By Matthew Delany
In Germany, five Palestine solidarity activists known as the Ulm 5 are in a worrying ongoing trial about an alleged break-in and civil disobedience at Elbit Systems. This trial is correctly seen by the families and supporters of the Ulm 5 to be unfair and is an attempt to further silence pro-Palestinian voices in Germany. The Ulm 5 have been brought before the Staatsschutzkammer in Stuttgart-Stammheim, a specialised panel of judges that usually handles cases of national security. The group includes Daniel Tatlow-Devally, an activist from Dublin living in Germany.
Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger has travelled to Stuttgart as part of a delegation of TDs and activists to observe this trial and document the attacks and mistreatment of these peaceful protestors, and to provide ongoing updates and impressions via social media.
The facility that the Ulm 5 targeted was Elbit Systems Germany, which is a 100% owned subsidiary of Elbit Systems Israel, which has created 80% of all drones used in the Gaza genocide. The Ulm 5 did not harm anyone and didn’t hide their faces when in the facility, and when confronted by police, didn’t try to run.
Gruelling conditions and naked hypocrisy
The Ulm 5 have been put through harsh conditions: it has been reported that they have been in solitary confinement since September, and the courts are weaponising legislation that is only really used with terrorism or large crime organisations. The trial shows us how the German court wants to make an example of these activists and send a warning to others.
The trial is happening at the same time as the trial of members of “Reichsburger”, a far-right antisemitic, armed terrorist organisation, charged with firing at police 23 times. Compare their treatment with the peaceful Ulm 5 protestors: they’re allowed to speak to their lawyers, they’re not confined to glass cages during their trial, and far from being held in gruelling solitary confinement, they’re not held in detention at all and are allowed to live at home during their trial. The hypocrisy is blatant and thoroughly grotesque.
We say: free the Ulm 5, and free all anti genocide demonstrators! It is totally wrong that genocidal war criminals are allowed to walk free while those attempting to stop these crimes are prosecuted. It exposes where the interests of the German State lie—in defending the Zionist regimes and the rotten system of capitalism and imperialism that it is part of.
