from Philly ABC
Join us on Sunday, December 8th at 6:30pm at Wooden Shoe Books for the next session of our letter-writing series illuminating facets of resistance movements for a free Palestine. This month, we’ll be writing to the Merrimack Four, a group of young women currently serving a 60-day sentence for a direct action that temporarily halted operations at an Elbit Systems facility in Merrimack NH. Elbit is Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, targeted with direct action for several years now by Palestine Action . We’ll also sign cards for political prisoners with birthdays in December: Fred “Muhammad” Burton (December 15th) and Casey Brezik (December 30th).
On November 20 2023, activists working under the banner of Palestine Action US blocked the driveway to Merrimack NH’s Elbit Systems facility, spraypainted the front of the building, smashed its windows, locked its front doors with bicycle locks, doused its logo with fake blood, scaled its roofed, smashed its skylights and HVAC equipment, and released smoke flares in green, white, and red: Palestine’s national colors. Prosecutors originally charged the arrested activists with five trumped up felonies that could have amounted to sentences of 37 years. Unsurprisingly, none of these felony charges held up in court, and the Merrimack Four were eventually sentenced to 60 days in jail and a 24-month suspended sentence.
Elbit Systems develops and builds the infrastructure of apartheid and genocide in Palestine, including military electronics, training simulators, surveillance systems, drones, and security systems. It then markets this “field-tested” equipment to repress people all over the world. Calculating the scale of suffering caused by these systems in Palestine is difficult due to Israel’s blockade of journalists, but researchers estimate that in the first year of the genocide (October 2023-October 2024), 53,887 people were directly murdered by Israeli munitions, and another 67,413 died of starvation caused by Israeli destruction of civilian infrastructure and blockade of food aid. In May, Elbit CEO Bezhalel Machlis told Reuters that the company’s sales goal of $7 billion by 2026 would be reached “much earlier” because of intensified demand.
Snacks and letter-writing supplies will be provided. We’ll tune in to a related podcast while we’re writing. If you are unable to join us, you can write to the Merrimack Four at:
Bridget Shergalis #67968, 445 Willow St, Manchester, NH 03103
Calla Walsh #67970, 445 Willow St, Manchester, NH 03103
Paige Belanger #68132, 445 Willow St, Manchester, NH 03103
Sophie Ross #67969, 445 Willow St, Manchester, NH 03103
Include a name and return address on both the envelope and the letter because the envelopes will not be given to them. For general prisoner letter-writing suggestions, see this how to.
