Brighton Activists Shut Down Arms Factory
smashedo | 21.09.2006 05:17 | Anti-militarism | Palestine | South Coast
THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER 2006 ANTI-ARMS ACTIVISTS ARE BLOCKADING BRIGHTON ARMS MANUFACTURER EDO MBM: FACTORY SHUT DOWN
EDO MBM manufactures weapons components for the Israeli army, who slaughtered over a thousand Lebanese civilians this summer and who are engaged in a murderous assault on the people of Gaza. Andrew Beckett, press spokesperson for the campaign said ‘we have shut down this factory so that it cannot go on producing armaments to be used against the people of Gaza. We will keep on causing disruption to the factory until it closes down permanently’. Yesterday was the United Nation’s Day of Peace, celebrated by Brighton Council by hoisting the UN flag at the Town Hall. Brighton and Hove is a UN Peace Messenger City. Sarah Johnson, press spokesperson said ‘it is hypocritical for the council to call this city a Peace Messenger City when local businesses are making a profit out of murder and suffering in the Middle East’ Smash EDO demonstrate every Wednesday at EDO MBM, Home Farm Road.
Brighton & Hove is a UN Peace Messenger City EDO MBM Technologies Ltd are the sole UK trading unit of EDO Corporation, a US arms manufacturer. EDO MBM supplies bomb release mechanisms to the US and UK armed forces. They supply crucial components for Raytheon's Paveway guided bomb system, widely used in the "Shock and Awe" campaign in Iraq. Campaign against EDO MBM EDO MBM and the Israeli military - EDO MBM manufactures components to be incorporated into the Hellfire missile, which the Israeli army has recently used to attack the civilian population of Gaza. They have organised conferences on the development of UCAVs, unmanned aircraft which are widely used in aerial attacks on Gaza. EDO Corporation, of which EDO MBM Brighton is a wholly owned trading unit, has a direct contract with the Israeli Navy who murdered 10 civilians on a beach near Beit Lahiya, Gaza, earlier this year. People involved in the anti-EDO campaign include, but are not limited to: local residents, the Brighton Quakers, peace activists, anti-capitalists, Palestine Solidarity groups, human rights groups, trade unionists, academics and students. The campaign started in August 2004 with a peace camp. It's avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to remove them from Brighton.
Brighton & Hove is a UN Peace Messenger City EDO MBM Technologies Ltd are the sole UK trading unit of EDO Corporation, a US arms manufacturer. EDO MBM supplies bomb release mechanisms to the US and UK armed forces. They supply crucial components for Raytheon's Paveway guided bomb system, widely used in the "Shock and Awe" campaign in Iraq. Campaign against EDO MBM EDO MBM and the Israeli military - EDO MBM manufactures components to be incorporated into the Hellfire missile, which the Israeli army has recently used to attack the civilian population of Gaza. They have organised conferences on the development of UCAVs, unmanned aircraft which are widely used in aerial attacks on Gaza. EDO Corporation, of which EDO MBM Brighton is a wholly owned trading unit, has a direct contract with the Israeli Navy who murdered 10 civilians on a beach near Beit Lahiya, Gaza, earlier this year. People involved in the anti-EDO campaign include, but are not limited to: local residents, the Brighton Quakers, peace activists, anti-capitalists, Palestine Solidarity groups, human rights groups, trade unionists, academics and students. The campaign started in August 2004 with a peace camp. It's avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to remove them from Brighton.
smashedo
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21.09.2006 11:01
The workers began arriving at around 6am, by 7.30 there were over 100 workers with their cars outside the factory. They were met by protesters who used megaphones to make the workers listen to details of the carnage that their weapons wrought in Gaza, Lebanon and Iraq.
Later that morning the protesters bore witness to the surreal sight of the managing director, Paul Hills, having to climb the fence of the factory in order to get inside. He then returned brandishing an angle grinder, which he instructed an employee to use to cut a hole in the company’s own fence through which employees were eventually able to get inside the factory.
The factory was completely blockaded from 6am to 9.30am, stopping production for several hours. Having achieved this aim, the blockaders decided to unlock themselves before the police intervened. There were no arrests.
The protest is continuing outside the factory, which supplies weapons components to the USA and Israel. Spokesperson Andrew Becket said “Yesterday was UN Peace Day. These protests highlight the hypocrisy of a United Nations Peace Messenger City that is involved in the production of weapons that have been used to kill 1000 people in Lebanon and over 100,000 people in Iraq. It’s time that we live up to our city’s title and kick this deadly factory out of Brighton.”
Later that morning the protesters bore witness to the surreal sight of the managing director, Paul Hills, having to climb the fence of the factory in order to get inside. He then returned brandishing an angle grinder, which he instructed an employee to use to cut a hole in the company’s own fence through which employees were eventually able to get inside the factory.
The factory was completely blockaded from 6am to 9.30am, stopping production for several hours. Having achieved this aim, the blockaders decided to unlock themselves before the police intervened. There were no arrests.
The protest is continuing outside the factory, which supplies weapons components to the USA and Israel. Spokesperson Andrew Becket said “Yesterday was UN Peace Day. These protests highlight the hypocrisy of a United Nations Peace Messenger City that is involved in the production of weapons that have been used to kill 1000 people in Lebanon and over 100,000 people in Iraq. It’s time that we live up to our city’s title and kick this deadly factory out of Brighton.”
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