Today the Resistance Kitchen launched a campaign in solidarity with the #Filton10. Ten brave souls who have been imprisoned for trying to stop genocide in Palestine by dismantling the production of Israeli weapons of death destined from the UK to Israel.
Responsibility Towards Prisoners
When we started the Resistance Kitchen, our very first post back in May 2023, began with the words “We launch this project in the name of the Most High”. The post just included three quotes, two from the Holy Qur’an, and one from our Prophet (saw). One of the quotes from the Holy Qur’an read “(The righteous are those) who feed the poor, the orphan and the captive for the love of God, saying: ‘We feed you for the sake of God Alone; we seek from you neither reward nor thanks.” – Al Qur’an, 76:8-9.
It’s interesting how helping prisoners is up there as a prime responsibility of the community alongside helping the poor and the orphans. This week we are privileged to be given the opportunity to take a step towards this responsibility, by launching a campaign of solidarity with the #Filton10.
#Filton10 - Background
Over 40,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered by Israel since last October. Israel is facing charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice. 85% of the killer drones used by Israel in its genocide are made by Elbit Systems, the Israeli armaments giant which has manufacturing plants in the UK.
The UK government has turned a blind eye as arms are shipped from the UK to commit war crimes in Gaza. Our governments complicity has forced ordinary people, courageous actionists from Palestine Action, to take direct action to try and end the killing by cutting off Israel’s supply of arms.
In their latest action they disabled arms production at Elbits new £35m Filton facility in Bristol which was opened last year by the Israeli Ambassador Hotevely, who has previously denied the Palestinian Nakba and now denies there is any humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Six brave souls entered the plant in a repurposed prison van and started dismantling the production of weapons of death, causing 1 millions pounds worth of damage.
In a shocking over reach by the police the six were arrested and held under draconian anti-terrorism legislation, even though in anyone’s wildest imagination what they did cannot be construed as terrorism. Using the Terrorism Act against young people participating in direct action to stop genocide sets a new precedent which should worry all of us. When the police do not respect the rule of law, it’s a sign we are slipping into fascism.
Using the Terrorism Act the six, some barely 20 years old, were held in solitary without charge for 7 days, whilst they were interrogated. Their families were not even permitted a two minute phone call with their loved ones.
Since then four more, who weren’t even present, have been arrested. The ten actionists have now been charged for damaging the arms factory, they have been vindicated with all terror charges being dropped. The #Flinton10 are political prisoners whose actions were motivated to stop genocide. They are heroes. We demand their freedom.
Campaign
Our campaign launched with an information frame on the #Filton10 and a counter counting the number of days our heroes have been imprisoned for trying to stop genocide. The counter will be updated at each week’s kitchen.
We know it’s a small start, but nevertheless an important one. At times like this, those that make the great sacrifices – their very liberty, to save lives in Gaza, need all our support. Its the very least we can do. They and their families mustn’t feel abandoned, but feel cherished by their community, proud of the honour their children have bestowed by their courageous acts in defence of the oppressed. True heroes, we salute them.
Also, Palestine Action needs our solidarity. With each day, with each action, the government is trying to equate them to an organised criminal gang, and now as a terrorist organisation. We can’t let this happen.
We stand with the #Filton10
We stand with Palestine Action
Resources
We have created a generic design for others to use to show their solidity with the #Filton10.
Print it or display on your tablet, hold it up, take a selfie, post it on social media with tag “I stand with the #Filton10” @Pal_Action
If you also tag us @ResistanceKitch then we will iA retweet it.
PDF of “I Stand With The #Filton10” poster :
https://resistancekitchen.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/i-stand-with-the-filton10.pdf