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Palestine Action, supported by the Bristol-based group ‘Rise Up for Palestine’, have shut down the Israeli-owned Elbit weapons Headquarters in Bristol. Dozens from the local group are surrounding four activists from Palestine Action, who’ve locked on to each other, making the blockade of the only entrance to Elbit’s HQ immovable.
This action is happening whilst Israel is mounting a campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing, bombarding Gaza and killing over 25,000 Palestinians, injuring over 60,000 people and displacing over 1.9million captive Palestinians [1].
Elbit Systems UK operates across England and Wales and is owned by Israel’s largest weapons company. The Bristol location, which is leased from Somerset Council, is Elbit’s main operational facility. The Israeli weapons maker supplies 85% of Israel’s drone fleet and land-based military equipment [2], and are vital in the state terror inflicted on Palestine.
In the past 24 hours, Al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza, one of only 13 out of 35 remaining functioning hospitals, has come under attack by the Israeli army. Drones and quadcopters, most likely developed by Elbit, are being used to fire at anyone who enters or leaves the hospital [3].
The Israeli weapons firm openly talk of having “battle tested” its weapons, through Israel’s deployment of them against Palestinians, before these are then sold on the global market. In the current bombardment, Elbit’s new iron sting missiles and drone technologies are being used to massacre the Palestinian people [4, 5]. We refuse to allow Elbit’s business to continue, at the expense of the Palestinian people.
A Palestine Action spokesperson has said:
“Disrupting Israel’s military supply chain through direct action and community mobilisation is a crucial and necessary tactic to deploy as our Palestinian siblings are under fire by Elbit’s weaponry. We do not stand for genocide enablers on our doorstep, and we’ve once again made it clear that Elbit is not welcome in Bristol or anywhere on British soil. We will continue to rise up and take the power back into our own hands to shut down the companies arming Israel’s genocide of Palestine.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
If you would like any further information on Palestine action, please contact media@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.
[2] https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/
[3] https://www.newarab.com/features/israels-drones-close-gazas-al-aqsa-hospital
[4] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231023-israel-tests-new-iron-sting-bomb-in-gaza/