Musician, historian, and activist Lowkey joined crowds of people outside a prison to show solidarity with Palestine Action activists being detained on trumped-up charges inside. They’re there because, once again, Palestine Action significantly disrupted the operations of a weapons manufacturer – directly impacting Israel’s supply of weapons that it’s currently using to commit genocide in Gaza.
Lowkey joins Palestine Action
On Saturday 14 December, over a hundred people attended a demonstration and at HMP Bronzefield:
It saw rappers Lowkey, Workrate, and others bring a DIY performance in solidarity with the people of Palestine, and in solidarity with the 11 Palestine Action political prisoners currently being detained in HMP Bronzefield.
Lowkey, an ardent campaigner for a free Palestine, has regularly turned out in solidarity with those unjustly detained for actions against genocide.
He stated during the performance:
Those people behind those walls are all of us.
Other speakers included family members of Filton political prisoners, and Dr Asim Qureshi, a Director at CAGE International, who stated that:
Solidarity is not a word, it is a practice and an action – we have to cut off every single supply line that keeps the settler Zionist colonial state in its place… the only organisation doing that on a daily basis is Palestine Action.
The solidarity demonstration was called in response to the repressive raid, arrest and interrogation tactics deployed by the British state against those resisting complicity in genocide.
Disrupting Israel’s supply chain
In August, activists disrupted Israeli weapons production at the Filton, Bristol research hub of Elbit Systems Israel’s largest arms firm.
This brand new £35m research and development hub of Israel’s biggest weapons firm opened in June 2023, and was attended by the UK-Israeli Ambassador Hotevely, and Elbit’s CEO Bezhalel Machlis – who has frequently boasted of the company’s central role in Israel’s military, during the ongoing Gaza genocide.
An initial seven people were detained under police abuse of ‘Counter Terror’ powers. More police raids and arrests followed in the months since, most recently in November. A total of 18 people now arrested, detained, and held under ‘Counter Terror’ powers – despite being charged with criminal charges – before a trial in November 2025.
Many had their homes and property damaged and some of their families and loved ones were also subjected to police violence, while conditions for those inside prison include arbitrary and repressive restrictions.
There are currently 21 Palestine Action political prisoners, all supposedly linked to actions taken against Elbit Systems, it’s suppliers and subsidiaries. 19 have been detained without trial, and 11 are held in Bronzefield.
You can support Palestine Action here.
Featured image and additional images via Martin Pope
