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Direct Action

How The Fossil Fuel Industry Helps Spread Anti-Protest Laws Across US

October 1, 2024 Hilary Beaumont and Nina Lakhani, Portside. , , , ,
Fossil fuel lobbyists coordinated with lawmakers behind the scenes and across state lines to push and shape laws that are escalating a crackdown on peaceful protests against oil and gas expansion, a new Guardian investigation reveals. Records obtained by the Guardian show that lobbyists working for major North American oil and gas companies were key architects of anti-protest laws that increase penalties and could lead to non-violent environmental and climate activists being imprisoned up to 10 years. Emails between fossil fuel lobbyists and lawmakers in Utah, West Virginia, Idaho and Ohio suggest a nationwide strategy to deter people frustrated by government failure to tackle the climate crisis from peacefully disrupting the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure by enacting tough laws with lengthy jail sentences.

Palestine Action Are At Elbit In Bristol Again

September 23, 2024 Steve Topple, The Canary. , , , , , , ,
Palestine Action has been at it again in Bristol – this time, using a van to disrupt the factory of Elbit Systems in Filton. It shows for the umpteenth time that direct action does work – as the group halted production, therefore stopped arms going to Israel to be used in its genocide in Gaza, and terrorism in Lebanon. It also shows that activists are unafraid of the consequences of their direct action – as ten people who targeted the site previously are now in prison. On Monday 23 September, activists from Palestine Action used a van to block the only entrance into Elbit Systems research, development, and manufacturing hub in Filton, Bristol.

Inside The International Uprising Disrupting Air Travel

September 16, 2024 Alexandria Shaner, Waging Nonviolence. , , , ,
A new international coalition is disrupting airports to make one demand: the adoption of a treaty to end fossil fuels by 2030. Under the banner Oil Kills, small groups of activists have occupied airport departure lounges, plane cabins, terminals, tarmacs and roads across three continents — and they aren’t done yet. Here are the numbers so far: 500 people, 31 airports, 22 groups, 166 arrests, 42 people on remand in prison — all in support of their one demand. The coalition formed when members of Extinction Rebellion, the A22 Network and Stay Grounded began reaching out to other groups globally. What resulted was an unprecedented alliance of civil resistance groups focused on the sustained disruption of airports — a key pillar of the fossil fuel economy.

Four Palestine Action Activists Walk Free After Jury Refuses To Convict Them

September 15, 2024 The Canary. , , , , , ,
In Bradford Crown Court, a two-week trial ended against four Palestine Action activists, with the jury on Friday 13 September refusing to convict them of charges of ‘criminal damage’ after they shut down an Israel-supplying military electronics firm in April 2024. Palestine Action: A Jury Concurs, Kind Of The jury had been out for deliberations since 2:30pm on 11 September, after the trial commenced on 3 September. The Palestine Action activists will now face a retrial. The ‘Shipley Four’ occupied the premises of ‘Teledyne Defence and Space’, at Airedale House, Shipley, for over 14 hours on 2 April, six months into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, to prevent its manufacture of weapons parts used for war crimes.

Palestine Action Target Over Ten Barclays Sites Across The Country

September 13, 2024 Palestine Action. , , , , ,
Overnight, Palestine Action have targeted more than ten Barclays sites including branches, call centres and offices. The bank has been marked with symbols of their complicity in the genocide of Palestinians. Bank premises from Edinburgh to Kent have had their windows smashed, and covered in blood-red paint, in actions which Palestine Action have vowed will continue until Barclays cease their investments in Elbit Systems – Israel’s largest weapons firm, and Palestine Action’s primary target. These actions follow those of June 2024, when nearly 20 branches of the arms-investing bank were smashed.

Quiet Rollout Of Cop Cities Across The US Meets Growing Resistance

September 10, 2024 Victoria Valenzuela, Waging Nonviolence. , , , , ,
On June 11, a week after a police training facility in Richmond, California, broke ground, organizers from the Stop Cop City Bay Area Coalition marched to the Overaa Construction headquarters in protest. Citing concerns over rising police militarization and repression in the predominantly Black and Latino area, the protesters — joined by local residents — called on Overaa workers to boycott the $30 million construction deal. “By furthering the militarizing and surveillance of our city — and coordinating law enforcement resources across the region, including ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] — they’re actually making our cities into Cop Cities,” said Refilwe Gqajela, a community organizer with the Anti Police-Terror Project in California’s Bay Area.

Cops Are Bemused As Palestine Action Block Elbit Factory For Whole Day

September 9, 2024 The Canary. , , , , , ,
Not to do things by halves, Palestine Action started the week as it means to go on: by blockading an Elbit factory – Instro, in Kent – for the majority of the day; once again, disrupting Israel’s genocide supply chain in the process Palestine Action Shut Down Elbit In Kent Palestine Action have blocked all entrance roads to the ‘Instro Precision’ factory in Discovery Park, once again shutting down the Kent factory of Israel’s largest arms company, Elbit Systems. Activists have used vehicles to obstruct the entrances: They have climbed on top of security boxes and the ledge of Discovery Park House: The premises has been covered in red paint, symbolising Palestinian bloodshed spilt by Elbit’s weaponry

To Address The Climate Emergency, Foundations Must Spend Big On Movements

September 8, 2024 Margaret Klein Salamon, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
As a clinical psychologist turned climate activist and now a funder of disruptive climate protests, I have witnessed the profound disconnect between the urgency of our climate crisis and the tepid, cautious response of the philanthropic sector. It brings me close to despair, as I know that incrementalism or philanthropy-as-usual can’t possibly be effective at protecting humanity. The public is in a mass delusion of normalcy — sleepwalking off a cliff — and philanthropy is complicit. Philanthropy has treated the climate as one problem among many that should be dealt with in a “business as usual” way, including all of the philanthropic sector’s incrementalism and caution.

Activists Target Logistics Firms Facilitating Israel’s Genocide In Gaza

August 31, 2024 Arvind Dilawar, Truthout. , , , , ,
Israel’s Ministry of Defense acknowledged a landmark on August 26: The Israeli military had received its 500th airlift of supplies from the United States since the attack by Hamas and other Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023. According to the ministry, those flights and more than a hundred sea shipments have delivered over 50,000 tons of military equipment, including armored vehicles, munitions and ammunition, “crucial for sustaining the [Israeli military’s] operational capabilities.” A month earlier, on July 31, activists organized a related “celebration” at the headquarters of cargo airline Atlas Air in White Plains, New York.

Hundreds Converge For 44th Annual Earth First! Gathering

August 16, 2024 Sean Summers, Unicorn Riot. , , ,
Walking up the path to the Kirkridge Retreat Center outside Bangor, Pennsylvania in early July, you may have sensed something was afoot. Cars with license plates from far-flung states lined the driveway and wild-haired twenty-somethings mingled with kids, tweens and adults in their 30s, 40s and beyond. A hand painted cardboard sign reading simply “EF!” would have directed you, with an arrow pointing to the activity. A blend of laughter, music, and fragments of conversations about climate catastrophe quickly sets the tone before you reach a folding table strewn with literature, hand sanitizer, masks and snacks. “Welcome,” a smiling volunteer would greet you. “Are you here for Earth First?”

How To Make Sure Your Disruptive Protest Helps Your Cause

August 11, 2024 Mark Engler and Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
In one of the most famous protest speeches of the 20th century, Berkeley Free Speech Movement leader Mario Savio stood before a crowd of several thousand on Dec. 2, 1964, and delivered an impassioned defense of disobedience: “There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can’t take part,” Savio insisted. “You can’t even passively take part. And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus — and you’ve got to make it stop.” Perhaps now more than ever, recognizing the grave and even existential challenges we face in the world around us, people are following Savio’s advice and putting their bodies upon the gears.

Call To Action: Thwarting Israel’s Master Plan In The West Bank

August 3, 2024 Noura Khouri, Mondoweiss. , , , ,
Returning to Palestine after 17 years was a surreal experience, and met with a constant sense of nagging and overwhelming suffocation. Walking and driving along the ancient blood-stained streets, I am acutely aware that there is no post-traumatic stress disorder while there’s constant trauma and stress being dished out every day on this magnificent and tortured stolen land. Being in constant awe at Palestinians’ everyday stories of normalized violence, juxtaposed with their unending generosity, kindness, and sense of sumud or steadfastness, is almost too much to bear witness to, much less comprehend.

Palestine Action Just Hit Two Israel Weapons Suppliers Before Dawn

July 22, 2024 Steve Topple, The Canary. , , , , ,
Just before 5am on Monday 22 July, one group of Palestine Action activists broke inside Manchester-based arms components manufacturer Dean Group International and dismantled machinery and equipment. Police have cordoned off the premises and remain at the scene as activists continue to occupy Dean Group International, Brinell Dr, Irlam, Manchester M44 5BL. Then, in Sunbury-on-Thames another group jumped security fences, shattered windows and hardware belonging to an arms supplier, Ametek Airtechnology. Both companies supply parts to Israel’s largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems.

Whole Truth Five Sentenced To 4-5 Years At Southwark Crown Court

July 19, 2024 Just Stop Oil. , , , , ,
In an obscene perversion of justice, five Just Stop Oil supporters were handed multi-year prison sentences today for nothing more than attending a Zoom call. [1] At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Christopher Hehir jailed Roger Hallam (57, from Wales) for five years, whilst Daniel Shaw (38, from Northampton), Lucia Whittaker De Abreu (34, from Derby), Louise Lancaster (58, from Cambridge) and Cressida Gethin (22, from Hereford) were each sentenced to four years. They were convicted last week of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance in relation to the M25 motorway disruption in November 2022. [2] They will join Amy Pritchard who was sentenced in June to 10 months in prison for breaking a window belonging to the world’s largest fossil fuel funder, JP Morgan.

Action At The Port Of Genoa Against Rearmament And Genocide

July 6, 2024 Workers.org. , , , , ,
[There were] a paralyzed port, traffic jams, enormous damage and delays for shipowners and terminal operators — a day of struggle that points the way for class opposition to rearmament and a war economy.  On June 25, the port gates San Benigno, Albertazzi, Etiopia and Lungomare Canepa in Genoa — Italy’s most important port — were simultaneously blocked for almost 10 hours with endless queues of lorries. Meanwhile hundreds of other people headed towards Terminal Messina (de facto blocked by the anti-riot police trucks), completely paralyzing the already jammed traffic.  
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