- After taking action against Elbit in Leicester on Monday, Palestine Action is back to shut down another Elbit plant, this time occupying the roof of Elbit’s Elite KL factory in Tamworth
- After scaling the factory at 6:30 this morning, activists on the roof were savagely attacked by masked private security guards. At dangerous heights atop the factory, members of Palestine Action were punched, kicked and choked whilst police refused to intervene.
- Autonomous activists have, meanwhile, taken action at the Birmingham offices of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), demanding an end to their facilitation of Elbit Systems’ contributions to Israeli war crimes.
- Action has been taken on the fourth anniversary of the Great Return March in Palestine, where Elbit-linked munitions were used as part of the massacre of over 250 protestors in Gaza, and the wounding of 35,000 more
Palestine Action activists were beaten today by private security guards as they prevented operations at Elbit Systems’ Elite KL factory at Sandy Way, Amington Industrial Estate, Tamworth, Staffordshire. The site, which is normally used for the manufacture of specialist military technologies for the Israeli army has been the target of direction by Palestine Action many times before. Today’s violence, perpetrated by private security guards who wore masks to conceal their identities, represents clear, dangerous escalation on the part of Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. Activists were then assaulted by Elbit’s private security, being choked and threatened on the roof – as evidenced in these videos – with Elbit’s security resorting to desperate and dangerous measures to protect their production of weapons. These activists were then arrested by police after being removed from the roof. Six activists in total remain detained in police custody.
The factory was still badly damaged from previous action taken to shut the site down, when on February 28 2022, 5 activists tore the roof of the factory apart with their bare hands. The action caused £250,000 in damages to the company, and – with tarpaulin still covering the place where the roof used to be – activists have returned to make clear that this campaign will continue until Elite KL, and all Elbit operations in Britain, are shut down permanently.
Simultaneously, direct actionists targeted the Birmingham offices of Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), demanding an end to their facilitation of Elbit Systems’ contributions to Israeli war crimes. Elbit Systems’ drones, military hardware, surveillance tech and more are used extensively in Israel’s repression of the Palestinian people, and their UK headquarters is in 77 Kingsway, London – which is aJLL’s real estate group property. This operational hub is where Elbit’s manufacturing of drones and arms in Britain is organised, thus making JLL complicit in the war crimes committed with these products.
Today’s actions mark the fourth anniversary of the massacre of protestors by Israeli forces at the Great Return March in 2018. During the March, over 250 protestors were shot and killed by the Israeli military, crimes in which Elbit is directly complicit – with Elbit subsidiary IMI Systems being the sole distributor of small caliber ammunition to the Israeli forces. 35,000 protestors, including medics and journalists, were also wounded or deliberately disabled during the Israeli attacks on protestors. These activists are therefore using their privilege, and risking their liberties, to dismantle the products of Israel’s arms trade. Earlier this week, activists blockaded and dismantled Elbit’s UAV Tactical Systems factory in Leicester – with a nationwide campaign of direct action underway across Elbit’s 9 remaining UK sites.
Elite KL and its sister company Elbit-Kinetics produce components that are essential for Elbits supply chain to Israel’s occupation, such as military vests and systems required for the functioning of Israeli made Merkava 4 battle tanks, marketed as maintaining “combat experience” against Palestinians in Gaza.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Elbit Systems and the Great Return March: https://corporateoccupation.org/2018/05/24/as-israeli-arms-company-elbit-expands-activists-resistance-grows/
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/5/3/palestinians-face-explosive-bullets-dangerous-gas-bombs
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’ 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.
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/
ELITE KL