British counterterrorism police have charged seven people with violent disorder over a break-in at a building belonging to Israeli defence firm Elbit in southwest England. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Tuesday that seven people, aged between 20 and 51, have been charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary over an incident at the Elbit Systems premises in South Gloucestershire on August 6. \u201cOn the facts of this case, the CPS will be submitting to the court that these offences have a terrorist connection,\u201d the CPS said in a statement. Members of Palestine Action were due to appear at London\u2019s Westminster Magistrates\u2019 Court later on Tuesday. Avon and Somerset Police said the group forced its way into the building and \u201cseriously assaulted\u201d staff after smashing the gate with a vehicle and driving into the compound. Palestine Action rejected allegations of violence against police and security staff and said the authorities had launched a \u201csmear campaign\u201d to prejudice the outcome of the trial and \u201clay the groundwork for the police unjust use of authoritarian powers\u201d. \u201cWe refuse to be intimidated into allowing a genocide to happen,\u201d it said in a statement. On its website, the group describes itself as aimed at \u201cdismantling British complicity with Israeli apartheid\u201d. It adds that \u201cdirect action against Elbit aims to disrupt this: targeting the source of colonial violence and genocide against the Palestinian people, undermining Elbit\u2019s profiteering from Israel\u2019s daily massacres\u201d. Israel\u2019s largest arms manufacturer is known to supply some 85 percent of the land and air munitions used by its military. Elbit says on its website that its United Kingdom subsidiary employs 680 people at 16 sites, working on multiple programmes for the British military. Since its formation in 2020, Palestine Action has forced the permanent closure of Elbit\u2019s Oldham factory and pushed the company to abandon its London headquarters. In 2022, the group\u2019s protest action led to the dissolution of contracts worth 280 million pounds ($358m) between the UK Ministry of Defence and Elbit Systems and prompted several British and European companies to cut ties with Elbit permanently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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