UK Indymedia

Lebanon War protesters - Not Guilty!

03-07-2007 12:28

On Thursday 28th June two anti-militarist activists were found not guilty of Aggravated trespass at Brighton Magistrates Court

During the bombing of Lebanon last Summer the two campaigners had entered the property of EDO MBM in Brighton, a supplier of weaponry to the Israeli military, scaled the walls and hung a banner from the roof reading '16 CHILDREN DEAD IN QANA LEBANON, EDO PROFITS FROM MURDER'

The Protest came was in response to Israel's bombing of Lebanon, which claimed over 1000 lives last Summer and devastated an entire country.

In Brighton the Smash EDO campaign held a series of protests against the invasion including a blockade of the factory, a day of rage, an art installation and a demonstration in Brighton. Activist in Brighton also held a picket of the Israeli Tennis team's match in Eastbourne.

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Kick Israeli Apartheid Out of Football

26-03-2007 20:34

On Saturday, 24th March, England played Israel in a Euro 2008 qualifying match. A group of activists picketed the Football Association in Soho Square calling for a Sporting boycott of Apartheid Israel [Newswire Report].

Links: Boycott Israeli Goods | ISM Palestine | Palestine Solidarity Campaign | Stop the Wall in Palestine

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EDO CORP: 2006 Alternative Report

21-02-2007 17:45

On Thursday 22nd February the EDO Corporation released their report on the fourth quarter of 2006. The Corporation, of which the embattled Brighton based arms dealers EDO MBM are a wholly owned trading unit, has announced that it is operating below targets, (See EDO's Fourth Quarter Report)

Below is an 'Alternative Report' from the Smash EDO campaign. Brighton based EDO MBM has been the target of sustained protest and direct action since 2003. On Friday 16th Feb a group of protesters occupied EDO's car park and foyer blowing claxon horns and scattering photos of the carnage in Iraq. This was the second such action in the last month ( reports: (1) | (2) ). On Monday 19th Feb 8 students from Sussex University locked themselves to EDO's fence and gates delaying the opening of the factory and preventing deliveries ( see: Press Release | Photo Report ). On Wednesday 21st Feb protesters held a funeral procession and vigil for the victims of the US bombing of Somalia at the factory ( see: Press Release | Report ).

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Weekend of Action Against Carmel Agrexco

11-02-2007 12:27

The weekend of 10-11 February, 2007, saw two actions against Carmel-Agrexco, the largest exporter of flowers from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The lead up to Valentine's Day is one of their busiest times as their Middlesex depot delivers a large amount of Israeli flowers to UK supermarkets.

On Saturday, 120 Activists from the Boycott Israeli Goods Campaign blocked the gates of the depot for most of the afternoon. Then, in the early hours of Sunday morning, 13 activists shut the depot down again for several hours by locking themselves to the factory gates.

Reports from Saturday's Picket: 1 | 2 | video | Reports from Sunday's Blockade: 1 |

Previous actions: 1 | 2 | 3

Background: Text of Letter to Carmel Agrexco | Apartheid and Agrexco in the Jordan Valley | War on Want's Report - Profiting from the Occupation
Links: Boycott Israeli Goods | ISM Palestine | Palestine Solidarity Campaign | Stop the Wall in Palestine | Brighton-Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group

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War Over? Ongoing Crisis in Lebanon

16-08-2006 12:42

While the recently agreed-on 'ceasefire' between Isael and Hizbullah is being portrayed in most of the mainstream media coverage as an end to the 'crisis', the catastrophic cosequences of the hostilities, which lasted for over a month, go underreported. And while fighting on a much smaller scale conitnues, hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese are making their way back, many to find their homes destroyed by Israeli bombs.

In a flagrant breach of the ceasefire, Israeli warplanes and helicopters launched fresh raids in eastern Lebanon on 19th August.

According to official figures, some 1,130 people have been slaughtered (30% of them children), 3,600 injured (40% of them children) and about a million displaced. Omar Nachabe has reported 1,700 confirmed dead so far, over 3,000 injured. Israeli strikes on Lebanon have destroyed much of the country's infrastructure, including Beirut airport, ports, bridges and roads, residential buildings, factories, mobile telephone and television stations, fuel containers and service stations and even medical and relief trucks.

Meanwhile, Israel is still denying NGOs like Medecins sans Frontieres and the Red Cross a safe passage. On 15 August, an activist aid convoy was stopped by the Lebanese National Security Guards while trying to reach the South, as the area is still declared unsafe.

Ongoing coverage: Lebanon War 2006 - topic page

Upcoming: Sack Parliament, Stop their wars | 9th of October, Houses of Parliament

Protest reports: Blockade the Foreign Office, London 21st August | quick report | personal accounts and pics | video.

Previous features: The realm of the real - photography from Lebanon | Mass Demo Against Israeli Attacks | Worldwide Protests Against Israeli Aggression | War in the Middle East While the World is Watching

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The realm of the real - photography from Lebanon

12-08-2006 11:46

In the last few weeks, an increasing number of horrible, very upsetting photos of the massacres committed by Israel have been coming out of Lebanon. The alternative media are doing everything possible to break the censorship of images that was enforced by the Corporate and authoritarian State media which only show a sanitized war, disinfected images of material destruction. The smuggling and widespread dissemination of images from 'the realm of the real' that are coming out of Lebanon and Gaza now make all of us uncomfortable. For those of us who do editing and publishing work, they bring up the awful worry of "is this appropriate?" (source: Cyprus Indymedia)

Photographer Guy Smallman has been reporting from Lebanon since early this week. His photo reports show the harsh reality of war and a growing refugee crisis. New York Indymedia photographer Andrew Stern published photos taken after the bombing of two residential buildings in the town of Chiah, near Beirut on August 8th. The Cyprus Indymedia has been reporting constantly on the conflict since it started mid-July. Their website contains numerous (photo) reports on conflict, struggle and solidarity.

Photo reports by Guy Smallman:

Other photo reports: Photo Essay from Lebanon | Photo Essay from Lebanon - 2 | Indymedia Photography from Lebanon | Civil Defense members removing corpses from Marwahin, Lebanon | Lebanon: Day 8 ~ While the world is turning its back and closing its eyes | Bomb Number Five, Salaam | Lebanon: Full Color Pictures of the Atrocities

Links: Cyprus Indymedia | Andrew Stern website | Impressive photos on Flickr | Photos from pro-resistance demo by Issandr El Amrani | Wikipedia on war photography

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Cambridge Reaction to the Carnage Inflicted by Israel

06-08-2006 15:02

The Israeli wars of aggression in Lebanon and Gaza have been now been going on for almost four weeks and there have been three protests against it in Cambridge. On Friday (28th July), there was a small meeting in The Market Square, which was attended by about 30 people, followed by a larger demo on saturday (150-200 people). [report] Other activists conducted leaflet drops in the Grafton Centre and from Great St Marys Church (leaflet). On Sunday there was a vigil for the victims of Hiroshima [report].

Also in the region, it was revealed that US bombs bound for Israel have passed through Suffolk and Norwich people called for a ceasefire

Israel has been targetting civilians, journalists, the UN and ambulances using cluster bombs, depleted uranium munitions, bunker busters via Scotland and a catalogue of other illegal weapons. The USA is the main source of Israeli weapons.

Indymedia UK coverage of the attacks, demonstrations around the 22nd of July and the 5th of August.

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Protests against the Israeli assult on Lebanon

06-08-2006 09:43

The Israeli war of agression against Lebanon has now been going on for almost four weeks and there have been two protests against it in Sheffield, the first one was held on 22nd July and it involved a spontaneous march around the city cente in a downpour and the second was held on 2nd August, it involved a five-minute sit down protest in Pinstone Street and a speech from Jews against Zionism. On 5th August many people from Sheffield attended the London demo against Israeli attacks.

Israel has been targetting civilians, journalists, the UN and ambulances using cluster bombs, depleted uranium munitions, bunker busters flown in via Scotland and a catalogue of other illegal weapons, the USA is the main source of Israeli weapons. According to UNICEF: "Thirty per cent of those who have died are children and 45 per cent of those who are displaced are children".

The capture of two Israeli soliders, which has been used by Israel to justify the attack on Hizballah, has been shown to be a pretext: "Israel's assaults on the Occupied Territories and Lebanon were planned well in advance with the full knowledge and approval of the US." The Israeli government was given the green light to attack Lebanon by the United States and the other states attending the G8 in Russia. The US-Israeli goal for Lebanon appears to be, as a minimum, regime change or worse, total annihilation, as with the wars in Iraq and Afganistain the role of oil appears to be key. Wider Middle East war was predicted at the end of June and the unfolding events appears to be part of an imperialist carve up of the Middle East.

One response, from a branch of the CNT in France has been to say: "Just as we firmly denounce this military escalation, calling for an immediate cease-fire, and an end to the bombings, and withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, we believe, as internationalist workers, that one of our urgent tasks is to support the development of a third camp - the camp of the workers - in the Middle East, at one and the same time against imperialist domination and against Islamist oppression."

Indymedia Beirut has made an Urgent Appeal for Solidarity with Lebanese Civil Society

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Mass Demo Against Israeli Attacks

05-08-2006 11:34

Thousands marched in London on 5th August, 2006, to protest against Israel's attacks on Lebanon. Starting at Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, the march went via the US Embassy and Downing Street to Parliament Square. The demands of the march were for an unconditional ceasefire, to stop Israel's attacks on Lebanon and Gaza and to end Tony Blair's support for Bush's wars. The demonstration follows 30,000 people demonstrating in London two weeks ago and many smaller protests around the country.

In front of the US Embassy: "territorial support group police suddenly flooded the road and formed an arbritary barrier in the middle of the crowd. They then began pushing forward, shoving and occasionally hitting people in a pointless show of thuggery. There were several arrests and then they were suddenly recalled and the march returned to peace."

Outside Downing Street: "Hundreds of empty tiny children's shoes symbolising the outrageous number of child casualties were piled up there which made a very poignant display."

The Rhythms of Resistance samba band staged a die-in opposite Downing Street: "Others gradually joined the sit-down, although stop the war coalition stewards were urging the passing crowd to not join in, and police quickly surrounded the sitting protestors. After some twenty minutes, the samba band moved on, but some activists tried to use pipes to lock on on the ground, and were viciously arrested by police before they managed". 7 Anti war activists were arrested outside Downing St

At Parliament Square there were speaches including one from Bruce Kent, "The other day, I was in Downing Street, handing in a petition against replacing Trident, and I thought how wonderful it had been if I had taken in a warrant from the International Criminal Court, and I was offering it to Mr Blair and a policeman would arrest him. That’s a dream that will come one day. This is a war crime.”

The policing of the demonstration was heavy handed and reflects the slide towards fascism.

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 Videos: 1 | 2

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Worldwide Protests Against Israeli Aggression

24-07-2006 14:42

Tens of thousands throughout the world took to the street on Saturday, July 22nd, to protest against the ongoing Israeli war on Lebanon and Palestine. For the past 12 days and nights, Israeli air forces have destroyed countless civilian buildings and means of transportation in operations that have killed more 400 people, mostly civilians, and wrecked havoc on Lebanese cities, harbours, airports and other infrastructure, leading to the displacement of more than half a million people. The International Day of Action had been called by various anti-war and solidarity campaigns.

In London, up to 30,000 marched from Whitehall, through central London to Hyde Park, where they held a rally [reports and photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Another Wasted Opportunity].

On Tuesday, an emergency assembly in London called for direct action against the Israeli invasion at 1pm on Thursday, 3d of August (meet at Gilbert Street by Bond Street tube).

Similar, but smaller, demonstrations took place in other cities up and down the country, including Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, York, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

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Sheffield Protests Against Israeli Aggression

24-07-2006 10:35

Hundreds of people protested in Sheffield on 22nd July 2006 against the ongoing Israeli war on Lebanon and Palestine. The demonstration was called at short notice by the Sheffield Stop the War Coalition, Sheffield Palestine Solidarity Campaign and The Sheffield Muslim Association of Britain with the slogans, "Hands off Lebanon - Freedom for Palestine - Don't attack Syria - Don't attack Iran".

Despite very heavy rain there was an energetic, impromptu, march around the city centre which took the one policeman on duty by suprise. The route taken was down Pinstone Street towards the Moor, up to Fitzalan Square, up Carver Street, across Division Street and onto West Street. The protestors then marched down the tram tracks to Fargate — a route that would never have been agreed by the police in advance — and back to the Town Hall. It was all over by 1pm.

The protest was part of an International Day of Action in which tens of thousands of people throughout the world took to the streets to protest. In London, up to 30,000 marched from Whitehall, through central London, to Hyde Park, where they held a rally [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Another Wasted Opportunity]. Similar, but smaller, demonstrations took place in other cities up and down the country, including Manchester, York, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

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War in the Middle East While the World is Watching

20-07-2006 12:38

For the 12th day in a row, Israeli forces have been bombarding Lebanon, while more Israeli troops are moving into southern parts of the country. So far more than 400 Lebanese civilians have been killed, over 1,000 wounded and some 500,000 displaced, compared with 36 Israeli deaths (17 civilians) caused by Hizbullah's Katyusha rockets fired at northern Israeli cities and towns. Reports from Beirut talk of a deserted, devastated city, with residential buildings, roads and bridges being hit by Israeli air strikes [click the Full Article link for details].

Meanwhile in Palestine, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip continue. Tens of Palestinian civilians have been killed and many more injured, not to mention the periodic shortages of food, fuel, electricity, water and medicine. Many of those killed were Palestinian civilians, including children, who died during Israeli air force "targeted killings". As well as actual bombing raids, Israeli military airplanes have conducted nightly sonic booming raids over Gaza, with the aim of making the civilian population fearful that actual bombing is under way. In retaliation, Palestinian groups also continue to fire Qassam rockets at Israeli towns [see Human Rights Watch's statement].

Apart from the mass destruction of civilian infrastructure, there are reports that Israeli forces have been using internationally banned weapons, such as phosphorus incendiary bombs and vacuum bombs, both in Gaza and in Lebanon.

Although still small in scale, there have been a few protests against the continuing Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza throughout the world. On 18 June, several hundred people demonstrated in Parliament Square in London. National-wide demonstrations have been called for July 22nd by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition and various Muslim organisations. July 22nd is also going to be an International Day of Action Against Israeli Aggression. Earlier this month, protesters blockaded EDO MBM in Brighton, which makes electrical weapons components for the Israeli military. [see also "Boycott Israeli Goods" National Day of Action].