On Sunday 23rd August 2026, Jim, Cina and I took part in a protest against the Elbit Systems factory in Shenstone.
When protests began in 2009, they were a gentle affair. I recall one when a ‘protest’ choir sang hymns and songs, another when a few people sat down and police merely watched. A dispersal notice could be politely declined.
Things have become tougher since then.
A jury has found eight Palestine Action protesters at the Elbit Systems factory in Bristol not guilty of helping to organise a raid on the factory, with one found guilty of criminal damage.
On Sunday, a convivial gathering of several hundred protesters listened with attention to speakers before walking in silence behind a mock-up of a drone through the village. Some carried placards of men, women and children killed during the so-called ceasefire between Israel and Hamas/Palestine. Intermittent blasts of the noise of a drone …