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As Elbit Systems weapons are used to commit genocide in Gaza, Palestine Action have this morning blockaded the private road to Elbit’s weapons headquarters in Bristol. Shutting the factory down in line with Palestinian calls for the cessation of arms supplies to Israel [1], four activists have attached themselves to each other to prevent all entry to the Aztec West site – from which Elbit oversees its British operations.
Today’s action comes just one week after the factory was last blockaded by Palestine Action [2], and one day after Instro Precision in Kent was shut down in a similar fashion [3], with the group having pledged to intensify direct action against Israel’s weapons trade, the suppliers of arms to Israel as the occupation continues to wage its murderous ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons company, supplies 85% of Israel’s drone fleet and land-based military equipment [4], and are vital in the state terror inflicted on Palestine. These actions happen at a time when Israel is mounting a campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing, bombarding Gaza and killing over 10,022 people including 4100 children [5].
Elbit has openly talked of having “battle tested” its weapons, through Israel’s deployment of them against Palestinians, before these are then sold on the global market. With Elbit’s new products, the Iron Sting mortar bomb and its new drone technologies being deployed against Gaza [6, 7] – how long will it be before we see the British government procure these for itself? We refuse to allow Elbit’s business to continue, at the expense of the Palestinian people.
Elbit Systems operates across the UK. The Bristol location, which is leased from Sedgemore District Council, is Elbit’s main operational facility. This action therefore hits at the heart of Elbit’s strategic centre, to cause obstruction to business as usual. Previously, activists from Palestine Action smashed into the side and occupied the inside in May 2022, to mark 74 years since the Nakba began [8].
Palestine Action have called for the intensification of direct action against Elbit Systems, their partners, and other companies which facilitate the Israeli weapons trade.
OTHER ACTIONS
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NOTES TO EDITORS
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If you would like any further information on Palestine action, please contactinfo@palestineaction.org
Palestine Action is a direct-action network of groups and individuals formed with the mandate of taking action against the sites of Elbit Systems and other companies complicit in Israeli apartheid, calling for all such sites to be shut down.
[1] https://merip.org/2023/10/palestinian-trade-unions-call-for-an-end-to-arming-israel/
[2] https://freedomnews.org.uk/2023/11/01/palestine-action-shut-down-elbits-hq-an-arms-factory/
[3] https://freedomnews.org.uk/2023/11/07/palestine-action-block-kents-weapons-factory/
[4] https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/
[6] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231023-israel-tests-new-iron-sting-bomb-in-gaza/