The Crown Prosecution Service have adjourned the first ever trial for Palestine Actionists, charged with criminal damage of Elbit factories, which was previously set to begin on May 17th. These Actionists were due to stand trial for occupying one of Elbit’s factories for three days last year, causing £181,000 of company losses in the process. The move allows the prosecution to combine their cases with others facing conspiracy charges, meaning actionists will face a greater possible sentence and will have to endure longer limitations on freedoms in a clear attempt to intimidate activists and disrupt action.
These activists had publicised their intention to stand trial “as the accusers, not the accused” – making Elbit answer for their facilitation of war crimes, their sales of weaponised drones to repressive regimes across the globe, and their violation of international law. This would have been the first time Elbit Systems had taken charges to trial, despite an approximate £2million of losses caused so far. The arms manufacturers had dropped all previous charges before they reached trial, out of fear that court proceedings and publication of documents would expose their criminal activity and abhorrent business dealings.
The reasons for the timing of this move could not be more obvious. With escalating Israeli attacks in Gaza, targeting civilians through air, land, and sea operations, the death toll of Palestinians is rising by the hour. The latest figures count 109 Palestinian lives lost including 28 children, while 580 have been wounded, as a result of indiscriminate bombardments of civilian populations and the levelling of residential towers. The images emerging from Gaza are harrowing, and the actions of the IDF morally repugnant – and playing a central role in these crimes are Elbit products. The death and destruction inflicted on Gazans, the simultaneous ethnic cleansing being committed in Jerusalem, and the brutal repression of Palestinians in the occupied territories rely heavily upon Elbit System’s technology and weaponry.
Elbit supply the Israeli Occupation Force with their surveillance systems, military ‘control centres’, baton rounds, gunboat technology systems, spyware and, of course, their drones. Elbit drones, including the Hermes and Skylark, comprise 85% of the Israeli drone stockpile, and have been used extensively for extra-judicial killings, destruction of Palestinian infrastructure, repressing mass gatherings and the slaughter of children.
Clearly, with the world’s eyes on Gaza, Elbit did not want their facilitation of war crimes to be further exposed. After Palestine Action shut down their London HQ, and while thousands take to the streets in solidarity with Palestinians, Elbit are running scared. The move to adjourn the trial allows the prosecution to combine this case with other charges, attempting to disrupt and intimidate members of a growing, UK-wide movement of people who will not stand for the business of bloodshed to operate on UK soil.
Elbit are seeking to give the maximum possible sentences to conscientious activists and silence those speaking out, while simultaneously avoiding the spotlight at a crucial moment in the fight against the atrocities being committed in Palestine. The activists in question will therefore continue to live with limited freedoms, unable to hold Elbit to account in court for the war crimes they are currently facilitating. Palestine Action will of course continue to expose and disrupt Elbit’s operations, determined as we are that no more of the tools used to brutalise and murder Palestinians will be made on UK soil.