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
Pull him off TV: Steve Bannon shuts down Sen. Lindsey Graham
- Trump’s former chief strategist called for the senator to be registered as a foreign agent
DUBAI: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called on Tuesday for US Senator Lindsey Graham to be registered as a foreign agent of the Israeli government, escalating a growing conservative backlash against the senator’s vocal support for Israel.
Speaking on his podcast “War Room,” Bannon said Graham should be “pulled off of television,” adding: "This is dangerous… because you have guys like Lindsey Graham and dozens more that are doing the wrong thing.”
In a Fox News interview on Monday, Graham said: “To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists… I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day.”
Graham also urged Gulf Arab states to join military action against Iran. “What I want you to do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, [is] step forward and say, ‘this is my fight too, I join America, I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down,’” he said.
In a post on X, Graham questioned the value of a US defense agreement with Saudi Arabia following the evacuation of the American embassy in Riyadh, writing: “Why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?”
Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, responded to Graham’s comments in a Sky News interview, saying: “He flip flops so much, it’s actually entertaining.”
“On one hand, he says he will never set foot in Saudi Arabia. The next day, he’s here signing multimillion-dollar deals.”
“I don’t think anyone here takes him seriously,” Abbas added.
He warned Graham to be careful what he wished for: “Do you really want Saudi Arabia involved in this war putting our oil facilities at risk or do you want us stabilizing the energy markets?”
Graham pressed further, warning that inaction would carry a price. “Hopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard. If you are not willing to use your military now, when are you willing to use it?”
“Hopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow.”
Graham's remarks drew sharp criticism from Bannon and others including podcast host Megyn Kelly.
She questioned on X whether Graham was overstepping his authority as a senator, writing: “When did Lindsay Graham become our president?”
Kelly also said Graham had threatened Lebanon, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, the wider Arab region, and Spain within a 24-hour period.
The problem with Graham “isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him,” she said in another post.
