Elbit 7

 My heart sank today when I read that a jury had found the Elbit 7 guilty in an unanimous decision. Elbit 7 are & members of Palestine Action, which believes in taking direct action to stop the Israeli arms trade. This involves everything from chaining themselves to roads to block factory entrances to breaking into factories to cause damage. In hindsight, it was possibly naive to expect that a group of jurors would see their actions as anything other than vandalism. And, of course, no one takes direct action unless they are prepared to be arrested, tried and possibly convicted. But, they were found guilty of burglary and criminal damage and apparently in the past environmental groups have successfully evaded prosecution by arguing that the organisations  they targeted would have consented to their actions (the law is a funny animal). But I have increasingly come to believe that direct action is the most effective way to bring about political change, even if I am unprepared to take direct action myself. Marches and demos are good, but operate in the space delineated by the establishment to express dissent. And, the establishment has a tremendous stomach to ignore dissent. Marches and protests do not push against the walls of the establishment in the way that direct action (and boycotts) do. The actions of activists have resulted in many suppliers and clients severing connections with Elbit because they cannot be bothered to deal with the faff. The boycotts will come because fascism is like a genie that cannot be put back into a bottle. Israel will ensure that it becomes an international outcast. And, direct actions will also increase. Even if I am not yet prepared to take direct action, their actionists can and do serve as an inspiration to keep turning up at protests, however, performative and futile they feel.