South Coast Anti-militarism

08-05-2013 12:33 | 2 comments

Anti-capitalists gear up for G8 protests

Anti-capitalists have been gearing up for the protests against the G8 Summit with Mayday actions across the country. The focus was on Primark and other businesses profiting from the global slave labour system which led to the death of 700 people in Bangladesh. There were angry protests in central London, Hackney, Lewisham, Birmingham, Brighton and Bristol, with the clear message going out that the disaster was not an accident but the inevitable consequence of the callous capitalist system. Stop G8 is holding another organising meeting in London on May 25 and May 26, before the big week of action in the capital from June 10 to June 14, featuring the #J11 Carnival Against Capitalism.

Other links: Stop G8 | Resist 2013 UK G8 Summit | Stop G8 on Twitter | They Owe Us

22-11-2012 11:34 | 6 comments

Gaza solidarity

Israel launched a new offensive on the people of Gaza last week which claimed the lives of 162 Palestinians. Four Israeli civilians and one soldier have also died as a result of retaliatory rocket attacks.

As of 20th November 23% of Palestinian casualties were children. The youngest victim of the recent Israeli aggression is 11-month-old Omar Al Mashharrawi.

Hundreds of solidarity demonstrations have been held globally and a national demonstration is planned in London on Saturday 24th November. On Friday 16th November a demonstration was held in Birmingham and another is planned for Thursday 22nd outside the BBC offices to protest biased reporting. In Brighton on Saturday 17th November activists locked on to the Ecostream store, a shop owned by an Israeli company that has its main manufacturing facility in the West Bank settlement of Mishor Adumim. Later on a hundred strong crowd marched to the store and held a noisy demonstration outside the shop. On Monday 19th a phone and twitter blockade of the company was held.

The same day in Wrexham activists picketed Barclays Bank in protest at Barclays investments in companies supplying weapons to Israel.

On Tuesday 20th a group of solidarity activists occupied G4S headquarters over the company's contracts with the Israeli prison service as well as providing equipment and services to Israeli military checkpoints and maintaining contracts with businesses working in Israel's settlements.

The 'Don't Dance with Israeli Apartheid' campaign held demonstrations against London performances of the Israeli state sponsored Batsheva dance troupe at Sadlers Wells on the 19th-21st November as part of a coordinated international campaign. There were also protests both inside and outside of the Birmingham performances at the Hippodrome on the 14-15th November coinciding with the start of the latest Gaza massacre.

Palestinians in the West Bank have also been demonstrating in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Gaza, only to be met with typical Israeli oppression. On Saturday, 31-year-old Rushdi Tamimi was shot by an IDF soldier at a protest in the village of Nabi Saleh. He died of his wounds in hospital on Monday around the time news surfaced that Hamdi Mohammad Jawwad Al-Falah, 22, was killed after being shot four times during a demonstration in the Bir al-Mahjar neighborhood in western Hebron. A baby also died in hospital on Monday after an Israeli tear gas canister landed in his bedroom in Qalandia refugee camp.

A ceasefire was reached on Wednesday 21st of November. However, the conflict is likely to continue if Israel does not end its siege of Gaza and attempts to control the Gazan economy. The need for solidarity with the people of Palestine struggling against Israeli militarism, apartheid and occupation has never been greater.

Upcoming events: Thursday 22nd November - Gaza solidarity demo in Brighton at the Old Steine at 5pm and Die In on the BBC Steps at the Mailbox in Birmingham 6pm-7pm| 23rd/24th November - Don't Dance with Israeli apartheid demos in Plymouth| Hebden Bridge Gaza solidarity demo - meet at the Central Intersection at 5pm| 24th November - Mass Gaza Solidarity demo in London| Sunday 25th - Demo at Ecostream, Western Rd, Brighton, 1-3pm

18-07-2012 10:11

Citizens' Weapons Inspectors lock-on outside EDO MBM

On Monday 16th July 2012 Smash EDO held a Citizen's Weapons Inspection' of EDO. Kent, Sussex and Hampshire Police used new Police Liaison Officers and a steel wall against demonstrators.

Despite this, activists dressed in white suits managed to breach the police cordon and hang banners outside the factory gates and close down the industrial estate by locking-on to the police cordon.

On Sunday 15th July Smash EDO hosted a gathering against the G8, launching a new network. There will be a workshop to plan action against the G8 at Earth First and the next gathering will be 22nd September in Birmingham.

Links: Smash EDO| FITwatch| Mainstream media coverage

From the Newswire: Call to kettle the police at Smash EDO's Citizen's Weapons Inspection| Pics| Update| Future Smash EDO events

13-07-2012 09:56

Call to kettle the police at Smash EDO's Citizen's Weapons Inspection

At 1pm on Monday 16th July a group of concerned citizens from Brighton and beyond will be attempting to inspect the EDO MBM factory in Moulsecoomb to further highlight the factory’s complicity in the murder of innocent civilians around the world.

It has long been known that this local company has links with illegal and immoral arms deals and Smash EDO intend to hold them to account. In January 2009 six activists broke in and successfully decommissioned the factory and then waited to be arrested by the police. At their later trial a jury found that their actions were entirely legal as they were acting to prevent war crimes against civilians in Gaza.

This mass action is part of an ongoing 'Summer of Resistance' which has seen almost daily actions by protesters against the factory in May and June and which will continue until the end of July.

Demonstrators will converge at the Level at 1pm.

A call has been made to FITwatchers to kettle the police and to sabotage their new tactic of using Police Liaison Officers to pacify the crowd.

The day before the demo anti-capitalists will be converging in Brighton for a day of plotting and scheming against the 2013 G8, to be held in the UK

Links: Smash EDO | FITwatch

Local Contacts for the Weapons Inspection: London: hammertimelondon@dsei.org | Bristol: smashedobristol@riseup.net | Manchester: manchesteragainstmilitarism@gmail.com | Swansea: d@undercurrents.org

27-04-2012 20:16 | 2 comments

Summer 2012 antimilitarist actions

The UK antimilitarist movement is building fresh coalitions against new developments in state militarism. In March activists converged in Bristol to confront an unmanned drones conference and a ‘Disarm the National Gallery’ campaign was launched in London to end arms trade sponsorship of the gallery. This week delegates visiting the annual Counter-Terror conference were met by a counter-protest and Vince Cable's speech at the UKTI conference was disrupted.

Smash EDO, who have campaigned to shut EDO MBM down for eight years are launching three months of action, from May 1st to August 1st, next week with a mayday noise demonstration, a bad music demonstration and a phone and twitter blockade to name just a few of the planned events.

And in Scotland, Faslane peace camp are calling for 30 days of action against Faslane nuclear base.

On the newswire: Vince Cable's speech to Arms Industry disrupted | Protest & Vigil At Shenstone Drones Factory | Smash Edo reports | Anti-militarism topic

Smash EDO Summer of resistance reports: Picket of Barclays - 27/4/12| A few words on sensationalist journalism, protest bans and the local rag| The Summer of Resistance starts here| Mayday! Mayday! The Summer of Resistance Day One| Day Two: Face the Music| Day Three: Hot on the Wire| Day Four: Surprise! Surprise!| Smash EDO Summer of Resistance Week Two begins| Bikes not Bombs: Smash EDO Summer of Resistance hits the Pedals| Ratchet up the Racket: Summer of Resistance Continues| Summer of Resistance Targets Barclays

07-10-2010 18:31 | 3 comments

SchNEWS 742: ITT's Hammertime

Brighton's Smash EDO campaign are holding a mass demo at EDO/ITT on Wednesday 13th October. Anti arms trade campaigners plan to lay seige to EDO/ITT and shut them down for the day.

Info for the Day:: The meeting place for the demo is Wild Park Cafe (directions here) at 10am on Wednesday, but people are being asked to arrive on the evening of the 12th. Convergence space will be available. There will be a meeting about the demo at 7pm at the Cowley Club on Tuesday 12th. There will be a timeline on Indymedia and a twitter feed: @smash_edo

Local contacts for ITT's Hammertime: Birmingham - hammertime-brum [at] riseup.net | Bristol - bristolagainstarmstrade [at] gmail.com | Cambridge - hammertime-cambridge [at] riseup.net | Cardiff - val.swain [at] yahoo.co.uk | Cornwall - kernowaction [at] gmail.com | London - hammertimelondon [at] dsei.org | Manchester - info [at] targetbrimar.org.uk | Notts - alex.dable [at] ntlworld.com | Swansea - d [at] undercurrents.org

Links: ITT's Hammertime demo page| Smash EDO |Target Brimar| Decommisioners

27-07-2010 12:54

Call for action against escalating house demolitions in Jordan Valley, Palestine

Brighton Jordan Valley Solidarity have called for international action to stop the house demolitions, harassment and attempted ethnic cleansing of Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley.

Within days of video footage being released showing Netanyahu's stated intentions to declare the entire Jordan Valley as a closed military area,the Israeli army destroyed 26 homes in the small village of Al Farisiya.

The call for action was launched in Brighton on Tuesday, with the establishment of a Palestine Solidarity Settlement in Waitrose. Brighton Jordan Valley Solidarity is calling on others to:

* Call local demonstrations against companies that sell Israeli produce, and Zionist organisations that support settlement expansion in the Jordan Valley

* Donate to the fund to rebuild the demolished houses (email brightontubas@gmail.com)

* Write to those responsible for the house demoitions

* Go to the Jordan Valley to support the local community

22-07-2010 21:17 | 1 comment

SchNEWS 732: Getting Away With Murder

“After 16 months of waiting, to hear nothing is being done is a complete joke. Today they gave us no hope. This experience has broken our family apart. The DPP has told us there was an unlawful act, yet no charges are to be brought. This is no justice - everyone has failed us.” - Ian Tomlinson's son Paul King.

Ian Tomlinson, a 47 year old news-vendor was killed at the G20 protests in April 2009. His family have waited until now to find out what action the justice system was going to take. The Director of Public Prosecution Keir Starmer stated today (Thurs) that there would be no charges brought against any police officers involved in the death of Ian Tomlinson. This astonishingly bare faced whitewash prompted the director of INQUEST Deborah Coles to say “The eyes of the world will be looking on with incredulity as yet again a police officer is not facing any criminal charges after what is one of the most clear-cut and graphic examples of police violence that has led to death. This decision is a shameful indictment of the way police criminality is investigated and demonstrates a culture of impunity when police officers break the law. It follows a pattern of cases that reveal an unwillingness to treat deaths arising from the use of force by police as potential homicides”

On the Newswire: 1 | 2 | 3

Family Campaign Fighting Fund | Picket of DPP 30/7

In SchNEWS: 508 | 647)

Links: www.inquest.org.uk | www.iantomlinsonfamilycampaign.org.uk

03-07-2010 03:46 | 1 addition | 3 comments

SchNEWS 729: They Think It's All Over ...ITT Is Now

The EDO Decommissioners have all walked free after unanimous acquittals following the three week trial which concluded on Friday (2nd July) at Hove Crown Court. What began as a trial of the Decommissioners effectively ended up with the Brighton arms manufacturer, and the war crimes of the Israeli state, in the dock. Is it all over for EDO/ITT in Brighton? It might be now...

07-06-2010 17:24 | 1 addition | 6 comments

Hammer Time: The EDO Decommissioners go on trial

After a full year and a half of one defendant being on remand in prison, numerous pre-trial hearings and several last minute postponements, the EDO decommissioners’ court case is finally kicked off on Monday. With the first date taking place exactly a week after the murderous attack on the Gaza freedom flotilla, the world has, yet again, been reminded of Israel’s continuous war crimes and much is at stake. A callout for solidarity with the decommissioners during the trial has been issued. There will be an 'If I had a hammer' themed demo in support of the decommissioners outside EDO/ITT on Wednesday 9th June between 4 and 6pm - Bring rubber and inflatable hammers. The decommissioners will be arguing that their action was taken to prevent greater crimes.

The trial comes just a few days after 9 people who attempted to decommission Raytheon in Derry during Israel's 2009 assault on Gaza were acquitted by a jury (see Ireland Indymedia and here) .

A reminder of what happened: In the early hours of 17th January 2009, during Israel's 'Operation Cast Lead' offensive against Gaza, six people broke in to the EDO/ITT weapons' components factory in Moulsecoomb, Brighton, and, allegedly, caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage to the production line. (see youtube for the local paper's video of some of the damage)

The six decommissioners barricaded themselves inside, and proceeded to break computers and other equipment, with the aim of preventing the factory from being able to produce weapons. The action stopped production at the facility until Israel’s bombing campaign was over.

Original feature | UK Smash EDO Newswire Archive

Links: www.smashedo.org.uk | www.decommissioners.co.uk

South Coast Anti-militarism

08-05-2013 12:33 | 2 comments

22-11-2012 11:34 | 6 comments

18-07-2012 10:11

13-07-2012 09:56

27-04-2012 20:16 | 2 comments

07-10-2010 18:31 | 3 comments

27-07-2010 12:54

22-07-2010 21:17 | 1 comment

03-07-2010 03:46 | 1 addition | 3 comments

07-06-2010 17:24 | 1 addition | 6 comments

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