In May 2025, I was arrested alongside one other person following a protest at the factory of Rafael Advanced Defence Systems (Pearson Engineering) in Newcastle upon Tyne (“Armstrong 2”). I have been charged with aggravated trespass and the trial is in March 2026. As I don’t qualify for legal aid, I’m asking for people’s help to fundraise at least part of the £2660 that the legal fees are going to cost.

Any donations to this are really appreciated and sharing this in networks you’re in is also really helpful as I’m not on social media :) 

I’ve put some information below about the site we were protesting and its significance. I’ve also included some information about important ways of opposing the genocide in the bottom paragraph, so please take a look at the last section. 

Tommie xx 

Armstrong Works 
Since 2022, the factory has been owned by Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, in part as a way of avoiding possible arms embargoes of Israel. Rafael are the largest Israeli state-owned weapons manufacturer, making missiles, drones and other weapons systems for the Israeli military, and to sell around the world.  

Rafael make the Spike guided missile which can be used by infantry soldiers, and as air-to-ground missiles mounted on aircraft and drones. The Israeli military have used Spike guided missiles extensively in order to target people inside buildings in Gaza. The damage from the attack which killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in April 2024 was also consistent with spike missiles. 

In September 2023, it was announced that the Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station would be manufactured at Armstrong Works. This is a technology which enables a variety of devices (including machine guns and spike missiles) to be operated automatically or by remote control. It’s often mounted on military vehicles or barriers, and has been used in Gaza and in Lebanon. Additionally, Armstrong Works has historically specialised in manufacturing armoured military vehicles and tanks, including armoured bulldozers and robotic combat vehicles. This is a big concern given the ongoing destruction of buildings in Gaza since the ceasefire.

The three major Israeli arms companies have seen a 16% rise in combined revenues through the genocide, reaching over £12 billion (£3.5 billion for Rafael). Beyond what is produced at Rafael sites, all profits can be reinvested, or extracted by the Israeli state. 

The significance of this 
We need to fight the arms trade because weapons produced in the UK are being used in genocide (both against Palestinians and in Sudan), and the Palestinian Trade Union movement have called for its halt. But we also have a collective responsibility to oppose the destruction of Palestinian life that goes beyond this fact.

There is a reason Britain has flown over 600 surveillance missions over Gaza from RAF bases in Cyprus (often coinciding with major Israeli operations), has provided diplomatic cover to Israel and has made threats to the International Criminal Court. Joe Biden once said that “if there were not an Israel, we'd have to invent one”. The same logic was behind the Balfour Declaration- “forming for England a little loyal Jewish Ulster in a sea of potentially hostile Arabism”. With oil as the world’s leading fossil fuel, the American state has for the last sixty years understood an empowered Israel to support its geopolitical interests in the Middle East (with the British state following their lead).

Our relationship to the genocide goes beyond state complicity. Palestinian territories (particularly Gaza) have long been used as a laboratory by the Israeli state with practices and technology then exported back to Britain and other countries. New military technologies are regularly “battle-tested” on Palestinians before being exported around the world. An example of this is the use by Rafael of footage of an unarmed man being murdered (geolocated to have occurred in northern Gaza in 2024) to advertise its Spike firefly drones. Exports of Israeli weapons and military technology to Europe have more than doubled since October 2023. Britain uses Elbit drones (another Israeli company) as part of a militarised response to people crossing the Channel in small boats.  

Techniques of colonial rule (often inspired by those used by Britain in Ireland, Kenya, Malaysia and elsewhere) were further honed during the Intifadas and have since been used to train police forces in Britain and America. This can be seen in the policing of Black Lives Matters protests, the operations of ICE across America, and the recent purchasing of armoured vehicles and drones by UK police forces. The genocide, and organised opposition to it, has informed increasing authoritarianism and attacks on democratic freedoms in Britain, America, and other countries.  

Colombian President Petro warned in December 2023 that “what we are seeing in Gaza is a rehearsal of the future”.  Gaza is one of the most monitored places in the world. The Israeli military described the 2021 invasion as the first Artificial Intelligence war. Kill lists used in Gaza since 2023 have been compiled through the use of AI. Western companies (including Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Palantir, and Oracle) have provided AI tools and cloud-storage services for the Israeli military. Western venture capital has heavily invested in Israeli tech companies, treating genocide as a means of generating profit as well as a site for the development of new technology. Those same Israeli tech companies are involved in the further roll out of facial recognition technology in Britain.

It is said by Palestinian activists that the world is not freeing Palestine, Palestine is freeing the world. This is in part, because the web of political, financial and military interests involved in the subjugation of Palestinians is international, and takes effect in Britain too. The genocide is not just a humanitarian disaster affecting people far away. This is a problem we are implicated in, that in turn is impacting us.

What can you do? 
In the face of genocide, we are often left feeling powerless and overwhelmed. We can take action and it’s important that we do so, aimed at the decision makers in our government, the arms sector, and other complicit bodies. Our struggles are connected, and it’s important that those of us based in Britain take action where we can.

The over nine thousand Palestinian political prisoners held in Israel play a significant role within the liberation movement. At the time of writing, there are eight  political prisoners held in Britain who are on hunger strike- some of whom have reached their fifth week. Many have been repeatedly hospitalised and are in a critical condition. Follow Prisoners for Palestine on Instagram or check their website, for updates on how you can support the prisoners and their demands. 

Look at groups in your area who are seeking to apply pressure to the UK government, arms manufacturers and other complicit bodies (eg Youth Equality Coalition, Youth Front for Palestine, Defend Our Juries, and others). 

As someone working in healthcare, I want to express particular solidarity to Palestinian healthcare workers (and international colleagues who have travelled to help)- saving lives in a care system intentionally targeted by the Israeli military. The ongoing imprisonment and torture of many of them horrifies me.