Bexhill anti-racists defend refugees + Swansea Pride + Palestine …
Campaigners bravely put forward anti-racist views at a hostile public meeting
Downloading PDF. Please wait...Tuesday 02 May 2023
Issue 2853[2]
Anti-racists campaigning in Bexhill for refugees Some 350 people packed into a public meeting held by the local council on Wednesday of last week to discuss the detention camp for refugees at the ex-prison Northeye in Bexhill-on-Sea.
The audience was overwhelmingly middle-aged and all but two were white. About 40 people contributed to the meeting. There was unanimous opposition to the camp and most contributions were hostile to refugees.
Some focussed on the lack of stretched local resources, but others were more explicitly racist. Anyone who said, "Let's not be afraid to call them illegal immigrants" was loudly cheered. Common themes included, "Charity begins at home" and scares about the safety of women near a camp housing 1,200 "illegal immigrants".
One speaker directly quoted home secretary Suella Braverman's radio interview comments about refugees causing increased drug dealing and prostitution. Another said, "I've been chased out of London by these people. I won't be chased out of Bexhill."
Three people spoke in defence of refugees--all were heckled or laughed at. Nine people wore Stand Up To Racism[3] stickers that read, "Bexhill Welcomes Refugees--No to detention camps." The local Tory MP Huw Merriman was slammed for not attending the meeting.
Although a few far right activists and a Ukip member attended, the meeting felt like a gathering of dismayed Tory voters. The size and tone show the potential for an explosive growth of the far right, fuelled by the Tories' racist rhetoric.[4] Bexhill Stand Up To Racism will be back out on the streets, campaigning in defence of refugees and against racist scapegoating.
Simon Hester 
Taking to the streets for Swansea Pride (Picture: Socialist Worker)
Thousands on the streets for Swansea Pride
Over 2,000 people joined Swansea Pride last Saturday in a powerful display of demands for LGBT+ rights.Marcher Karen told Socialist Worker, "We're not going away and we're going to make sure Pride is more than a corporate parade. It's a protest, and it needs to be as radical as possible because the government is on the attack."
Support for full trans rights ran through the whole march. And this was echoed at the rally speeches, including from Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford.
Palestine Action launches 'siege' in Leicester
Hundreds of people gathered outside UAV Tactical Systems in Leicester on Monday to mark the beginning of the Palestine Action "siege" [5] of the factory. Chants of "Free, free Palestine" and "Two down, eight to go" rang out, referencing the two Elbit Systems sites which Palestine Action takes the credit for having already shut down.
Palestine Action campaigners have surrounded the factory, with some camping in the trees, and others setting up tents on the road in front of the police cordon. They have vowed not to let up the protest until Elbit leaves. Dozens of police were present, with police vans prowling the surrounding area.
Within hours of arriving, one protestor's car had its side window smashed by police with no provocation, after issuing the vehicle with a search warrant. They also searched a nearby truck, finding nothing on either occasion. The area before the police cordon was filled with protesters, who listened to speeches and a performance by prominent rapper and pro-Palestinian activist, Lowkey.
UAV Tactical Systems is a joint venture between Israeli Elbit Systems and French Thales, two arms firms with notorious records of exporting to Israel. It manufactures the Watchkeeper WK450 drone, based on Elbit's Hermes 450 drone, a model which has seen extensive use on Palestinians. Palestine Action also claims the site supplies Israel with infrared equipment and components for military-grade ground vehicles.
The Watchkeeper drone is used by the British military and has been deployed to monitor the English Channel as part of British border control. The think-tank Drone Wars UK has criticised this for blurring the "boundaries between military and domestic policing". Concerns have also been raised about the safety of the drone, after it inexplicably crashed while deployed over Cyprus.
Elbit has denied that the Leicester site exports to Israel, but the Campaign Against the Arms Trade's data shows that UAV Tactical Systems does in fact hold a licence for exports to Israel. The Leicester site was previously targeted by Palestine Action in 2021[6]. Around 600 Leicester people came out in support, and the fire service refused to take protesters down from the roof.
Stephen Ramsay
References
- ^ News (socialistworker.co.uk)
- ^ Issue 2853 (socialistworker.co.uk)
- ^ Stand Up To Racism (www.facebook.com)
- ^ Tories' racist rhetoric. (socialistworker.co.uk)
- ^ Palestine Action "siege" (www.palestineaction.org)
- ^ in 2021 (socialistworker.co.uk)