Posted by: John Phoenix
The campaign to criminalise action against the zionist war machine reveals how seriously British imperialism has been threatened.
The following text is taken from a video produced by Prisoners For Palestine.This group represents those in the UK who have been illegally detained by the British state for their actions against genocide (at least 33 people at present, and this number may increase as the state implements ever more draconian measures against protest).Prisoners For Palestine is working to support and bring attention to the plight of all these prisoners. In recent weeks, six of them (Qesser Zuhrah, Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Jon Cink, T Hoxha and Kamran Ahmed) have launched an open-ended hunger strike that is being met with total silence by British media and politicians. Those who began the strike first are already in their fifth week, with no official response from the government. PFP has also warned that the prison service is failing in its duty to provide proper medical care to the hunger strikers.
Their demands are: 1. End censorship of prisoner communications; 2. Immediate bail for those awaiting trial; 3. Right to a fair trial (ie, release of all documents being used by the government as evidence); 4. Deproscribe Palestine Action; 5. Shut Elbit Down.
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“We provide warriors with systems that increase effectiveness and protect lives.” (Elbit slogan)
Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest weapons company. It has 16 sites across Britain.
Elbit produces 85 percent of the killer drones and land-based military apparatus for the Israeli occupation forces. These are marketed as “battle-tested” on Palestinians.
Since 2020, there have been numerous meetings between British state officials and representatives of Israeli government and Elbit Systems. Reports and records show repeated attempts of influencing British policing and judiciary processes.
The following is a non-exhaustive timeline of these meetings.
On 25 August 2020, then foreign secretary Dominic Raab met Orit Farakash Hacohen, Israel’s then minister of strategic affairs. Farakash Hacohen pressed Raab on direct-action protests against Israeli companies in Britain, noting that the London offices of Elbit Systems had been attacked for the fourth time in his many weeks.
Raab told her that he and the British government were committed to stopping such events.
On 2 March 2022, then home secretary Priti Patel met CEO of Elbit Systems UK Martin Fausset. The home office record states that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss “protests and security”.
Fausset told Patel the protesters were well-organised, funded and trained, and damage the factories was severe. Patel made sure to reassure Fausset that she took the criminal protest acts against this firm seriously. She said she was deeply concerned about everything she heard.
The records also show it was Patel who got anti-terror officials involved. The follow-up correspondence included Michael Stewart, director of Prevent, and Shuan Hipgrave, director of Protect and Prepare.
Importantly, home office briefing documents for their meetings with Elbit admit that Palestine Action engaged in civil disobedience and direct action, and did not meet the threshold for proscription as they do not commit or encourage acts of terrorism.
Two months later, in May 2022, Douglas Wilson, director of the attorney general’s office, met with Israeli embassy officials. Documents show that the embassy officials pressed for Wilson to interfere in cases related to protests on UK soil.
A year later, on 19 April 2023, Chris Philp, the then minister for crime, policing and fire, met with representatives of the attorney general’s office, Elbit Systems, Thales, the home office, the national police coordination centre, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Staffordshire police. The goal of this meeting was to reassure Elbit Systems UK and the wider sector affected by Palestine Action that the government cared about the harm the group was causing the private sector.
On 28 August 2024, the attorney general’s office, represented by Douglas Wilson and Nicola Smith, met with Daniella Ekstein, the deputy Israel ambassador to Britain. On 9 September, 11 days after their meeting, Nicolas Smith sent an email to Daniella Ekstein with the subject heading: Contact Crown Prosecution Service/counter-terrorism.
The contents of the email have been redacted, but the subject indicates that the British government shared contact details of counter-terrorism, police and prosecutors with the Israeli embassy during an investigation into protests at an arms factory.
The full scope and nature of the collusion between the government, Israeli officials and Elbit remains unknown. Prisoners for Palestine demand full disclosure.