Palestine Action target Israeli arms factory in Shenstone

[yankeedoodle]

Palestine Action target Israeli arms factory in Shenstone days after forcing Elbit out Oldham*
https://www.palestineaction.org/shenstone-next/

PRESS RELEASE

14/01/22

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

- Activists took action against the factory to disrupt its manufacture of engines and components for Israel's killer drones, and have covered the factory in painted slogans of 'Shut Elbit Down', 'Free Palestine', 'First Oldham, Next Shenstone' and more

- The action comes the same week as news that Elbit's Oldham factory has been shut down permanently, after months of intensive direct action by Palestine Action. Days after shutting down one site permanently, the group have taken on another of Elbit's remaining killer factories.

- A Palestine Action activist has been arrested after they breached security and gained entry to the Elbit factory in UAV Engines, Shenstone.

- Action has been taken to mark the beginning of the Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa'adat, and has been taken in solidarity with all Palestinian political prisoners.

Palestine Action breached security and gained entry to the heavily guarded Israeli arms factory in Shenstone. The site, used for the manufacture of engines and components for Elbit's murderous drones,was broken into at 11:00 this morning, with the two women evading an extensive security presence. Aiming to disrupt operations at the site, the activists have covered the factory in painted slogans including 'Shut Elbit Down', 'Free Palestine', 'First Oldham, Next Shenstone'. One activist was arrested on the site.

The site has been targetted as part of an ongoing campaign of direct action against Elbit Systems, which is Israel's largest private arms manufacturer, and which has produced 85% of the drones in Israel's drone fleet. The UAV Engines factory is crucial for Elbit's manufacturing of drones. The site produces the engines and components for Elbit's Hermes drone –  which has been used extensively to surveil, repress, bomb and murder Palestinians in Gaza The drone has been linked directly to extrajudicial assassinations by Israel, as well as the murder of 4 children playing on a beach in Gaza in 2014. It also produces for Elbit's Watchkeeper drones, which are sold to the British military and border forces to surveil migrants and conduct imperialist military interventions abroad.

The action comes on the heels of a major victory in the fight to end British complicity in Israeli war crimes, with news breaking this week that Elbit have permanently closed their Oldham factory and have sold their Ferranti Technologies business. This comes after months of action by Palestine Action, with activists regularly scaling, occupying, blockading, dismantling the factory, each time covering premises in blood-red paint to signify the bloodshed facilitated with Elbit weapons.

Prior to being shut down, the Oldham factory manufactured surveillance and targetting systems for Elbit drones, and is the first of Elbit's 10 (now 9) sites in Britain to have been shut permanently. Palestine Action will continue to undermine, disrupt, and shut down Elbit's British sites until they cease to operate on the streets of Britain, and all the remaining sites are closed.

The action also marks the beginning of the Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa'adat, which has been called by the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. The Week of Action has been called on the 20th anniversary of Sa'adat's illegitimate arrest by Israeli police, and this action has been taken in solidarity with him and his 4,650 fellow Palestinian political prisoners. These prisoners have been detained illegally, and tried in Israel's contemptable military courts – and regularly face torture, isolation, coercive interrogation, and denial of family and lawyer visits.

This widespread violation of basic human rights for Palestinian prisoners is furthered by Elbit's malicious operations, with the firm equipping the surveillance state under which Palestinian civilians exist. Elbit surveillance technologies fortify the apartheid walls and checkpoints which divide the country, and their combat and tactical gear is used widely by Israeli police. The unjustifiable abuses of human rights undertaken by the Israeli police and military courts system is facilitated in part by Elbit Systems' operations.

* see:  https://www.palestineaction.org/victory-in-oldham/

[yankeedoodle]

Palestine Action Raid and Dismantle an Israeli Arms Factory in Shenstone
https://www.palestineaction.org/raid-shenstone/

PRESS RELEASE
24/01/22
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

- Palestine Action Strikes Again: Activists take aim at Elbit Systems once more, raiding and occupying their weapons factory in Shenstone.

- Activists broke into the site at 7.15 this morning, and are occupying the roof, preventing the manufacture of Elbit drone parts – Elbit supply the Israeli military with 85% of their drones.

- Action reference support of the residents of Sheikh Jarrah, who are currently facing ethnic cleansing by Israeli settlers and police, whose violence is propped up by Elbit's products.

- Palestine Action continue their campaign to shut Elbit down, seeking further closures for Israel's remaining arms manufacturers.

Palestine Action have raided Elbit System's subsidiary, UAV Engines Ltd, in Shenstone, Staffordshire at 7.15 this morning. The activists have sprayed blood-red paint and begun dismantling the weapons factory, whilst occupying the roof to prevent site operations. With windows smashed and equipment dismantled, the action draws parallels with Israel's forced demolitions of Palestinian homes​​​, sounding the alarm on the ethnic cleansing Israel is currently enacting in Sheikh Jarrah, Palestine.

Elbit Systems are Israel's largest arms manufacturer and hold a significant presence in Britain. A key subsidiary, UAV Engines Ltd has been a target of Palestine Action since the group's launch in July 2020, when activists shut the site five times in five months and caused millions of pounds of losses. UAV Engines Ltd manufacture engines and parts for Elbit drones, including the Hermes, which Elbit themselves describe as the 'backbone' of Israel's drone fleet. These drones have been used to enact countless war crimes on Palestinian civillians. In reference to bombing of Gaza last May, an Israeli military general even stated "We operated day and night in cooperation with Elbit."

Residents of the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah are currently at the forefront of Israel's settler-colonial project. This past week has seen violent arrests and the demolition of the home of one of Sheikh Jarrah's 37 Palestinian families, with others handed cruel eviction notices. Furthermore, families are suffering harrassment, intimidation and violence at the hands of settlers and police – who are outfitted with Elbit Systems' surveillance products. The 2021 attack on Gaza started with the ethnic cleansing of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. Elbit System's military goods are fundamental to allowing this; Palestine Action know this and have taken action today in support of the residents of Sheikh Jarrah, undermining and debasing Israel's military production in Britain.

Two weeks, news was announced of the permanent closure of Elbit's Oldham site. Since then, actions targetting Elbit's factory in Shenstone have escalated, with the factory being occupied once more as part of the campaign to topple all of Elbit's remaining factories.

A Palestine Action spokesperson has stated the following:

"Israel's weapons trade is fundamental to the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Elbit should know by now that we mean what we say: we will keep occupying, disrupting and dismantling their sites until they leave Britain for good. No matter how much security they hire, how much police priority they receive, our activists will find ways to shut them down. We've taken down one of their factories for good, and now we're taking apart the rest."