On Tuesday 12 November, the direct action network Palestine Action redoubled its efforts to shut down Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons company. Members of the group have been blockading the entrances of two Elbit sites in Bristol.
Palestine Action: two Elbit sites in Bristol shut down
The activists used lock on devices inside vans to block the gates at both sites, preventing any from entering and damaging Elbit’s ability to develop death-dealing weapons. Locking on is now an offence under the Tory-introduced draconian Public Order Act.
One of the sites, the facility at Filton, Bristol, is the most recent of Elbit facilities in England, the brand new £35m R&D hub of Israel’s biggest weapons firm. So, Palestine Action shut it down:
Its June 2023 opening was attended by the UK-Israeli Ambassador Tzipi Hotevely, and Elbit’s CEO Bezhalel Machlis – who has frequently boasted of the company’s central role in Israel’s military during the ongoing Gaza genocide.
According to Israeli media, Elbit provides up to 80% of the Israeli military’s land based military equipment and 85% of its military drones. It supplies vast numbers of munitions and missiles – including the ‘Iron Sting’ recently developed and deployed for the first time in the 2023-2024 genocide in Gaza, along with wide categories of surveillance technologies, targeting systems, and innumerate other armaments.
“Direct action against Elbit aims to disrupt this: targeting the source of colonial violence and genocide against the Palestinian people, undermining Elbit’s profiteering from Israel’s daily massacres.” said a Palestine Action spokesperson.
At Filton, it was quite a view from on top of the van:
From inside a van and atop a tripod, actionists block the only entrance into the research & manufacturing hub of Israel's largest arms firm, Elbit Systems.
At the same time, others are obstructing Elbit's British HQ.
Today, we shut down two Israeli weapons sites! pic.twitter.com/wjOtLcalhV
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) November 12, 2024
Meanwhile, the other site Palestine Action blockaded was Elbit’s headquarters at Aztec West 600:
This HQ is used by used by Elbit to oversee their logistical, financial, and operational affairs throughout the country, making it a key hub for Israel’s arms trade in Britain. This is the latest in a series of actions undertaken at the site since the start of Palestine Action’s campaign:
Disrupting colonial violence
A Palestine Action spokesperson said:
Sustained direct action against Elbit disrupts the colonial violence and genocide against the Palestinian people. When our government fails to abide by their legal and moral responsibility to prevent genocide, it is the responsibility of ordinary people to take direct action to do so. We will continue to take direct action until Elbit is out of Britain.
Featured image and additional images via Neil Terry and Palestine Action
