By Sam Tobin
LONDON (Reuters) – Seven people appeared in a London court on Tuesday charged with violent disorder, burglary and other offences in what prosecutors said was an attack by protest group Palestine Action at a warehouse linked to Israeli defence firm Elbit.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have repeatedly targeted Elbit Systems UK and other defence firms in Britain linked to Israel in the wake of the conflict in Gaza.
Seven people, aged between 20 and 51, are charged with criminal damage and aggravated burglary over an incident at the Elbit premises near Bristol in southwest England on Aug. 6.
Six of the seven have also been charged with violent disorder over the action in which, prosecutors say, a repurposed prison van was used to smash through fencing before some of the group damaged items in the warehouse with sledgehammers.
One of the group – Samuel Corner, 22 – has additionally been charged with grievous bodily harm for allegedly hitting a police officer with a sledgehammer and two charges of assault causing actual bodily harm.
All seven appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where prosecutor Laura Jeffrey said the incident caused around 1 million pounds ($1.28 million) of damage.
“Elbit has been the repeated target of both protests and attacks,” Jeffrey said.
She also said that, while none of the defendants were charged with “terrorism offences per se”, the charges had “a terrorist connection”.
All seven were remanded in custody ahead of their next court appearance at the Old Bailey on Sept. 13. They have not yet had to enter a plea.
Palestine Action has said the site was the new 35 million-pound research and development hub of Elbit in Filton, in South Gloucestershire.
“Direct action against Elbit aims to disrupt this: targeting the source of colonial violence and genocide against the Palestinian people, undermining Elbit’s profiteering from Israel’s daily massacres,” the group said on its website.
Elbit did not respond to a request for comment.
Its website says its UK subsidiary employs 680 people at 16 sites, working on multiple programmes for the British military.
Israel says its operations in Gaza target Hamas militants who attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
($1 = 0.7815 pounds) (This story has been refiled to remove the extraneous word ‘by,’ in paragraph 1)
(Reporting by Michael Holden and Sam Tobin; Editing by Kate Holton and Alison Williams)
