Demonstrators rally in southern England to protest against a British company that provided Israel with arms during its 2009 onslaught in Gaza.
Protesters in Brighton surrounded the EDO MBM factory, a subsidiary of the American multi-national ITT corporation that supplies essential parts for the Israeli air force, marking the first anniversary of Israel’s massacre of more than 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza, IRNA reported.
“In Brighton, EDO/MBM manufactures some of the weapon components that devastated so many lives. All over the world thousands of people watched appalled at the carnage on the streets of Gaza,” the organizer of Monday’s demonstration, Smash EDO campaign group, said.
“Thousands marched and raged at the destruction of people’s homes and lives. On January 18, 2010, the anniversary of the final day of Operation Cast Lead, we will come together to remember the people of Gaza,” a Smash EDO spokesperson was quoted by IRNA as saying.
Protesters managed to pass police barricades at some point and approach the factory compound, forcing it to announce shorter working hours for the day.
Police have reportedly made some arrests while trying to disperse the crowd.
Smash EDO has been campaigning to close the factory since 2004, saying that it produces components for the guided bombs that were most used in aerial raids against the Palestinians.
