Solidarity with the 18 pro-Palestinian activists arrested by so-called “anti-terrorist” police and imprisoned in Britain! Their only crime: trying to stop the manufacture of weapons used in the genocide in Palestine.
In August 2024, six Palestine Action activists drove a former prison van into Elbit Systems’ research, development, and manufacturing facility in Filton, Bristol. Inside, they destroyed Zionist weapons, including quadcopter drones of the same model used by the colonial army in Gaza. These same drones mimic the screams of women and children to lure Palestinians to their deaths. This anti-genocide sabotage reportedly cost Elbit Systems (the largest Zionist weapons company) over £1 million in damages.
Following the arrest of the six activists at the research center, four other people were arrested by British counterterrorism police in different parts of the country. All were remanded in custody. All ten people were detained without charge for approximately a week and repeatedly questioned under anti-terrorism legislation. As evidence of the abuse of power they suffered, all were eventually charged with non-terrorism offenses.
In November, further raids took place, anti-terrorism laws were again invoked, and eight more activists were remanded in custody for the same action in Filton, bringing the total number of activists jailed and prosecuted for the action to 18.
According to “The Bristol Cable” : In January, nine of the 18 Filton defendants appeared before a High Court judge for a plea hearing at the Old Bailey in London. They appeared via video link from various prisons across the UK, including Bronzefield and Eastwood Park women’s prisons.
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to all charges. They are accused of causing £1 million in damage to the building and are charged with aggravated burglary, criminal damage, and public disorder. One of the group, Samuel Corner, 22, is charged with assault and battery.
At the hearing, the judge indicated that the case would be divided into three trials, the first to be held in November 2025 and the second in May 2026. A date for the third trial has not yet been set. Ahead of the trials, lawyers for the accused will attempt, at a hearing in March, to challenge and reject a request by Crown prosecutors to establish a link to terrorism.”
This hearing will take place on March 27 and the “Free the Filton 18” campaign is calling for a day of action in support of the 18 imprisoned activists to demand their immediate release, by signing the petition , demonstrating in front of British embassies and government offices, through informational or symbolic actions such as posters, banner drops, graffiti, support events, letter writing workshops to prisoners, and other actions.
This repression is an illustration of the direct involvement of the imperialist powers, including Britain, in the genocide of the Palestinian people perpetrated since October 7, 2023 by the Zionist regime in Gaza, and more broadly in the Zionist colonial project that has been underway for more than a hundred years in Palestine. We must actively mobilize in support of our incarcerated comrades! We must actively support those who have taken risks to stop a genocide, to fight settler colonialism in historic Palestine, and in support of the Palestinian Resistance, which courageously resists, weapons in hand, against the imperialist and Zionist war machine. Through our collective action, we can win their liberation from imperialist prisons, by mobilizing wherever we can, in our workplaces, our places of study, our neighborhoods, in events and demonstrations of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Wherever we can, we must demand the release of all our comrades, in the imperialist centers and in occupied Palestine: from the Filton 18 to Georges Abdallah, from Anan Yaeesh to Mahmoud Khalil, from the Holy Land Five to Ahmad Sa’adat, from Karmel Khawaja to Shatela Abu Ayad.
The “Free the Filton 18” Campaign provides several resources for your mobilizations via its linktree :
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network provides several resources for your mobilizations:
- Free the Filton 18 Poster – English (French)
- Free the Filton 18 Leaflet/Flyer – English (French)
- Free the Filton 18 Banner Template – English
- Free the Filton 18 Booklet – English (French)
Discover more from Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
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