After a fourteen day trial, a group of activists known as
the Thales Ten (members of Glasgow Palestine Action) received their verdict in
Glasgow Sheriff Court last week. Five were convicted, and five acquitted, of
the crime of breach of the peace. The group scaled onto the roof and blockaded
entrances to the Thales UK factory on 23rd September, 2014 in response to the
war in Gaza. They hung a fifty foot Palestine flag and several banners. One
read: ‘Another Scotland is Possible: Stop Arming Israel’.
Human Rights Watch documented 87 killings through drone
strikes on the Gaza Strip during the Israeli named ‘Operation Cast Lead’ in
2008-9. Thales manufacture components for Israeli drones at the plant in
Glasgow. According to their own trade regulations, the UK is not allowed to
sell arms to countries that violate international law. Concerning arms sales,
criterion six of the Consolidated EU and National Export Licensing Criteria
compels the British government to take into account the buyer’s respect for
international law. The United Nations mandated Goldstone Report, investigating the
conduct of the belligerents during ‘Operation Cast Lead’, contained damning
evidence of Israel’s violations of international law.
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