So after taking several wrong turns on the M60 and arriving late to my first protest, I ditched the car on arrival, took to foot, and headed for the Greengate Industrial Estate, home to the Brimar factory located in Chadderton, Greater Manchester.

Brimar is a Manchester-based company which makes components which form a vital part of the Apache helicopters used by the Israeli military in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon, by the US Marines in Iraq and by British and US militaries in Afghanistan.

‘Target Brimar’ are a group of citizens from Manchester who strongly believe that Brimar’s products have been, and may still be, used to commit war crimes in various conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere. The group are calling for the company to be open about where its products go and what they are used for. What is clear is that Brimar are complicit in war crimes and should be held accountable.

While Brimar’s business is legal, this does not make it moral.

The peaceful protest was made up of around 70 people - from babies to veteran campaigners. A spokeswoman for the group kicked off by speaking on the human rights implications of Brimar screens in Apache helicopters used by the Israeli military in Gaza and the West Bank. What cuts through is that Brimar prioritise profit over people, profit before ethics and profit before principal. Now that’s what I call dirty cash.

The rest of her speech was suddenly interrupted by a barrage of Oldham police officers, swiftly entering the small crowd to arrest two activists. Witnesses at the demonstration were appalled to see them being removed heavy-handedly from the site. This unexpected interval had quite clearly turned the mood of the gathering, the spokeswoman in particular mentioned that she was somewhat “shaken” by the incident.

In January, apparently two of the individuals arrested had taken part in a less peaceful protest at EDO,  where people entered the EDO factory and took hammers to the machinery used for weapons production causing damage.

After several minutes of disunion and disruption an announcement was made that a decision had been made to cut the protest short in support of their comrades, the group actively encouraged people to travel to the police station where the individuals were being held to show their solidarity.
 
All in all, it was a rather dramatic first demonstration.

Words and photos: Holly Davis. 23 year old Holly is doing a gap year with Ctrl.Alt.Shift. When she's not in the Manchester office, you'll find her on hypem.com and reading Kanye West's blog, two of her favourite past-times.

For more info please visit www.targetbrimar.org.uk
 
If you would like to include an 'Action' - messages of support for those arrested/on remand can be sent to [email protected]