Palestine Action: Press Release
For publication: Thursday 30 July 2020
** See https://twitter.com/pal_action/status/1288788592471478272?s=21 for launch video **
Today we are launching Palestine Action.
Palestine Action is a new national network created by a number of different direct action groups and activists from across the UK. We have come together to promote civil disobedience and take direct action against the companies and institutions that Israel uses to violently enforce apartheid, occupation and colonisation on the people of Palestine.
Israel wants to make the theft of the Jordan Valley official, and will annex Israel’s illegal colonies. It continues to steal more and more Palestinian land, destroying Palestinian homes using machinery made by British company JCB. Meanwhile, Gaza’s skies are filled with unpiloted killer drones, controlled by soldiers who never see the lives they are destroying. Israeli companies like Elbit Systems sell their weapons as ‘battle tested’, on a population of Gaza that is mostly children. In England there are four Elbit arms factories profiting from Israel’s war crimes.
For many years, activist groups from all over the country have taken direct action against companies such as Elbit and JCB. Despite their attempts to expose the collusion of these companies, these actions have been met with silence. We are tired of being ignored.
It is up to all of us to stop this complicity. We must continue to take action, not tomorrow, but today and now. Together we are stronger.
Palestine Action is a grassroots, horizontally-led, direct-action network, focused on getting concrete results. We will take action against complicit companies, and we will pressure institutions to divest from them.
Palestine Action calls for all those who oppose racism and oppression to join our struggle. We will not rest until the Palestinian people get the rights and dignity we all deserve: for liberation from Israeli apartheid, occupation and colonialism. We call on all those who support justice and equality to join our movement, get active with us, and help to build a campaign capable of ending the UK’s complicity in apartheid.
Anyone can get involved. See https://palestineaction.org to find out how.
Notes for editors:
– For more information on Israel’s plans to annex the Jordan Valley, see https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-analysis/2020/07/20/international-pressure-is-mounting-over-israels-planned-annexation-of-the-jordan-valley/
– Six years since the 2014 bombings of Gaza – where over 2000 Palestinians were killed with arms likely manufactured and sold from the UK – weapons continue to be exported to Israel. See https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/britain-still-arming-israel-despite-fear-weapons-will-be-used-against-gaza-10357621.html
– For more information on Elbit Systems see https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/
– The UK has continued to export arms to Israel, licensing more than £376 million of arms since 2015. See https://www.caat.org.uk/media/press-releases/2020-06-30
– On top of this, companies such as JCB continue to export bulldozers that are used to demolish Palestinian homes. See https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2019/07/01/activists-shut-down-uk-based-israeli-arms-factories-in-solidarity-with-palestinian-people/ and http://corporateoccupation.org/2020/02/24/jcbs-complicity-in-israeli-war-crimes-2019-statistics/
– For a full list of the grass action groups who make up Palestine Action, go to https://palestineaction.org
– Contact details:
email: palestineaction@riseup.net
Twitter / instagram: @pal_action
Facebook:
** Press contact: Stuart Walker 07459 730441 or email palestineaction@riseup.net