Six members of banned British direct action group Palestine Action will go on trial on Monday for allegedly damaging weapons at the British base of Israeli defense company Elbit Systems in August 2024.
The detainees are just some of 24 activists arrested at various times in connection with the group, but they have been held without trial for more than a year, breaking Britain’s six-month pre-trial detention limit.
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Their prosecution, which has attracted international attention, has become a test of how Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s British government is handling pro-Palestinian protests, with many British residents and rights groups accusing authorities of high-handedness.
The group, named Filton 24 after the location of the targeted Elbit Systems office in Filton, Bristol, is collectively known as Filton 24 across the UK, where thousands have demonstrated in support of the detained group.
Hundreds of people have been arrested in recent weeks for demonstrating in solidarity with Palestinian actions banned under an “anti-terrorism” law in July.
On October 4, at least 500 people aged 18 to 89 were arrested during protests in London. Authorities said they were arrested for “supporting a prohibited organization.”
Here’s what we know about the trial starting this week.
What is going on and in which courtroom?
Six members of Palestine Action are on trial at London’s Woolwich Crown Court. This is the first trial since the initial group of Filton 24 members were arrested in August 2024, with others arrested during subsequent police raids. All are charged with aggravated theft, criminal damage and violent disorder.
This week’s case focuses on six defendants who were arrested on August 6, 2024 at Elbit Systems’ premises.
According to the “Free the Filton 24” group of family and friends, they are Zoe Rogers, Fatema Zainab (Ray) Rajwani, Jordan Devlin, Samuel Corner and Charlotte “Lottie” Head. The other person is identified only as “Ellie” by an activist group on social media. Most of Filton24 appear to be British nationals, but this has not been confirmed.
Other members of Palestine Action may also go on trial at a later date in connection with the Elbit Systems case.
Includes Ian Saunders, Madeline Norman, William Plastow, Leona Kamio, Hannah Davidson, Teuta “T” Hoxha, Zahra Farouk, Yulia Brigadilova, Kessel Zurer, Heba Murasi, Kamran Ahmed, Am Gib, and Aleksandra Harvich.
Sean Middleborough, 32, who told local media he was arrested after a raid on his home in November last year, was the only person granted temporary bail to attend his brother’s wedding in October. According to Sky News, he reportedly did not return to prison in early November as planned and police are now searching for him.
The names of the remaining five arrested Palestine Action members are unknown.
What is Palestine Action?
Palestine Action, founded in July 2020 by activists Huda Anmoli and Richard Barnard, describes itself as a “pro-Palestinian organization using direct action to destroy the British arms industry”. The group accuses the British government of complicity in Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip and says it is “committed to ending Israel’s global participation in the genocide and apartheid regime.”
Members of the group have targeted Israeli-related businesses across the UK, spraying their premises with their trademark red paint. Members also blocked entrances to buildings, chained themselves to infrastructure and damaged equipment.
The group’s demonstrations intensified in response to Israel’s war in Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023. In October of the same year, members targeted the BBC’s headquarters in London with red paint in protest at the broadcaster’s perceived pro-Israel bias.
Members also sealed off facilities in London for US aerospace and defense group Lockheed Martin Corp. and defense and security group Leonardo Corp.
What happened in Filton?
On August 6, 2024, members of Palestine Action invaded the premises of Israeli defense company Elbit Systems in Filton, Bristol, and reportedly destroyed a quadcopter drone. The group claims the drones are used by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip to target Palestinians.
The act is estimated to have caused more than 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) in damages, according to local news outlets. Six activists were arrested at the scene and are awaiting trial on Monday.
Days later, four other people were arrested in a nationwide raid in connection with the Filton case. A further raid was subsequently carried out in November 2024, increasing the number of people arrested and detained to 18. A final raid was then carried out in June 2025, resulting in six more arrests.
The detainees are held in a variety of prisons, including New Hall for Women and Young Offenders in West Yorkshire and Pentonville in London. They were initially detained on charges of “terrorism,” but those charges were later dropped and all are now charged with non-terrorism-related charges. Free the Filton 24, a group formed by the activists’ families and friends, said almost all of the activists were denied bail despite multiple applications.
At least six members began a hunger strike this month to protest what they called “systemic abuse” inside the prison. This included prison wardens calling them “terrorists,” confiscating their clothing, including Palestinian keffiyeh, and restricting their visits and letters. They include Am Gibb, Heba Muraishi, John Sink, Kamran Ahmed, Teuta “T” Hoxha, and Quesser Zurah.
The group vowed to refuse food until Elbit is closed and prison authorities stop the alleged abuses.
What else did Palestine Action do?
In June 2025, the group announced that some of its members breached the outer fence of RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, the Royal Air Force’s largest base, and sprayed red paint on the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyager planes.
These aircraft were used for air-to-air refueling and are believed to have also been used to refuel Israeli fighter jets. The two activists involved used electric scooters to enter the premises and were able to escape unhindered.
Five people were subsequently arrested and indicted on July 3, 2025 in connection with the Brize Norton case: Muhammad Umair Khalid, Amy Gardiner-Gibson, Johnny Sink, Daniel Geronimides-Nolley, and Rewie Chiaramero. All are charged with trespassing in a restricted place and conspiracy to commit criminal damage.
Analysts at the time said the intrusion posed no direct military threat but was an embarrassment to Britain’s Ministry of Defense, where planes normally used by the king and prime minister are stationed there.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the attack as “disgraceful”. The spraying reportedly cost Britain between 7 million and 30 million pounds ($9.2 million to $39 million), according to law enforcement authorities and various British broadcasters, but the government told news site Declassified UK that it did not have an exact figure.
Before intensifying demonstrations against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, members of the Palestinian Action Group were also noted for:
A series of break-ins at Elbit’s Ferranti factory in Oldham, near Manchester, in northern England, between 2020 and 2022. In May 2021, activists occupied a drone factory in Leicester run by Elbit subsidiary UAV Tactical Systems, chaining themselves to the roof for nearly a week. In April 2022, he was chained to Elbit’s base in Brownstone, Leicestershire, and in June 2022 he invaded the Thales UK factory in Glasgow, causing more than £1 million ($1.37 million) in damage with smoke bombs and vandalizing property. Palestine Action intensified its efforts after Israel launched a war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023. The incident included targeting the BBC’s headquarters in London with red paint and sealing off the facilities of London-based weapons manufacturers including US aerospace and defense group Lockheed Martin and defense and security group Leonardo to protest what it saw as pro-Israel bias. In November 2023, the group’s U.S. branch took over the roof of the Elbit facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Three activists were arrested but later released on misdemeanor charges.
Why did the British government ban them as a “terrorist” organization?
In July, following the Brize Norton scandal, the British parliament overwhelmingly voted to ban Action for Palestine as a “terrorist” group, making joining or supporting the group a criminal offense and punishable by 14 years in prison. This puts the group in the same category as militant groups such as al-Qaeda.
The British government announced that it had banned Palestinian action for national security reasons. In doing so, “the government is demonstrating a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism, regardless of its form or underlying ideology,” the statement said, adding that the group had orchestrated “aggressive and coercive attacks” against businesses, organizations and members of the public in breach of the UK Terrorism Act 2000.
“National security is the government’s top priority and we will not shirk this responsibility,” a government statement said, adding that the right to “lawful” protest will be protected.
What is the argument against this?
The move has drawn widespread condemnation from British pro-Palestinian campaigners and rights groups. British authorities said hundreds of people who were marching in support of the group’s detained members and to denounce the ban were arrested.
United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk warned days after the ban that the measure was a “misuse” of the country’s terrorism law because it applied to acts that were not inherently “terrorist.” Palestine Action is not an armed group and its members have not killed or seriously injured anyone, nor have they made any threats to do so.
Amnesty International described the government’s move as “alarming” and called on the UK to focus on action against Israel instead.
“Instead of taking harsh measures, [proscribe Palestine Action]The government must take immediate and clear action to stop Israel’s genocide and end the risk of Britain becoming complicit in it,” said Sasha Deshmukh, chief executive of Amnesty International UK.
Palestinian Action, on the other hand, claims that its actions are a form of civil resistance aimed at disabling arms production.
BREAKING: Government fails to stop legal challenge to ban on Palestinian action, dismisses appeal.
This means that the judicial review will take place from November 25th to 27th.
Not only that, we won two further grounds for the illegality of the ban.
Big win.
— Huda Ammori (@HudaAmmori) October 17, 2025
In October, co-founder Huda Anmoli was granted permission by a British court to challenge the ban on the grounds that it amounted to an unfair interference with free speech, after the British government tried to block her appeal. The case is scheduled to be heard from November 25th to 27th.
What other groups are banned as ‘terrorists’ in the UK and what is their purpose?
Ideological armed groups such as Al Qaeda and ISIS are banned by the UK. Al Qaeda has been linked to major attacks in Britain, including the 2005 London bombings that killed 56 people and injured more than 700. These groups are also banned by many other governments. On the same day that Britain banned the Palestinian movement as a “terrorist” group, the Maniacs Murder Cult (MMC) and the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM) were also placed in the same category. Both groups are described as white supremacist organizations, with MMC believed to have neo-Nazi tendencies and reportedly encouraging its members to film themselves committing violence against others.
