Fatema Zainab Rajwani (21) was about to enter her third year at Goldsmiths University studying Media & Communications, a course she enjoyed, when she took the action in 2024. She has not been able to return to the course.
Fatema Zainab is Muslim and she told the court there are 2 main values she lives by:
- A person is either your brother in faith or your equal in humanity. (Ali ibn Abu Talib)
- Whoever saves one life is as if they saved all of humanity. (Holy Qur’an, Surah 5:32)
She said she entered the Elbit factory in Filton to destroy weapons that kill children. She was especially focused on the quadcopter drones and dismantled several of them. She told the jury that the intention that night was to destroy as many drones as possible, so they could not injure or kill children in Palestine. Watch the footage from her Go-Pro camera:
Elbit guard, Angelo Volante, screamed at her and Lottie to get on the floor when the police arrived.
She told the court:
“I still have nightmares about the shouting.“
Character references described her as tirelessly serving her community at her mosque, including caring for the elderly. Her mother writes:
“Fatema Zainab’s passion to contribute to a better world extends further. She loves reading and is very aware and informed of the world around her. Her favourite recommendation to people to get them to read is an essay by Ismatu Gwendolyn titled “you’ve been traumatized into hating reading (and it makes you easier to oppress).
She has always advocated for the rights of the oppressed, be it through her writing (she is an amazing poet!) or through her actions.“