PRESS RELEASE
25/02/22
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- Police have arrested four people in the past week, raiding their homes and employing intimidation tactics in an attempt to force the release of information.
- Arrests include a 16 year old, not known to Palestine Action prior to their arrest, who had their Oxfordshire home raided and were taken to London for interview under arrest.
- Police escalating their harrassment following repeated Palestine Action victories in the courts, acting in desperation and resorting to intimidating teenagers.
Police have undertaken a string of arrests and house raids over the past two weeks, escalating their campaign of harrassment – this time even targetting people unrelated to Palestine Action in a desperate attempt to gather information and intimidate people into silence.
One individual, a 16 year old, was arrested and had their Oxford home raided, before being taken to London for interview, despite having no connection to Palestine Action. The individual, who is an activist with Extinction Rebellion Youth, was arrested on police information that they had ‘white trainers’ – as did an individual they allege took part in a Palestine Action action in London. They were released under ‘no further action’.
These arrests relate to an action taken at the offices of the landlords and developers Jones Lang LaSalle, which has been the subject of an ongoing campaign of direct action due to their renting out of office space for the headquarters of Israel’s largest private arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems. In September, activists sprayed the premises of JLL in red paint, symbolising the Palestinian bloodshed they facilitate through their relationship to Elbit. Another individual was arrested, again on negligible evidence, that they allegedly joined in a protest at the offices. Yesterday, police turned up at two people’s houses to make arrests and conduct raids, with one individual still in police custody. Those who have been released have been released either under investigation or with no further action – with police not issuing a single charge, showing the spuriousness of these arrests and raids.
Prior to this, there were four arrests and raids undertaken, in connection to the same police operation, with three in Cambridge and one in London.
While Palestine Action are familiar with the arbitrary arrests and harrassment that police have long been taking against activists, the four raids undertaken in one week – including against individuals not known to Palestine Action – marks a clear increase in police crack downs. These arrests are designed to scare the individuals into both providing information or to scare them into not taking further action – a tactic of questionable use against individuals who have no information, and who have not taken action.
This desperation in police methods follows a string of victories in the courts for Palestine Action, with 11 activists walking free from charges in our first four trials, since December 2021. Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have failed to secure a conviction in any trial – with Palestine Action’s campaigns having been vindicated repeatedly by the courts.
A Palestine Action spokesperson has said the following:
“Palestine Action are not going to be slowing down any time soon – we’ll keep shutting down Elbit Systems, their suppliers, landlords and any other firms which facilitate their production of Israel’s drones. All that these arrests have shown is that the police and Elbit are desperate. We’ve won in Oldham, we’ve won in the courts, so they’re trying to silence activists through raids and intimidation – and its not going to work.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
If you would like any further information on Palestine action, please contact info@palestineaction.org
Palestine Action is a direct-action network of groups and individuals formed with the mandate of taking direct action against Elbit Systems’ UK locations at grassroots level, calling for them all to be shut down and for the British government to end its complicity in Israeli apartheid.
Activists found ‘not guilty in first ever Palestine Action trial: https://www.palestineaction.org/not-guilty/
Palestine Action shut down Elbit’s Oldham factory permanently:
https://mondoweiss.net/2022/01/victory-in-oldham-elbit-forced-to-sell-ferranti-after-sustained-direct-action-campaign/
Elbit Systems
Company profile on Elbit Systems, including quote by Israeli military general: https://whoprofits.org/company/elbit-systems/
Role of Elbit drone in killing of four children paying on Gaza beach in 2014: https://theintercept.com/2018/08/11/israel-palestine-drone-strike-operation-protective-edge/
More on the death and destruction inflicted by Elbit’s drones upon Gaza: https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/
Elbit surveillance technology for Israel’s apartheid wall: https://www.facing-finance.org/en/database/cases/elbit-systems-surveillance-system-torch-for-the-separation-barrier-in-israelpalestine/
UK Ministry of Defence signs £102 million contract with Elbit Systems UK for “sensor-to-shoot” system: https://www.army-technology.com/news/uk-mod-orders-elbit-detect-and-destroy-system/