By Kieron Turner
After a month of successful actions Palestine Action held a public protest on Saturday outside the London HQ offices of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest private arms producer. Palestine Actions growing popularity has begun to be seen as a threat to both Elbit’s business in the UK and Israel’s apartheid regime. At a recent meeting between Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Orit Farkash and the British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Minister Farkash demanded that the British government take action against the growing BDS campaign protesting both Elbit Systems and Israel’s apartheid regime, specifically referring to the successful actions of Palestine Action.
This meeting was ahead of the Palestine Action protest on Saturday 5th outside 77 Kingsway, the office block harbouring Elbit Systems London HQ offices. Throughout the protest police attempted to violently crackdown on, coerce and repress the protest, violently arresting Palestine Action activists, throwing a Palestinian woman to the ground for the purposes of one arrest, for standing up and protesting against the war criminals that maintain and operate Elbit Systems war profiteering here in the UK.
We welcome the recognition of our actions by Defence Secretary Raab and Strategic Affairs Minister Farkash in such a high profile meeting as free advertisement for Palestine Action. But more importantly, we see these threats to crackdown on Palestine Action and BDS campaigners revealing one thing. We are winning.
Palestine Action as a grassroots network of activists dedicated to ending Israeli apartheid, occupation and colonization, has been active for just over a month. In that month we have expanded our support, escalated our actions against Elbit Systems and threatened the legitimacy of its profiteering from Israel’s apartheid regime and its subsequent war crimes that maintain it. This attempt to crack down on BDS activism shows that we have the potential to shut Elbit down and end all UK complicity with Israel’s apartheid regime. If we continue to expand, if we continue to grow our support, and if we continue to escalate we can and we will win.
This is the state of affairs. The UK government, through the use of the police and anti-protesting legislation are working to protect the interests of Israeli apartheid and Elbit’s war profiteering. It is attempting this through coercion and intimidation of the right to protest, by violently oppressing its own citizens and protesters while simultaneously failing to hold Elbit Systems to account on their immorality, their illegality and their violations of international law with the weapons they produce and export to be tested and deployed upon a besieged, refugee and occupied Palestinian population.
This must be countered, and every step the UK government takes to repress Palestine Action and BDS activists, is another step towards our victory at shutting Elbit down for good and ultimately the severing of all links between the UK and Israel’s apartheid regime. These threats show us that those who support and maintain Israeli apartheid, occupation and colonisation are running scared. Palestine Action has the energy, the passion and the potential to win. Now is the time to join us. Now is the time to get organised to get mobilised and to #ShutElbitDown.