- 3 Palestine Action activists have today been released from police custody, without charge, after the most destructive single day of action by Palestine Action to date.
- Activists who had been occupying the site of Elbit Ferranti at Cairo House, Oldham on Monday 10th June have caused an estimated £500,000 of damage according to police.
- Activists dismantled machinery used for the production of military equipment and components, to prevent Ferranti Technology and their parent company Elbit Systems from continuing to supply arms for the Israeli military’s repression of Palestinians.
- Police, who had been offering around-the-clock protection to Ferranti since the start of the latest wave of Israeli aggression in May 2021, entered the site in the afternoon of Monday 10th, and brutally assaulted one protestor before removing them and another by pulling them through a broken window.
The one-day occupation of Elbit Ferranti in Oldham on Monday 10th June could be considered the most disruptive single day of action yet, after protestors allegedly caused £500,000 of damage over the course of their occupation. While shutting down the site which is used for the production of equipment and components for the Israeli military, activists broke the windows of the factory, entered the production premises, dismantled machinery (including computers, heavy machinery, specialist equipment such as soldering microscopes), threw red paint across the interior of the factory, before throwing the broken machinery, parts, and equipment out through the broken factory windows.
This conscientious direct action was taken to prevent parts from being made into weaponry for the Israeli military and to hinder future production. Ferranti products, prior to their being shut down by Palestine Action, were used in the production of SkEye surveillance and targetting systems for Israeli combat drones such as the Hermes and for the manufacture of battle equipment for Israeli tanks such as the Carmel.
Upon entering the factory, confidential returns were discovered addressed to Ferranti Technologies from BAE Systems, a leading manufacturer for Israeli military planes. These deals have not been publicly disclosed.
Police, who have been providing round-the-clock protection for the Cairo House site since the intensification of Israeli agression in Gaza and the occupied territories in March, entered the site in the morning of the occupation which began at 6.30am Monday morning.
In attempting to prevent further hindrance to Ferranti’s war-crimes supply chain, physically assualted protestors before removing them from the site. One individual received what they have described as a ‘battering’ from police, before they and another protestor were dragged through a broken window to be removed. Protestors were then taken to Ashton-Under-Lyne, where a medic was not on site to treat injuries received from police. They were then transferred to GMHQ, before being released without charges.
If journalists require further legal details on these events we would direct them to contact Kelly’s Solicitors, Brighton, who were present at police interviews.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
If you would like any further information on this action or on Palestine action, please contact media@palestineaction.org or our press line at 07840150925
For rolling updates please check the Palestine Action Twitter account
Palestine ActionPalestine Action is a direct-action network of groups and individuals formed with the mandate of taking direct action against Elbit Systems’ UK locations at grassroots level, calling for them all to be shut down and for the British government to end its complicity in Israeli apartheid.Previous action at the Oldham Ferranti site, undertaken collaboratively with XR: https://mondoweiss.net/2021/02/palestine-action-and-extinction-rebellion-activists-shut-down-israeli-arms-factory/Some previous Palestine Action occupations and actions:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-57184318https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-uk-leicester-activists-shut-down-arms-factoryhttps://palestineaction.org/tamworth-occupied/https://realmedia.press/palestine-action-occupy-elbit-again/
Elbit SystemsInformation on the suffering inflicted by Elbit’s drones, including the Hermes: https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/Role of Elbit drone in killing of four children paying on Gaza beach in 2014: https://theintercept.com/2018/08/11/israel-palestine-drone-strike-operation-protective-edge/UK Ministry of Defence signs £102 million contract with Elbit Systems UK for “sensor-to-shoot” system: https://www.army-technology.com/news/uk-mod-orders-elbit-detect-and-destroy-system/