On Monday 16th July 2012 at 1pm a group of concerned citizens from Brighton and beyond will be attempting to inspect the EDO MBM factory in Moulsecoomb to further highlight the factory’s complicity in the murder of innocent civilians around the world.
It has long been known that this local company has links with illegal and immoral arms deals and Smash EDO intend to hold them to account. Indeed a team broke in and successfully decommissioned the factory in January 2009 and then waited to be arrested by the police. At their later trial it was found that their actions were entirely legal which totally undermines the company’s insistence that they operate within English Law.
The two previous inspection attempts have resulted in stiff resistance from Sussex Police, who have refused to investigate war crimes being committed by the company.
This mass action is part of an ongoing “Summer of Resistance” which has seen almost daily actions by protesters against the factory in May and June and which will continue until the end of July.
Protester Howard Stone said “It seems every day we hear of attacks on civilians by fighter jets and drones around the world and I do not find it acceptable that parts to facilitate this are made in my neighbourhood”. SmashEDO wish it to be known that other events that may happen to be taking place in the city that day are of no interest to the group. Our intention is, as ever, only to disrupt the Arms Industry and those who support its continued existence.
For more information, contact Smash EDO press spokespersons Chloe Marsh or Andrew
Beckett on 07526557436 or see smashedo.org.uk
NOTES FOR JOURNALISTS
What is EDO/ITT?
The EDO factory on Home Farm Road in Brighton has been part of ITT corporation (www.itt.com), since December 2007. ITT split into three parts in 2011 and EDO MBM is now a part of ITT Exelis. Before ITT took over the factory was known as EDO MBM, a trading unit of the EDO Corporation (http://web.archive.org/web/20070716124730/http://www.edocorp.com/), another US company which acquired EDO MBM (http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-23543062_ITM) in 2003 and was bought by ITT in 2007.
Prior to that the factory was owned by the Emblem Group, a British company. The Campaign against EDO Campaigners have been calling for the closure of EDO MBM/ITT since 2004. The campaign was kickstarted with a roof occupation and lock-on at the factory in May 2004 and demonstrations have taken place every week since then.
Mass demonstrations at the factory have attracted thousands of people, for example at the 2009 Mayday demonstration.
The EDO Decommissioning
On January the 17th 2009 the bombs had already fallen relentlessly on Gaza for three weeks. Massive, passionate demonstrations and pickets had been held in many cities around the country and the world in protest against Israel’s war crimes, but to no avail. A growing sense of helplessness was grabbing hold of the movement as the Palestinian body count stood at 1400 and counting. 300 of the dead were children. This was the night of the “citizen’s decommissioning” of the weapons manufacturer EDO MBM/ITT in Moulsecoomb, Brighton.
Just after midnight the six decommissioners broke into EDO’s premises with the aim of, in Elijah Smith’s words, “…smash it up to the best of [their] abilities”. It was an entirely accountable action where each decommissioner had pre-recorded a video in which they stated the reasons for their participation –to help dismantle the war machine from the factory floor (to view their video statements go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfa8R2AxUFg&feature=related ).
Once inside the building, the six barricaded themselves in and set to work; Equipment used to make weapon components -including some used in Israeli F16 fighter jets- were trashed whilst computers, filing cabinets and office furnishings were thrown out of the windows. Once they were done they calmly waited for the police to arrest them. At trial in 2010 they were found not guilty after successfully arguing that they were acting to prevent war crimes.
EDO/ITT’s Supply of Weapons to states accused of war crimes
EDO MBM supplies weapons to the UK and US for use in Afghanistan, to Saudi Arabia and to Israel.
