HOME | IMC UK | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

SouthCoast Indymedia

Support the EDO Decommissioners

29.10.2009 13:33 | Smash EDO | Anti-militarism | Iraq | Palestine | South Coast

The decommisioners are six activists on trial for direct action taken against the massacre in Gaza. On January 17th, as the bombs rained on Gaza, they destroyed hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of machinery owned by EDO MBM, preventing the factory from manufacturing bomb racks and arming units for Israeli F16s.

Eight people are currently on bail and one is on remand, currently in Lewes Prison. All are charged with conspiracy to cause criminal damage.

Between the 16th and the 23rd of October, actions were held across the UK and in Palestine in support of the decommissioners. On the 16th, in Manchester, a demonstration was held outside Brimar, a factory making display units for the Israeli Apache helicopter, launching a new campaign. Several of the decommissioning defendants were arrested at the demonstration for breach of bail but later released. On Monday a demonstration was held at Brighton Town Hall calling on Brighton and Hove Council to debate the presence of EDO MBM in Brighton, a petition will be handed in to the council meeting in December. On Wednesday some of the names of those killed during the Gaza massacre were read outside the EDO MBM factory in Brighton. On Thursday two pickets of the Foreign office were held and a petition calling for an end to arms exports to Israel and in support of the decommissioners was handed in. On Friday the Palestinian village of Bil In dedicated its weekly demonstration against the apartheid wall to the decommissioners.

Reports of Target Brimar Demonstration 1 | 2 | Target Brimar Campaign Statement about Arrests of Decommissioners | 3 | SCHnews - It's Brim Up North

Foreign Office Picket | Bil In Support the Decommissioners Demo | Video of Decommissioning | Decommissioners update and protest |

Links: Smash EDO | Support the Decommissioners | Bristol ABC | Anti-Militarist Network |

Click here to download 'If I had a Hammer', a 32 page booklet explaining why the decommissioning was necessary.

decommissioners
decommissioners


Who are the Decommissioners

“If the law and the police can’t do anything about it it’s about time somebody else did” – The EDO Decommissioners

On January the 17th 2009 the bombs had already fallen relentlessly on Gaza for three weeks. Massive, passionate demonstrations and pickets had been held in many cities around the country and the world in protest against Israel’s war crimes. However, a growing sense of helplessness was grabbing hold of the movement as the Palestinian body count stood at 1400 and counting. 300 of the dead were children. This was the night of the “citizen’s decommissioning” of the weapons manufacturer EDO MBM/ITT in Moulsecoomb, Brighton.

Just after midnight Elijah Smith, Tom Woodhead, Robert Nicholls, Ornella Sabiene, Robert Alford and Harvey Tadman and broke into EDO’spremises with the aim to, in Elijah Smith’s words, “...smash it up to the best of [their] abilities”. It was an entirely accountable action where each decommissioner had pre-recorded a video in which they stated the reasons for their participation – to help dismantle the war machine from the factory floor (view their video statements. Once inside the building, they barricaded themselves in and set to work; Equipment used to make weapon components - including some used in Israeli F16 fighter jets - were trashed whilst computers, filing cabinets and office furnishings were thrown out of the windows. Once they were done they calmly waited for the police to arrest them. Three bystanders were also arrested on the day and are now implicated in the decommissioners’ court case.

According to EDO £300,000 worth of damage was caused and Detective Chief Inspector Graham Pratt was quoted in the Guardian as saying: “Windows had been smashed and offices turned over in what I would describe as wanton vandalism, but with machinery and equipment so targeted that it could have been done with a view of bringing business to a standstill”. He was of course misguided. Far from being an action of “wanton vandalism”, it was a thought through act of resistance against what could only be described as a massacre going on in Gaza. However, the second part of his statement was rightly observed: the decommissioning prevented the manufacturing side of EDO from working for several weeks, hence slowing down the murderous war machine they are a part of.

One of the decommissioners, Elijah Smith, is still remanded. A ten week court case was scheduled to start in the last week of October 2009. It has now been scheduled to begin on May 17th 2010. The defendants will argue that they were entitled to decommission EDO because the factory was complicit in war crimes.

One decommisioner is still on remand: Elijah Smith, XP 7551, HMP Lewes, Brighton Road, Lewes, BN7 1EA. Letters of support are always appreciated. If you want to support financially postal orders can be made out to HM Prison Service with prisoner number and your name and address or make a donation to the campaign at www.smashedo.org.uk/donate.htm. Please tag donations as ‘prisoner support’.

Comments

Display the following comment

  1. Missing Link — Darwin

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

-->

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

South Coast [navigation.actions2016]

South Coast [navigation.actions2015]

South Coast [navigation.actions2014]

NATO 2014

South Coast Actions 2013

G8 2013

South Coast Actions 2012

Workfare

South Coast Actions 2011

2011 Census Resistance
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Occupy Everywhere

South Coast Actions 2010

Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands

South Coast Actions 2009

COP15 Climate Summit 2009
G20 London Summit
Guantánamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
University Occupations for Gaza

South Coast Actions 2008

2008 Days Of Action For Autonomous Spaces
Campaign against Carmel-Agrexco
Climate Camp 2008
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Smash EDO
Stop Sequani Animal Testing
Stop the BNP's Red White and Blue festival

South Coast Actions 2007

Climate Camp 2007
DSEi 2007
G8 Germany 2007
Mayday 2007
No Border Camp 2007

South Coast Actions 2006

April 2006 No Borders Days of Action
Art and Activism Caravan 2006
Climate Camp 2006
Faslane
French CPE uprising 2006
G8 Russia 2006
Lebanon War 2006
March 18 Anti War Protest
Mayday 2006
Oaxaca Uprising
Refugee Week 2006
Rossport Solidarity
SOCPA
Transnational Day of Action Against Migration Controls
WSF 2006

South Coast Actions 2005

DSEi 2005
G8 2005
WTO Hong Kong 2005

South Coast Actions 2004

European Social Forum
FBI Server Seizure
May Day 2004
Venezuela

South Coast Actions 2003

Bush 2003
DSEi 2003
Evian G8
May Day 2003
No War F15
Saloniki Prisoner Support
Thessaloniki EU
WSIS 2003

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech