Skip to main content

Support the EDO decommissioners: resisting war crimes is not a crime


Decommissioning weapons used to commit war crimes is a tactic now being used by the pro-Palestinian movement in the UK. Derry activists in August 2006 were able to decommission the offices of Raytheon, the US arms manufacturer behind the so-called bunker-busting bombs. They were subsequently charged with affray only for the powers that be to see the jury throw out the charge and vindicate the protesters in June last year. The jury accepted that the defendants were reasonable in their belief that:
the Israel Defence Forces were guilty of war crimes in Lebanon in the summer of 2006; that the Raytheon company, including its facility in Derry, was aiding and abetting the commission of these crimes; and that the action we took was intended to have, and did have, the effect of hampering or delaying the commission of war crimes.
The importance of this case for the successful prosecution of further acts of decommissioning can't be underestimated which is probably why the authorities have so heavily against those involved in the attempts to decommission EDO's manufacturing operations in the guided munitions arena. Two protesters are being held in prison for the crime of trying to stop war crimes, Elijah Smith and Robert Alford. See their details below and send them a letter of support.


http://decommisioners.wordpress.com/

Posted by decommissioners on January 25, 2009

More than 1200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since December 27th, more than 400 of which are children. They have deliberately targeted individuals in their homes, schools, hospitals as well as U.N compounds.

EDO MBM make vital components for the Paveway4 precision guided bomb, Hellfire missiles, and bomb release clips for F15 and F16 fighter aircraft.

http://www.mbmtech.co.uk/news.html

On Friday Brighton and Hove City Council refused to allow the tabling of a motion by a number of councilors that would have condemned the presence of EDO MBM in Brighton and its supply of components to Israel currently being used in Gaza. The grounds for the refusal were that the motion was 'not relevant to the wellbeing of the city of Brighton and Hove'. The much acclaimed democratic process was once again tripped up at the first hurdle in the interests of corporate profits.

Just a few hours later six ordinary people took that democratic process into their own hands for the well-being of those in Gaza where governments and international law have failed to act.

"I believed our actions were justified in a world where the profits of corporations seems to be put before the lives of Palestinian children. I only wish I had acted earlier and caused more damage, maybe then I could have saved a child's life". Says Tom Woodhead a decommissioner.

"If you hear the sound of a child being brutalised in the house next door and you rush in to smash the door down and save the child, should you be charged with breaking and entering? Obviously not," wrote Eamonn McCann of the Raytheon 9.

Those currently remanded are in HMP Lewes, 1 Brighton Rd, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1E

Elijah Smith VP77551, wing and cell no a/4 - 20

Robert Alford VP7552, f wing

Please start sending letters of support to keep their spirits up.

Victory in court for Derry's Raytheon9 decommissioners
http://www.raytheon9.org/

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Coronavirus-free' Gaza prepares for the worst

Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of  the novel coronavirus  spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with  some joking  that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario.  But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned.  "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible
Post a Comment
Read more

Boycott of New York diamond dealer launched to protest settlement construction

Members of Adalah NY call for boycott of Leviev for its crimes against Palestinians and South Africans New York, NY, May 9 – On the day before Mother’s Day, 40 New York human rights advocates gathered at the Leviev jewelry store on Madison Avenue and called on throngs of weekend Madison Avenue shoppers to boycott Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev over his companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in West Bank villages including Bil’in and Jayyous. Mother’s Day is one of the biggest jewelry shopping periods in the US annually. The New York protest came as controversy is growing in Norway over Norwegian government investments in Leviev’s company Africa-Israel . The New York protesters also commemorated Bassem Abu Rahma from Bil’in who was shot to death by Israeli soldiers last month during a peaceful protest against the construction on Bil’in’s land of Israel’s wall and of the Mattityahu East settlement by a Leviev company. Thanks to vivapalestina.us (not co
Post a Comment
Read more

Support striking Palestinian quarry workers demanding their rights from Israeli employer

On 16 June, 35 Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries in Mishor Adumim (in area C, east of Jerusalem, in the Occupied West Bank) began a strike. The workers, organized with the independent union WAC-Ma'an, are demanding an end to exploitation and humiliation, and insist on signing a first collective agreement. Salit Quarries’ main customer is Readymix Industries (Israel). The total reliance of Salit Quarry on Readymix as their biggest and by far the most important customer puts responsibility on Readymix to make sure that their clients abides by labour laws and safeguards elementary rights for the workers of Salit. We call upon Readymix to urge the Salit management to terminate this unnecessary strike by signing the collective agreement with the workers and WAC-Ma’an. Click this protest link to send your message. The text of the message is as follows: I write to you to express my grave concern about the failure of Salit management to sign a collective agreement with the workers of
Post a Comment
Read more