#cyprus

• Arrow to the heart of your enemy •

Cup between your hands that which you hold dear and that which can deliver you.

Bronze shield with griffon vulture. Idaean Cave. Early Archaic period. Cypriot and Assyrian influences are both visible in the shield. 675-650 BCE.

Pro-Palestine activists have damaged two Royal Air Force (RAF) planes after breaking into the largest airbase in Britain early on Friday morning on electric scooters.  Footage shared by Palestine Action (PA) shows two protesters riding scooters towards the RAF planes on the runway at the Brize Norton airbase, where they used "repurposed fire extinguishers to spray red paint into the turbine engines" and "caused further damage using crowbars". The activists then evaded security and escaped the base. The group announced on its website on Friday that the aibase was targeted because flights leave daily from there "for RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, a base used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East". "Red paint, symbolising Palestinian bloodshed, was also sprayed across the runway and a Palestine flag was left on the scene," Palestine Action said. Brize Norton serves as the UK's hub for strategic air transport and refuelling.  The planes the activists damaged were Airbus Voyagers, which carry military cargo and refuel fighter jets and military aircraft. A Palestine Action spokesperson said: "Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US/Israeli fighter jets. "Britain isn’t just complicit, it’s an active participant in the Gaza genocide and war crimes across the Middle East." The spokesperson added: "By decommissioning two military planes, Palestine Action have directly intervened to break the chains of oppression."

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Last month, MEE reported that the UK government blocked Labour MP Kim Johnson from asking about Israeli bombers using the Cyprus airbase.

Terracotta mask in the shape of the head of a fox, dog, or bat

Cypriot