[News] Israel's killing of Palestinians in Nablus has triggered a backlash in British drone factories

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeastmonitor.com
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220725-israels-killing-of-palestinians-in-nablus-has-triggered-a-backlash-in-british-drone-factories/>
Israel's killing of Palestinians in Nablus has triggered a backlash in
British drone factories
Yvonne Ridley - July 25, 2022
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[image: image.png]

I think most of us have heard of the chaos theory, commonly called the
"butterfly effect", which states that if one butterfly flaps its wings at
just the right time in just the right place it can cause a hurricane
thousands of miles away. I'm not sure how true it is, but it illustrates
how seemingly routine events in one place can have an impact somewhere else.

In other words, for every action, there is a reaction, and while the brutal
Israel occupation of Palestine has tried to normalise the killing and
murder of Palestinians, a small group of activists in the UK has decided to
invoke the chaos theory to expose the crimes against humanity committed by
the rogue state.

Within hours of Israeli troops invading and raiding
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/24/two-palestinians-killed-in-israeli-raid-on-occupied-west-bank>
the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, killing two Palestinians and
injuring nine others, activists with Palestine Action descended upon the
Shenstone factory of Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems and struck at
the exterior of the site. Apart from using their now trademark red paint,
the activists were also armed with stun grenades and ammunition which could
be regarded by some as an alarming escalation of the group's tactics.

In a hard-hitting message to Tel Aviv, Palestine Action
<https://www.palestineaction.org/> issued this statement on Sunday: "Today,
a message to the Israeli occupation and those who uphold it — the day has
passed where your violence will go unchecked, prepare to be met with
resistance every step of the way. Activists took action today seeking to
dismantle an industry built on occupation, dispossession and warfare across
the globe."

The activists targeted UAV Engines — a factory belonging to Elbit, which is
Israel's largest arms manufacturer — and caused thousands of pounds worth
of damage. The factory makes components for Elbit's military drones,
including the Hermes 450 and 900, which may well have been used in Nablus
in the early hours of Sunday. The drones are also used extensively in
surveillance
and military strikes
<https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/> against
Palestinians living in Gaza.

Palestine Action has made headlines
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220621-israels-leading-arms-dealer-is-running-scared/>
in *MEMO* several times over the past year for targeting Elbit, which also
makes the Watchkeeper drone modelled on the Hermes 450 and is supplied to
the British military, border force and other government agencies. This
particular drone is used for policing British citizens and monitoring
migrants attempting to cross the English Channel.

A Palestine Action spokesperson said: "Elbit drones are made in Britain,
tested on Palestine then sold back to the British military, amongst others.
The British military holds deep ties with Elbit — Britain is an accomplice
in an international industry built on occupation, one where technology is
suited not to meet human needs, but to further repression and terror. We
can only cut these ties with direct action taken by the masses — ordinary
people, willing to make sacrifices in order to end our collective
complicity."

The two Palestinians killed overnight in Al-Yasmina district of Nablus have
been identified as Muhamad Azizi, 25, who was shot in the chest, and Abdul
Rahman Jamal Suleiman Sobh, 28, who was shot in the head. One house was
cordoned off before it was blown up. More than a dozen people were wounded,
some seriously.

Senior Palestinian official Hussein Al-Sheikh described the carnage as a
crime and said that the Israel occupation will be held responsible.
"Another crime committed by the occupation forces in the old city of
#Nablus, where martyrs have fallen and many wounded, there was also
destruction of homes and burning of property," he tweeted
<https://twitter.com/HusseinSheikhpl/status/1551066121528393730?s=20&t=WJGnadGCPk1DplM3aabOMg>.
"We strongly condemn this crime, and we hold the occupation responsible for
its repercussions."

As usual, the Israeli army played down the one-sided nature of the attack
by trying to portray the incident as an evenly matched clash of arms. It
said that there were exchanges of fire between armed suspects and troops
that ended with "neutralising the terrorists inside the house and on its
roof".

Israeli raids and military action in the occupied West Bank have become an
almost nightly occurrence but locals say that they have increased in recent
months in terms of firepower. At least 52 Palestinians have been killed
since late March, mostly in the occupied West Bank.

Usually, Tel Aviv refers to the dead as armed fighters but civilians have
also been caught up in the fire. The high profile killing of veteran *Al
Jazeera* journalist Shireen Abu Akleh when she was covering an Israeli raid
in Jenin is a case in point. Family and supporters are still demanding
justice for her murder and have called on
<https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/5/13/only-the-icc-can-deliver-justice-for-shiree>
the International Criminal Court to intervene.

It remains to be seen if the ICC will bring her killer to justice, but it
is quite clear from yesterday's reaction that Israeli weapons company Elbit
Systems in the UK should brace itself for more retaliatory action if the
brutal Israeli occupation forces continue to kill Palestinians.

Dozens of UK-based pro-Palestinian activists who risk arrest and loss of
liberty are attracting mass support these days, especially from locals who
wish to see an end to a brutal industry operating on their doorstep.
Palestine Action has already claimed responsibility for the closure of two
of Elbit's sites in London
<https://mondoweiss.net/2022/06/israeli-weapons-maker-shuts-london-hq-following-sustained-protest/>
and Oldham
<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/uk-admits-activists-forced-elbit-sell-factory>.
The activists say that they will not stop until UAV Engines Ltd. closes for
good.

*READ: Israel's leading arms dealer is running scared
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220621-israels-leading-arms-dealer-is-running-scared/>*

Elbit's drones are used by some buyers for the violent repression of
civilian populations as well as in air and sea surveillance. The Hermes
450/900 drones have been "battle-tested" in Gaza where they maintain a
constant presence in the skies, made known by their distinct buzzing. The
threat of bombing is always lurking in the background.

Moreover, Elbit drones make up 85 per cent of Israel's drone fleet, and are
used to keep entire populations living in fear, with a permanent siege
mentality. It is little wonder that more than 90 per cent of Palestinian
children living in Gaza suffer from PTSD.

According to Palestine Action, yesterday's targeting of the arms factory
was done in the name of innocent Palestinian children, "with a promise of
resistance until victory — an end to Britain's complicity, and a Palestine
free from the horrors of occupation and state terror."

Trials following the arrest of activists in Britain have collapsed or been
thrown out
<https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/palestine-action-activists-walk-free-from-court-after-prosecution-offers-no-evidence>.
It is well known that the Palestine Action group would welcome a full trial
in which executives of the arms company would have to give evidence about
the weapons they manufacture and how they're deployed. Given that war
crimes and crimes against humanity are involved — Israel commits both
regularly — perhaps the police would be better employed interviewing those
who are reluctant to take the stand in a British court and give evidence,
rather than arresting Palestine Action activists.

Now that they are escalating their mission to close down Elbit by arming
themselves with stun grenades and ammunition as well as their red paint, it
is clear that they will not stop as long as ever more serious crimes are
committed with impunity against the Palestinian people by the Zionist
apartheid
<https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/02/israels-apartheid-against-palestinians-a-cruel-system-of-domination-and-a-crime-against-humanity/>
state of Israel. The companies and people making money from the rogue state
may well come to regret its contempt for international law.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
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