Anti Arms Trade campaigners shut down arms factory in solidarity with Gaza

Early this morning three activists locked themselves to the Brighton arms factory EDO/ITT, in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

Six Palestinians have been killed over the bank holiday weekend by Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

EDO is currently working on contracts for supply of weapons umbilical connectors to US firm Lockheed Martin who are incorporating them onto the new F35 fighter plane, bound for Israel. Paul Hills, EDO, managing director, has described the function of the connector as "to provide coordinates to the guidance unit... on the weapon."
EDO's connector systems have already resulted in civilian deaths in Afghanistan. In 2009 Royal Dutch Air Force F-16s, equipped with EDO's FRCS connectors, killed 52 civilians in a bombing raid in Helmand.

Chloe Marsh, Smash EDO press spokesperson said "During the last month Israel has intensified attacks on Gaza killing over 30 people and there has been talks of the possibility of a second Operation Cast Lead. EDO/ITT are as ever complicit in this slaughter, as many of these attacks have been carried out by F16s equipped with EDO components. Through the new F35 contract, EDO are ensuring that they will continue to profit from Israel's war crimes far into the future. By accepting these contracts, EDO show beyond a doubt that they are not opposed to supporting Israel's military machine"

A recently published UNICEF report confirmed that Israel's military actions in and around Gaza still amount to a siege, with little alleviation of the situation for civilians. The report also revealed that Israel's siege now puts 1.9 million children at risk of early death, injury or severe psychological harm. See  http://bit.ly/eDH2vx

For more information see www.smashedo.org.uk
For details contact smashedopress@riseup.net

NOTES FOR JOURNALISTS

The Company

EDO MBM Technologies Ltd are the sole UK subsidiary of huge U.S weapons
manufacturer EDO Corp.From their base in Moulescoombe Brighton, EDO MBM
manufacture vital parts for the Hellfire and Paveway weapons
systems,laserguided missilesused extensively in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine
and Somalia. EDO Corp were recently acquired by ITT in a multi-billion
pound deal. ITT's links to fascism go back to the 1930s. The founder
Sosthenes Behn was the first foreign businessman received by Hitler after
his seizure of power.

The Campaign

There has been active campaign against the presence o f EDO MBM in
Brighton since the outbreak of the Iraq war.Campaigners include students,
Quakers ,Palestine solidarity activists, anti-capitalists and academics.
Despite an injunction under the protection of harassment act (which
failed) and over forty arrests the campaign is still going strong.Their
avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to
remove them from Brighton. They hold regular weekly demos outside the
Moulescoombe factory on Wednesday's between 4 and 6.

THE FILM

On the Verge is an independent film about the SMASH EDO Campaign �In 2004
a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pot and pans outside
their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in disgust of their part in the
Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the
company millions, been the subject of large scale police operations and
has tested the right to protest in the UK.Using activist, police and CCTV
footage plus interviews with those involved in the campaign, 'On The
Verge' tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative
campaigns to emerge out of the UK's anti-war movement and direct action
scene.�