOU want to take direct action against Elbit, then join Palestine action using the link below!
https://www.palestineaction.org/join-the-resistance/
See a recent documentary with Palestine action on Al Jazeera
https://youtu.be/B7_xmXIVLok
https://youtu.be/5IPazcyD71Y