Published on 12/6/2026
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Last update: 22:11 (Mecca time)
London- In a move that human rights organizations described as a judicial precedent and political subversion of anti-terrorism laws, the Woolwich Crown Court in London ruled on Friday to apply the “terrorist association” clause to the rulings issued against four British activists who were convicted of causing material damage to a weapons factory owned by the Israeli company Elbit Systems in the city of Bristol.
During the session, technical details were revealed that were not previously presented during the trial before the jury, as the company – which produces 85% of the drone squadrons used by the Israeli occupation army – presented a detailed report on the extent of the damage caused by the four activists, known in the media as the “Filton 4”, during their storming of its research and development center in “Filton” on August 6, 2024.
The Defense Authority announced in its report that activists Charlotte Head, Leona Cameo, Fatima Zainab Rajwani, and Samuel Corner succeeded in destroying and disabling 40 strategic military assets, with losses worth approximately 1.2 million pounds sterling (about 1.5 million dollars).
Widespread anger
At the end of the session, the judge issued prison sentences against the four activists, ranging from 4 to 8 years for each of them, as a result of establishing a “terrorist connection.”
The ruling caused widespread anger in the street, as a large crowd of demonstrators gathered outside the court, trying – with their bodies – to prevent the exit of the security bus to take the activists to the prison, which led to severe skirmishes and complete traffic paralysis in the vicinity of the court amid intense security reinforcements to protect it.
Lawyer Mira Hammad, the legal representative of one of the activists, revealed before Judge Justice Johnson that the destroyed equipment includes precision models used directly in surveillance and assassination operations in the Gaza Strip, which are:
- Thor Helios and Thor Legion It operates with advanced targeting systems capable of carrying explosives and offensive bombs known militarily as “Terminator.”
- Magni
- Kestrel Artificial Intelligence Software: An artificial intelligence system for tracking and identifying moving targets and directing missiles, which is being integrated into the Hermes 450 drones that were used to kill Global Central Kitchen employees, including three Britons, and the Skylark drones, which are responsible for the largest percentage of casualties in Gaza.
- “Easy Aerial” drones: Destruction of 6 systems, the names of which were redacted in court papers, before they were visually identified. These are six-helix “helixcopter” drones of the American-Israeli Osprey model, known as “a plane in a box,” and they are operated by former soldiers in the occupation army.
- Commander Head-Up Displays: Vision and guidance systems for operational commanders.
These rulings bring to mind a historical and political paradox facing the hierarchy of executive authority in Britain today. During the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, current Prime Minister Keir Starmer – when he was a criminal lawyer, held the title of “Queen’s Counsel” and specialized in human rights – led the legal defense of activists who stormed the Fairford air base and disabled American bombers to prevent an “illegal” war.
Starmer argued at the time before the judiciary, and before entering the party political arena, that the activists’ movement “is driven by the human conscience to prevent war crimes and cannot be classified as terrorism.”
This human rights past – according to observers – puts him today in direct confrontation with political contradiction. During his reign, the security and judicial agencies used the same laws to suppress the movement against arming Israel, and to turn those who disrupted the killing machines in Gaza into “terrorists” prosecuted under the Terrorism Law of 2000.
Misrepresentation of the truth
Commenting on this ruling, Andrew Feinstein, a former member of the South African Parliament and a British activist, told Al Jazeera Net, “These quadcopters are essential tools in the crime of genocide, and are used by the Israeli army in Gaza for surveillance, targeting civilians, and direct killing. If these weapons had not been destroyed by these brave activists, they could easily have led to more killing and destruction in Gaza.”
He added, “Describing those who disabled these weapons as terrorists is a blatant and disgusting distortion of the truth. The real intimidation and the actual scandal lies in Britain’s continued arming and enabling of a genocidal military campaign that destroyed an entire people. Those who smashed the marches into small pieces were not spreading terror, but rather they were trying to prevent it.”
The application of the “terrorist association” clause sparked widespread human rights outrage, as it meant depriving activists Charlotte Head, Leona Cameo, Fatima Zainab Rajwani, and Samuel Corner of the right to automatic early release, and subjecting them to close supervision that includes searching their electronic devices and personal relationships for a period of up to 15 years after release from prison, which are punishments that exceed in length the sentences issued against perpetrators of rape crimes in the United Kingdom.
Legally, the action of the police and the judiciary represents a sharp paradox. The British government listed Palestine Action as a “prohibited organization” under the Terrorism Act 2000 in July last year, but the Supreme Court ruled last February that this ban was “unlawful.”
In this context, Hoda Amouri, co-founder of the movement, told Al Jazeera Net that the judge “today enshrined a politicized ruling describing the activists as terrorists because they destroyed more than 40 weapons, including Israeli killing drones,” stressing that “the destruction of these weapons undoubtedly saved lives in Palestine, which is the exact opposite of the concept of terrorism.”
Amouri revealed the scenes of the case, saying, “The judicial process that was manipulated represents a complete set-up and collusion, designed specifically to protect the Israeli arms industry. Public prosecutors and police met two months before the operation was carried out to discuss banning our movement, before anyone was arrested under the terrorism law.”
She added: “The state needed to accuse the activists of terrorism to justify the ban, and we affirm that we will confront this blatant political plan and unjust legislation with all ferocity and will not back down.”
Dark phase
In conjunction with the sentencing session, the courtyard witnessed a wave of mass arrests by the Metropolitan Police targeting dozens of demonstrators, after about 200 activists gathered in a silent sit-in organized by the “Defend Juries” movement, raising a unified slogan: “Saving lives is not terrorism… I support Palestine Action.”
A spokesman for the “Defend Juries” movement told Al Jazeera Net, “Hundreds of citizens are prepared to be arrested today to prove that what is happening represents a threat to the public freedoms of everyone. When the law is misused to protect arms companies and punish those who save lives, British justice has entered a dark phase.”
A “warning” report was issued by Amnesty International, along with open letters signed by hundreds of British lawyers, doctors, academics and artists, all condemning the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation “to suppress opponents of British complicity in genocide”.
