A judge just said he was “satisfied” Palestine Action “acted out of desperation” over Israel’s genocide

On Wednesday 23 October, four Palestine Action activists on trial for blockading the gates of Elbit’s Leicestershire drone factory were convicted. But it was only on one charge, and the judge gave them non-custodial sentences.

Palestine Action: acting out of “desperation”

The four activists were found guilty by district judge MC Wilkinson, having earlier been cleared of the charge of Obstructing Lawful Business. They were each sentenced to 18 months conditional discharge, and ordered to pay £300 court costs. Locking-on was only made a criminal offence under the Public Order Act 2023. The judge told them:

I’m satisfied you took these steps out of desperation, for people trapped in suffering not of their own making.

On 27 February 2024, as the death toll in Gaza surpassed 30,000, Palestine Action shut down Elbit’s drone factory, UAV Engines, in Shenstone, Leicestershire.

Elbit, Israel’s largest weapons company, use the site to design and manufacture Wankel-type, or AR-80-110, rotary engines, for Israel’s Hermes killer drone fleet. In the action, four activists locked themselves to two sets of gates, effectively closing down the factory. The trial of the #Shenstone4 started this week, at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court, with the activists facing charges under the Public Order Act 2023.

The activists were initially charged with both Obstructing Lawful Business, and Locking-On, but they were cleared of the former charge on the first day of the trial.

Also giving evidence for the firm was ‘Quality Manager’ Jody Yates, who claimed that the drones manufactured at the site weren’t capable of carrying a payload.

When pressed about the Hermes 450 drones, which have played a central role in the Gaza Genocide, and were used in the slaughter of the World Central Kitchen aid workers, Yates said that he had seen this in the tabloid press, but that he didn’t have that level of “insider knowledge”.

After the prosecution case concluded, the four Palestine Action defendants took to the stand, giving powerful evidence, not least in terms of their motivation.

Someone had to do something about Elbit

Harriet Rollins told the court:

It started when I made a Palestinian friend. She was born in Gaza. I was worrying for her, and her family. They had moved back there before 2023. Hearing the news, knowing she was there, and then with the media blackouts, not hearing from her for days on end. Her granddad was murdered, specifically by one of those drones. It was a breaking point for me…that engine, for that drone, could have been made at UAV.

For her part, the next defendant, Hannah, when asked what led her to take part in the action against UAV Engines, said:

Protests didn’t seem to be having an effect. The UK vetoed at the UN, my MP abstained on the SNP motion for a ceasefire, aid money had stopped going into Gaza – the UNWRA funding – for healthcare, for food, for shelter, and education. Nothing had started to change, it seemed to get worse.

Rae told the court:

Every day, I was waking up, and going to sleep, to seeing people’s bodies, buried under the rubble, babies with heads barely attached…I started trying to do things, sending emails to my MP, attending all the talks, and demos, I could. I tried to get my Uni to divest… It brought awareness, but made no difference to the Genocide happening in Palestine.

Rae went on:

I wanted to bring the murderous drones to a stop.

Lastly, the fourth Palestine Action defendant, Miss Maan, said:

This really hit home for me. I’m Sikh, in 1984 there was a Sikh Genocide. My mum escaped.

She continued:

It was all happening, streamed live. The protests weren’t doing anything. And then the Al Shifa hospital was destroyed. Live videos were streamed on Instagram. I was watching these people suffering, on the floor of a hospital, while I lay in my bed.

We do what we can, where we are. I am a human being, at the end of the day, and I was seeing babies being decapitated.

Palestine Action will ‘continue to do everything they can’

While convicted on the one charge, the four Palestine Action activists walked free from court, with their heads held high.

A spokesperson for Palestine Action said:

These four courageous young people had to risk their liberty, trying to stop the production of engines, for Israeli killing machines, at Elbit’s Leicestershire drone factory. While we welcome the non-custodial sentences, it should be Elbit in the dock, charged with actively assisting in the Gaza Genocide.

Until that day comes, we will continue to do everything we can to shut Elbit down, and to target all those who enable and support them, in bringing death to the children of Palestine.

Featured image via Palestine Action