British police took five Greenpeace activists and its UK director into custody after activists tossed 80 gallons of red dye into a pond at the U.S. embassy in London on Thursday.
The group announced in a statement that it was seeking to “highlight the death and devastation caused in Gaza as direct result of the US’ continued sale of weapons to Israel,” according to Fox News.
However, the group took great pains to point out that its protest was carbon-neutral and environmentally friendly.
“Twelve activists tipped the non-toxic, biodegradable dye from containers emblazoned with the words ‘Stop Arming Israel’ into the large pond located in front of the embassy building in Nine Elms, south-west London,” Greenpeace said in its statement. “The containers were delivered to the Embassy on bicycles with trailers disguised as delivery bikes.”
Video of the protest can be seen here:
“We took this action because U.S. weapons continue to fuel an indiscriminate war that’s seen bombs dropped on schools and hospitals, entire neighborhoods blasted to rubble, and tens of thousands of Palestinian lives obliterated,” said Areeba Hamid, co-executive director at Greenpeace UK. “As the biggest supplier of weapons to the Israeli military, the U.S. government bears a heavy responsibility for the horrors unfolding in Gaza.”
Greenpeace UK wants the British and United States governments to declare a total arms embargo on Israel over the civilian casualties in Gaza.
One of the protestors taken into custody was Will McCallum, the other co-executive director of Greenpeace UK. McCallum and the other activists were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Greenpeace is not new to running afoul of the law. The American arm of the group found itself in hot water last month when a North Dakota jury found the group liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for defamation and other claims brought by a pipeline company in connection with protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
