PALESTINE DAY AT BRIGHTON ARMS FACTORY

This morning (Tuesday)EDO MBM's staff in Fishersgate arrived to a noisy demonstration about the missile components they make. Protestors from the Peace Camp were cheered on by other locals. Although EDO MBM's factory in Moulscoomb has had regular demonstrations for 18 months, their factory in Fishersgate had not seen any protests until now.

The factory makes parts for the Hellfire missile, which the Israeli Defence Force use for illegal 'targetted assasinations.' Wednesday will be Palestine Day at the week long Smash EDO peace camp. The event will celebrate Palestinian culture and highlight the oppression they suffer in the West Bank and Gaza.

At noon, campaigners will show staff a Quilt for Justice for Palestinians made by local community groups. At 4pm the group will remember and name civilians who have died from the Middle East conflicts. Smash EDO encourages anyone interested to visit the camp in Wild Park.

Protestor Sarah Johnson said: " Many of our group have been inspired to act against the arms trade because they have seen, first hand, the terrible effects of these weapons on people's lives in Palestine."

Contact: Sarah Johnson 07875 708873

Notes for Journalists

Brighton & Hove is a UN Peace Messenger City

The injunction referred to was served under the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act (originally designed to protect women from stalkers) and is the first of its kind directed at activists outside of the animal rights movement. Crucially it is a civil injunction but carries criminal penalties. It affects anyone deemed to be a protestor. Initially EDO/MBM requested a large "exclusion zone" comprising the whole of Home Farm Industrial Estate.

They and Sussex police also wanted to limit demonstrations to two and a half hours, with less thanten people who had to be silent. Judge Gross refusedto impose these conditions at the initial hearing of an interim injunction, which was put in place in the period before the full trial to be heard at the High court in London from November 21st. In his summing up he said, "The right to freedom of _expression is jealously guarded in English law" and consequently refused to impose the requested limits on size, timing or noise made at demonstrations. He also said that he doubted that protesters were 'stalking' employees of EDO MBM.

EDO MBM Technologies Ltd are the sole UK subsidiary of huge U.S arms conglomerate EDO Corp, which was recently named No. 10 in the Forbes list of 100 fastest growing companies. They supply bomb release mechanisms to the US and UK armed forces amongstothers. They supply crucial components for Raytheon's Paveway guided bomb system, widely used in the "Shock and Awe" campaign in Iraq.

EDO also withdrew a threatened libel action against Indymedia over being named as "warmongers".

Lawson-Cruttenden & Co
Solicitors firm working for EDO have been instrumental in developing the Protection of Harassment Act 1997 from a measure designed to safeguard individuals to a corporate charter to make inconvenient protest illegal. Theyhave pioneered to use of injunctions to create large "exclusion zones". They have secured numerous injunctions against anti-vivisection and anti-GM protestors.

Campaign against EDO MBM
People involved in the anti-EDO campaign include, but are not limited to: local residents, the Brighton Quakers, peace activists, anti-capitalists, Palestine Solidarity groups, human rights groups, trade unionists, academics and students. The campaign started in August 2004 with a peace camp. It's avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to remove them from Brighton.

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