PRESS RELEASE
12/04/21
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UPDATE:
- Four have been arrested at 77 Kingsway, London after direct action was taken against the headquarters of Israel’s largest arms company, Elbit Systems
- Three Palestine Action activists blockaded the site through the use of a body ‘lock-on’ (see attached pictures) which they were later cut out from by police
- Several stop and searches were carried out by a heavy police response
- One additional person was arrested after showing up in support
This morning, activists from Palestine Action took action at the headquarters of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms company. Activists covered the site front in red paint and prevented site access by locking on to one another. Following this, the area was cordoned off by a large police response and the three activists were cut out of the lock-on and arrested, joining a supporter who was arrested earlier today. Multiple stop searches were done by police.
Today’s action was the latest in the campaign to Shut Elbit Down that is centred around constant direct action against Elbit. It comes in the month of Ramadan, as the brutal and already frequent settler violence Israel inflicts on Palestinians has ramped up – in the past week, Israeli occupation forces have murdered fifteen Palestinians, including mother of six, Ghada al-Sabateen. Such violence is made possible by Elbit, Israel’s leading munitions producer who produce various military goods across their 9 remaining sites in Britain.
A Palestine Action spokesperson said the following:
“The escalation of violence in Palestine may seem distant to some when viewed through a screen, but the truth couldn’t be further from reality. Every act of settler violence faced by Palestinians has its roots here, in Britain. Elbit hold 9 remaining sites in Britain, from the military drone factories of the midlands, to the headquarters that facilitate this killer supply chain, and the police response today tells us that the British state is more than happy to enable this. Only the unbreakable will of our activists, and the strength held in direct action will get the job done, and get Elbit gone for good.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Please Credit Attached Photos to Calum Ford (Free to use)
If you would like any further information on Palestine action, please contact info@palestineaction.org
Palestine Action is a direct-action network of groups and individuals formed with the mandate of taking direct action against Elbit Systems’ British locations at grassroots level, calling for them all to be shut down and for the British government to end its complicity in Israeli apartheid.
ELBIT SYTEMS
Company profile on Elbit Systems, including quote by Israeli military general: https://whoprofits.org/company/elbit-systems/
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/
More on the death and destruction inflicted by Elbit’s drones upon Gaza: https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/
Elbit surveillance technology for Israel’s apartheid wall: https://www.facing-finance.org/en/database/cases/elbit-systems-surveillance-system-torch-for-the-separation-barrier-in-israelpalestine/
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/