Palestine Action have claimed responsibility for damaging two military planes at RAF Brize Norton, the largest air force base in Britain.
Earlier this morning (June 20), two activists broke into the site in Oxfordshire and sped towards the planes on e-scooters (making this a historic first: the only time e-scooters have ever been cool.) The group said they sprayed red paint on the planes using a repurposed fire extinguisher and damaged them further with crow bars, before splashing red paint on the runway – to symbolise Palestinian bloodshed – and leaving behind a Palestine flag. The activists managed to escape without being detained and have so far evaded being identified or arrested. All of this is pretty embarrassing for the military.
As for why Palestine Action chose this particular target, the group have explained that RAF Brize Norton is a site from which flights depart to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, a base which has been used for military operations in Gaza and elsewhere in the Middle East, including surveillance missions carried out by British planes in support of Israel. Both planes which Palestine Action damaged were Airbus Voyagers, which can carry military cargo and have been used to refuel Israeli, British and American jets, the group have alleged. “By putting the planes out of service, activists have interrupted Britain’s direct participation in the commission of genocide and war crimes across the Middle East,” reads a statement on its website.
Keir Starmer has condemned the action as “disgraceful” and sources from the Ministry of Defence have denied that Britain is providing refuelling support to the IDF, as reported in The Guardian. But beyond that particular claim, British military collaboration with Israel is well-documented: a recent report by the British Palestinian Committee collected evidence of far-reaching support, including “active involvement in the Israeli arms industry, British provisions of logistical support and weapons transfers to the Israeli military, British protection of Israel’s military infrastructure, direct military intervention from the UK in Yemen to support Israel’s goals and repeated, ongoing intelligence provision from the UK to Israel via surveillance flights.”
The report concluded that Britain has not just failed to meet its responsibilities to uphold international law, but has been an active participant in Israel’s assault on Gaza. There is no one in Britain more “disgraceful” than Keir Starmer, despite his efforts to have us believe that vandalism is a graver crime than genocide.