Campaigners Decommission Arms Factory in solidarity with Gaza

ITT/EDO MBM, on Home Farm Road, Brighton, manufactures release clips for F
15s and F 16s as well as the Paveway system of munitions which are
currently being used by the Israeli military against civilians in Gaza.

We are witnessing a genocide in occupied Gaza carried out by the Israeli
military with weaponry supplied by the United States government. ITT/EDO
MBM, in Home Farm Road, Brighton, manufactures vital components for the
F-16's and the Hellfire missile that are being used to destroy civilian
infrastructure in Gaza contrary to the Geneva
Conventions.

More than one thousand Palestinians have been murdered by the Israeli
Army, navy and airforce since December 27th- more than one third of these
casualties are children. While Israel claims to be targeting Hamas
infrastructure they have targeted schools, hospitals, police stations,
United Nations compounds and civilian homes.

Chloe Marsh, spokesperson for the Smash EDO campaign, said: "The citizens
of Britain are no longer prepared to stand idly by whilst Israel commits
genocide with the backing of our own government and arms. industries. This
is a peace messenger city,ITT/EDO MBM is an obscenity that must be removed
from Brighton and the directors of this foul company ought to be tried for
war crimes by the International Criminal Court."

Notes for Journalists

The Company

EDO MBM Technologies Ltd are the sole UK subsidiary of huge U.S weapons
manufacturer EDO Corp.From their base in Moulescoombe Brighton, EDO MBM
manufacture vital parts for the Hellfire and Paveway weapons
systems,laserguided missilesused extensively in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine
and Somalia. EDO Corp were recently acquired by ITT in a multi-billion
pound deal. ITT's links to fascism go back to the 1930s. The founder
Sosthenes Behn was the first foreign businessman received by Hitler after
his seizure of power.

The Campaign

There has been active campaign against the presence o f EDO MBM in
Brighton since the outbreak of the Iraq war.Campaigners include students,
Quakers ,Palestine solidarity activists, anti-capitalists and academics.
Despite an injunction under the protection of harassment act (which
failed) and over forty arrests the campaign is still going strong.Their
avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to
remove them from Brighton. They hold regular weekly demos outside the
Moulescoombe factory on Wednesday's between 4 and 6.

THE FILM

On the Verge is an independent film about the SMASH EDO Campaign “In 2004
a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pot and pans outside
their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in disgust of their part in the
Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the
company millions, been the subject of large scale police operations and
has tested the right to protest in the UK.Using activist, police and CCTV
footage plus interviews with those involved in the campaign, 'On The
Verge' tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative
campaigns to emerge out of the UK's anti-war movement and direct action
scene.”