Police arrest pro-Palestinian activists after attack on defence firm
Three activists believed to be from the Shut Down Leonardo Edinburgh group were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000
Scottish police have arrested three people under the terrorism act, after a van draped in the Palestinian flag was rammed into the fence of a company accused of ties to Israel.
A factory of Italian defence firm Leonardo was reportedly targeted by Shut Down Leonardo Edinburgh, a local branch of the wider Shut Down Leonardo UK organisation.
Police confirmed on Tuesday that ‘Three women, aged 31, 34 and 42, have been arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 after a van was driven into an external fence of a business premises in Edinburgh. The incident happened during a disturbance in the Crewe Road North area of the city on Tuesday, July 15, 2025.
“Police Scotland’s Counter Terrorism Unit are leading the investigation and enquiries are ongoing. We are treating this as targeted, and we do not believe there is any wider threat to the public.
“If anyone was on Crewe Road North or in the nearby supermarket car park during the early hours of this morning and has any relevant dashcam footage or saw anything suspicious, please contact the Police on 101 quoting reference 0416 of July 15.”
The arrests come after the official proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation earlier this month. Among other targets, Palestine Action members regularly carried out similar attacks against defence sites elsewhere in the UK, cutting off electricity to the Leonardo Edinburgh site in March.
Since its proscription, significant numbers of people have been arrested after expressing public support for Palestine Action. Last weekend, police arrested 71 people at protests across the UK – in particular in London, Manchester and Cardiff.
The Shut Down Leonardo group is not merely a Palestine Action offshoot, however, with the former having been set up before the latter’s proscription. Shut Down Leonardo Edinburgh managed to close both gates to the local Leonardo site during a protest in December 2024.
The group claims that the Leonardo UK Edinburgh site “manufactures components for the F35 Lightening II fighter jets being used by Israel”, specifically parts related to laser targeting. Leonardo UK has repeatedly denied supplying weapons directly to Israel.
There are 20 countries participating in the F-35 programme, comprising eight partner nations (including the US, UK, Canada and Australia) and 12 foreign military sales customers (including Belgium, South Korea, Israel and Czechia). Components for the jets are made in a number of different countries and are then delivered to a pooled inventory, from which parts are then sent on to different nations in the programme.
Last month, a Palestinian NGO failed in its attempt to convince the UK’s High Court to permit a judicial review against the Foreign Office, over the Government’s decision not to include the F-35 in its suspension of certain arms export licenses relating to Israel. The government had argued that, given the way the F-35 pool operates, the only way such a suspension could be achieved is if it suspended arms licensing on F-35 parts for all nations signed up to the F-35 programme, and that this “would have a profound and immediate impact on international peace and security, would undermine US confidence in the UK and NATO at a critical juncture, would seriously undermine the credibility of the UK as a trusted partner on the international stage, and would undermine a key capability allowing the UK and its closest allies and partners to address current security challenges.”
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