Daily Ireland
10/08/2006

Anti-war activists detained after Raytheon protest

Peace activists angry at the Israeli attack on Lebanon barricade themselves into the Derry plant of the US firm Raytheon

By Eamonn Houston

Anti-WAR protesters were last night being questioned by the PSNI after barricading themselves into the Derry offices of a US defence firm.

Nine protesters were involved in a nine-hour standoff with police before being forcibly removed by PSNI officers from the Raytheon Systems plant.

The protesters threw computer systems and documents out of windows after entering the building yesterday morning. They claimed that Raytheon supplied weapons systems to the Israeli army.

However, some political and business leaders in the city criticised the protest, amid fears it could lead to job losses and prevent further inward investment.

Raytheon yesterday declined to comment about the protest.

PSNI negotiators were drafted into Derry from Belfast in an attempt to persuade the protesters to leave.

Protesters from the Derry Anti-War Coalition brandished a placard saying “Raytheon is now decommissioned” from a first-floor window in the building during the protest. They demanded a statement from the company signalling an intention to leave the city.

A PSNI riot squad eventually broke down a door at the plant and arrested the nine protesters at around 4pm.

All were being detained in Derry and Coleraine last night.

Speaking to Daily Ireland from the back of a PSNI vehicle, veteran campaigner Eamonn McCann defended the actions of the protesters.

Mr McCann said he and his fellow protesters had discovered “irrefutable” evidence of Raytheon involvement with the Israel Defence Forces, which are currently bombarding Lebanon.

The protesters said weapons made by Raytheon

Raytheon were being “used by Israel to bomb Lebanon".

Before he was taken away, Mr McCann said that, although the Derry factory did not manufacture any weapons, its technology was being used to aid the Israeli war machine.

He said of Raytheon: “It's a major supplier of high-tech equipment to Israel and other Western forces.

“We see it as a direct relevance to what is happening in the Middle East and we want to dramatise our opposition to it."

However, SDLP leader and Foyle MP Mark Durkan last night condemned those involved in the protest.

“Wilful criminal damage is not legitimate protest.

“People are rightly free to voice their disgust at the violence in the Middle East and the failure of Britain and America to challenge or contain Israeli actions.

“People are also free to express opposition to the arms trade and the role of a company like Raytheon at a global level within that.

“But destroying property and possibly prejudicing other investment and employment prospects is not the way to register such concerns.”

Janice Tracey, chief executive of the Derry Chamber of Commerce, said her organisation had received “numerous” calls criticising the protesters.

“Such violent protest against a business sends the wrong message from the city and could drive investment away,” said Ms Tracey.

“So much of our efforts are based on promoting the fact that Derry is an attractive, cost-effective location, offering a warm welcome to all who choose to settle here. We could see a situation where potential investors could reject the Foyle region as a location for fear that its products may have tenuous links to a conflict.”

However, the protest drew support from anti-war groups.

Raytheon is an industry leader in defence and government electronics, space, information technology, technical services, and business aviation and special mission aircraft.

The company has consistently denied that its operation in Derry carries out work with military applications.

The site has been the focus of anti-war protests since Raytheon set up in the city in 1999.

Raytheon established its Derry centre with support from the North’s Industrial Development Board.

Source


See also: Derry Anti War Protestors Occupy Raytheon Plant (Indymedia Ireland)