Image: Rafah, Gaza, under military bombardment.
A talk by Dr Rachel Seoighe, delivered to the Kent Rally for Palestine, Saturday May 11th at the Guildhall Forecourt, Sandwich, Kent.
This is a moment of reflection, a moment of scrutiny, a moment where we are asking what violence is being created in our local area and exported abroad. We are coming together to refuse and disrupt the chain of violence that begins in buildings in Discovery Park, Kent and ends in the bodies of Palestinians. We refuse to ignore these chains of production, the production of weapons and surveillance technologies by a company in Kent which are used to annihilate Palestinians, to annihilate children in this unimaginable genocide.
The company we are here to protest against is called Instro Precision. Instro makes optical targeting systems used on guns, tanks, planes and drones. They enable the targeting of men, women and children in Gaza. They direct bullets and bombs towards people who have nowhere to run to in Rafah.
The word ‘precision’ is often used in relation to targeting in warfare. It is used to suggest that warfare can be clean, that civilian casualties can be minimised, that only precise targets—targets considered legitimate—will be killed. It is a distorting language, a way of justifying warfare, of suggesting that violence will be contained and even fair. It is an Orwellian effort to name something and magically change its meaning and consequences in the public imagination.
Compare and Contrast:
What we are seeing in Gaza—precisely—is indiscriminate, widespread, annihilating violence. What we are seeing—precisely—is a genocide, a genocidal campaign against children.
And we see—precisely—the role of this company, in our neighbourhood, our county, in our backyard. It cannot stand. We will not stand it.
There are long colonial dimensions to the violence we are protesting against and drawing attention to today. The British Empire has brought destabilisation, oppression and disenfranchisement to many countries around the world, from Ireland to Palestine to Sri Lanka. We live on an island with a long history of exporting violence to other places, a long history of political sabotage, of drawing arbitrary borders on maps with horrendous consequences, and of sending armies, mercenaries and weapons to enforce a shaping of the world in the favour of Empire. British politicians are living in a delusion of imperial power, and in a moral vacuum. We see that colonial history in what is happening today. Instro Precision is part of that history.
We are here to demand that Instro Precision is ejected from Discovery Park. We are here to say that their operations are untenable, unacceptable.
Enormous violence is produced in very mundane places—like industrial parks in southeast England. The weapons being produced in this mundane, quiet place go on to have lives that are unimaginable in this setting. Once they leave this place, they find their way into violent hands, and they are used to inflict horrific violence—in Palestine and other places around the world. We can no longer say that we don’t know. And because of events like this, fewer and fewer people can live in denial of UK complicity, of corporate complicity, of our own complicity in genocide.
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions
We are here as part of a wider movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions, a powerful movement that is gaining traction and beginning to tip the arc of justice towards the freedom of Palestinians, towards a global condemnation of the Zionist mindset that is driving this genocide.
Activism works. More and more activists are being created, more and more people are standing up for what is right and coming together to resist the genocide, to resist complicity in genocide, and to challenge disengagement and denial. This activism creates an energy, it creates hope, and it links us with people all around the world.
There is an incredible movement unfolding all around us. From the university encampments, to protests in the streets, to the small conversations that might change someone’s mind. We are part of something bigger, something truly significant—a shifting of common sense, not only in terms of the injustice and oppression in Palestine, but also a new awareness and rejection of complicity in that violence. A rejection of normalised violence, of the normalised production of weapons, and a rejection of denial.
An example of inspiring activism is the university encampment at the University of Kent. Hundreds of students are camping out, taking part in events and visiting the encampment. Staff are offering their support. The encampment is part of this beautiful unfolding of resistance and awareness. They would love to see you and feel your support—please go and visit them, bring them supplies, follow and support them on social media (@kentunipss). These young activists are so inspiring and committed; it will do your spirit good to visit.
Angela Davis and Joy James have long talked about Palestine as a moral litmus test for the world. That message is spreading.
Dr Rachel Seoighe is a senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Kent and an activist. Working from an abolitionist, feminist and decolonial perspective, Rachel’s academic work examines memory practices, state violence and resistance.
To keep up to date with future actions in the South East Kent region, join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/357496015590232/
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