Operation Recomply, directed by Alex Grace, 2026, 1 hour 26 minutes
Alex Grace’s documentary Operation Recomply – named after the police operation responsible for arresting 25 pro-Palestine activists in a massive counter-terrorism exercise – is a timely account of Britain’s repression of the Palestine solidarity movement. Currently being shown at screenings around the country, the film examines the repercussions of the August 2024 direct action against the Filton factory of Elbit Systems UK – the Israeli arms manufacturer whose British factories produce components used in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Told through the experiences of the families of the Filton 25, it shows that imprisonment reaches far beyond the prison walls, affecting partners, parents, children and whole communities.
The film records a significant legal development. In May 2026, four defendants were sentenced as terrorists despite not being charged with, or convicted of, terrorism offences. Through the testimony of campaigners, family members and a representative of Cage International, the film presents the argument that Britain’s definition of terrorism has been massively expanded and that the activists should have been sentenced only on the basis of the criminal damage which they readily accepted having committed.
The film emphasises how those acting to disrupt the machinery of genocide are engaged in political action and therefore require a political defence. However, what is not openly stated is that it is not simply the case that Britain’s terrorism legislation has been distorted from its ‘original purpose’. Like all law, it reflects the interests of the state. Its function is to provide the government with powers that can be deployed against political movements considered threatening to British imperialist interests. This has clear historical roots. Labour’s Prevention of Terrorism Act 1974 accompanied the policy of criminalisation in the Six Counties of Ireland. It was used not only against those accused of armed actions but to intimidate, isolate and criminalise wider Irish communities. Today’s Terrorism Acts serve a similar purpose. The target has shifted from Irish republicanism to Palestine solidarity, but the political function remains the same.
The film captures how families, partners, neighbours and friends have built support networks around those arrested and imprisoned, organising demonstrations outside police stations and prisons that challenge the isolation imposed by the state. These networks have developed largely outside the traditional organisations of the left. This recalls the Relatives’ Action Committees formed by working-class communities, and led by women, during the period of criminalisation in the 1970s in the North of Ireland to support detainees, expose state repression and organise resistance.
Following the conviction and sentencing of the first batch of Filton defendants, a further trial is underway with two more to follow. Thousands more people face investigation or prosecution for a range of ‘crimes’, from direct action to speaking out against the genocide and including all those people accused only of holding placards expressing support for Palestine Action. Defending these cases will cost many thousands of pounds. Lengthy investigations and court proceedings are specifically intended to isolate defendants, exhaust supporters, consume resources and weaken movements before any verdict is reached. It is our duty not to bow to that pressure and to follow the example of the Filton 25 families that we see in the film.
Operation Recomply deserves to be widely seen. It documents both repression and the emergence of new forms of solidarity. The challenge now is to develop those networks into a principled political movement capable of sustaining long-term defence, resisting attempts to channel this resistance into legal or parliamentary dead ends, and confronting the intrinsic political purpose of Britain’s anti-terror legislation.
Paul Mallon
For details of screenings of Operation Recomply see www.operationrecomply.uk/
