LONDON: A British pro-Palestinian activist on trial over a raid targeting Israeli defense firm Elbit said on Thursday she and her co-defendants had wanted to “cause as much property damage as we could” but said she was opposed to violence.
Charlotte Head, 29, and five others are on trial at Woolwich Crown Court over what prosecutors have described as a meticulously planned assault by Palestine Action on the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, last August.
All six are charged with aggravated burglary, violent disorder and criminal damage, with one of Head’s co-defendants also charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent for allegedly hitting a police officer with a sledgehammer.
They all deny the charges. Head told jurors she and her co-defendants had decided to take action because “all else had failed.”
Head admitted she drove a repurposed former prison van carrying fellow activists through fences outside the factory and then into a loading bay in the early hours of August 6, 2024.
She said the plan was to “go in and destroy as many weapons as we could find.”
Head was asked by her lawyer Rajiv Menon: “Did you use violence against security guards or a police officer?” She replied: “No, never.”
Head said she was not involved in pro-Palestinian activism until after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023, prompting a massive Israeli military response that Head described as a “genocide.”
Prosecutor Deanna Heer told jurors as the trial began last month that one of the six defendants, Samuel Corner, 23, hit a female police sergeant with a sledgehammer in the back, causing a lumbar spine fracture.
Head, asked on Thursday if she would have participated in action targeting Elbit if she knew someone would have used violence, said: “No, it was not a part of the plan.”
The trial continues.
UK pro-Palestinian activist says raid on Elbit factory was about destroying weapons
https://arab.news/resa6
UK pro-Palestinian activist says raid on Elbit factory was about destroying weapons
- Head admitted she drove a repurposed former prison van carrying fellow activists through fences outside the factory and then into a loading bay on August 6, 2024
Most of Iranian women’s soccer team leave Australia
GOLD COAST: The Iranian women’s soccer team left Australia without seven squad members after tearful protests of their departure outside Sydney Airport and frantic final efforts inside the terminal by Australian officials, who sought to ensure the women understood they were being offered asylum.
As the team’s flight time drew nearer and they passed through security late on Tuesday, each woman was taken aside to meet alone with officials who explained through interpreters that they could choose not to return to Iran.
Before the team traveled to the airport, seven women had accepted humanitarian visas allowing them to remain permanently in Australia and were ushered to a safe location by Australian police officers.
One has since changed her mind, underscoring the tense and precarious nature of their decisions.
“In Australia, people are able to change their mind,” said Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who had hours earlier posted photos of the seven women granted humanitarian visas to his social media accounts, their identities clearly visible.
After what Burke described as “emotional” meetings between the remaining women who reached the airport and Australian officials, the rest of the team declined offers of asylum and boarded their flight.
It was a dramatic conclusion to an episode that had gripped Australia since the Iranian team’s first game at the Asian Cup soccer tournament, when they remained silent during their national anthem.
