News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Radical leftist trespassers who last Sunday invaded the Middlesex depot of Israeli agricultural exporter Carmel-Agrexco were let off without being arrested or charged, company officials said. The trespassers entered the building and handcuffed themselves to equipment, intimidated staff by calling them “racists” and “murderers,” and scaled the wall of the building to hoist a Palestinian flag on top. The trespassers occupied the building for over three hours before they agreed to leave. Local police were called as soon as General Manager of the facility, Amos Orr, became aware of the situation, but decided not to ask police to arrest them.

In the past, the Carmel-Agexco has urged police to arrest trespassers of this type, but the cases are generally settled before going to trial, with radical leftist groups plea-bargaining the crimes with overburdened prosecutors. This time, the company declined to press charges, because the leftists declared that this time they would seek to bring the case to trial, intending to present a defense that they are justified in using these types of tactics against Carmel-Agrexco, “which violates international law by supporting settlements and engaging in persecution of Palestinian workers.” A similar case was dismissed in 2004 by British courts after radical leftists had occupied the Carmel-Agrexco facility for over eight hours.

Carmel Agrexco is Israel’s largest importer of agricultural produce into the European Union and is 50% Israeli state owned. The warehouse is in Swallowfield Way, Hayes, Middlesex, at their main depot in the UK.