PRESS RELEASE
27/08/22
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pictures are free to use, with no credit needed.
- Palestine Action have scaled the surrounding trees and set up a secondary ground camp outside Elbit Systems — Israel’s largest arms company also known as UAV Engines, declaring ‘We ain’t leaving until Elbit does’
- The ground occupation and tree-camp overlooking Elbit is being commandeered in a move to ramp up pressure on the Israeli arms company and draw in local support
- The factory, which has been targeted by Palestine Action for two years, manufactures parts used in Israeli drones, such as the Hermes 450 and the Watchkeeper drone
This morning, Palestine Actionists have set up a ground camp and scaled the adjacent trees, erecting unreachable hammocks overlooking UAV Engines Ltd — the Israeli drones factory that has rightly been a prime target for extensive action as part of the #ShutElbitDown campaign.
Activists have confirmed they plan to hold their positions, and will not leave until Elbit have vacated Shenstone, a sleepy English village near Lichfield. The factory produces engines and other components used to make drones such as the Hermes 450 — these are lethal munitions that have maimed and killed countless Palestinian men, women and children for decades.
Elbit Systems are the linchpin behind Israel’s technological, military dominance over the Palestinian people, supplying 85% of the apartheid regime’s drone fleet — the company also produces a wide range of artilleries, chemical weapons, high calibre bulletry and much more. Over the years, they have literally ‘made a killing’ in profits by using their products, often experimentally, on the people of Gaza and elsewhere — only this month, Elbit’s weaponry was used to bomb Gaza for three solid days, killing 49 Palestinians including 17 children.
The Hermes 450 drone, which has been ‘tested’ on Palestinians and the populations of Iraq and Afghanistan, laid the foundations for the design and production of the Watchkeeper drone: the Watchkeeper is currently being deployed by both the UK Border Force and the British police for surveillance purposes.
This particular factory site in Shenstone is leased to Elbit by real estate company Fisher German. After extensive direct action, Palestine Action have recently forced Fisher German to close their offices in Birmingham. The campaign against them will continue until they publicly announce their contract with Elbit is terminated — a pledge that was recently honoured after their headquarters in Leicester were sabotaged just last week.
The innovative tree camp and ground occupation comes after two solid years of direct action against UAV Engines — in fact, the factory has been hit no less than five times in the past two months. But, it doesn’t stop here: activists intend to ramp up the pressure in Shenstone, educating and galvanising local residents to join the struggle. Palestine Action’s intentions are clear: direct action will continue until UAV Engines becomes the third Israeli site to permanently close, joining Elbit Ferranti in Oldham and London’s 77 Kingsway offices — both now vacated.
In a statement from the camp, a spokesperson said: “We are here to pressure the war criminals to leave Britain and shut their killer factories. We welcome community support and engagement in support of the Palestinians on the receiving end of this factory’s weaponry. Elbit’s net contribution to the world is one of abject misery, pain and suffering. Their business has a massive human cost, and so on our part, no cost is too big to stop them. Rain or sun, we’ll hold our ground, resist, remain and in the end, we will #ShutElbitDown”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Pictures are free to use, with no credit needed: bit.ly/PalCampPhotos
Elbit forced to close its London HQ: https://mondoweiss.net/2022/06/israeli-weapons-maker-shuts-london-hq-following-sustained-protest/
Elbit closes Oldham factory in January: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/uk-admits-activists-forced-elbit-sell-factory
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
Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest arms firm, with 8 remaining sites in Britain. They build weapons include drones, artillery and target acquisition software in Britain. All of which are marketed as “battle-tested” or “combat-proven”, as they’ve been tested on the captive population of Gaza.
Company profile on Elbit Systems: 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/