PRESS RELEASE
17/05/2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- This morning, two activists secured their bodies to a lock-on device outside the London headquarters of Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems.
- Activists have occupied and obstructed the site entrance, preventing the company’s operations.
- Activists coated the building in red paint, symbolising the blood shed by Palestinians on the receiving end of Elbit’s deadly arms trade
- The action was taken in order to disrupt the industry of weapons production in which Elbit plays a paramount role, Elbit supplying Israel with 85% of its drone fleet
- A further activist has their neck D-locked onto a step ladder in front of the premises. Security have deliberately knocked down the ladder, but activists remain undeterred.
- Another activist has been arrested at the scene.
This morning, activists from Palestine Action blocked all access to the London headquarters of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer. Two secured their bodies to a lock-on device, one D-locked themself to a ladder. The activists have drenched the building in red paint and locked themselves on to the site entrance, preventing their removal, leaving employees unable to enter and closing the site. One arrest has been made so far. Security with no visible SIA badge, reacted to the action by knocking down the ladder to which one of the activists was locked by the neck. This egregious behaviour put the activist in serious danger and risked injury to their spine and neck. They are thankfully uninjured. However, Elbit’s security have been rapidly escalating their violence against our activists, endangering civilians at every action with the sole aim of protecting Israel’s interests. This is unacceptable and reveals Elbit’s true nature and interests.
This action stands testament to Palestine Action’s commitment to derail and ultimately end Elbit’s British operations, making ‘business as usual’ impossible for the company. IMI Systems, an Elbit subsidiary, is Israel’s main provider of 5.56mm bullets. These are the same type of bullet used by Israeli occupation forces to murder Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, just one of the countless Palestinians killed by Elbit’s weapons of war – the company itself having described its weaponry as ‘battle-tested’ on Palestinians. In practice, this means that Elbit tests its weapons on Palestinian civilians, maiming and killing them, before bringing them to market, effectively using the murder of civilians as a badge of quality. Such violence starts here in Britain, on Elbit’s production line, and Palestine Action have promised not to cease action against Elbit until all company sites are permanently shut down.
Following on from action taken at Elbit’s Bristol HQ two days prior, today’s action – alongside the numerous actions taken at 77 Kingsways in recent weeks, has matched calls to heighten the urgency of the campaign. It’s Elbit’s business, operating in British towns and cities, that enables the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that has raged on for 74 years. British complicity goes even further back – from the Balfour declaration to the present day, Britain has always had a stake in the occupation, massacre, and dispossession that composes daily life for Palestinians. So long as this continues, so will resistance from Palestine Action, with the declaration that ‘complicity ends now’ and calls for more to join the campaign to Shut Elbit Down. Today we say: it ends now.
“We urge people to reclaim their power and to reject Britain’s complicity in the surpression and massacre of Palestinians. If we fail to act now, how much more blood will be spilt in our name? The British government kickstarted the occupation and to date, continue to aid it. The only way it stops is by each and every one of us saying no – not in our name, and taking matters into their own hands through direct action. We are firm when we say this: no more, Elbit ends now.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Photos are free to use, with credit to Vudi Xhymshiti
If you would like any further information on Palestine action, please conact 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.
For previous actions please see: https://www.palestineaction.org/news/
ELBIT SYTEMS
Company profile on Elbit Systems: https://whoprofits.org/company/elbit-systems/
Detail on Al-Aqsa mosque attacks: Israel storms Al-Aqsa, beats Palestinian worshipers to make way for Jewish settlers – Mondoweiss
Bombardment of Gaza: Israel strikes Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian rocket as tensions soar in Jerusalem – CBS News
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/