[News] Palestine Action Strikes Three Israel-Supplying Weapons Factories in One Day

[Anti-Imperialist News]

palestineaction.org <https://www.palestineaction.org/three-actions/>
Palestine Action Strikes Three Israel-Supplying Weapons Factories in
One DayOctober
27, 2023
------------------------------

*Images and videos are available for free, with the relevant credit*
<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/tflxwn4fyd8kf21qsg9tz/h?rlkey=bapsklrb3dftpfcnszq1ouy9e&dl=0>

This morning, three simultaneous actions have targeted weapons factories
across Britain, to prevent the production of weaponry destined for use by
Israel in their ongoing massacre of the Palestinian people. While Israel’s
Instro Precision in Kent has been met with a 100-person-strong blockade, a
lock-on and a rooftop occupation disrupted Leicester’s UAV Tactical Systems
and Howmet Fastening Systems.

At the Instro Precision factory in Sandwich, over 100 people have descended
on the site, to blockade the two entrances to the Discovery Park business
area. The site, which has faced protests for years and has previously
been occupied
by Palestine Action
<https://www.palestineaction.org/intro-precision-occupy/>, has been forced
closed – with no access in or out available for the death dealers operating
the factory. Instro Precision is owned by Israel’s largest weapons firm,
Elbit Systems, and specialises in military-grade electro-optical equipment
for target location. Instro has been long-time supplier of the Israeli
military regime, with their dozens of active and expired military export
licenses
<https://caat.org.uk/data/exports-uk/licence-list?region=Israel&company=Elbit+Systems>
representing
the depth of their collaboration with the Israeli occupation. These
licenses include ML5b surveillance/target acquisition systems – namely the
XACT th64 sights which Instro have sold in quantities of thousands to Israel
<https://www.palestineaction.org/instro-2/>, likely outfitting their sniper
regiments surrounding Gaza – along with components for military ground
vehicles (ML6a), and other military electronic equipment (ML11).

Meanwhile, In Leicester, an activist attached themselves to a lock on,
blockading the only entrance to UAV Tactical Systems (U-TacS) military
drone factory, which is owned by Israel’s Elbit Systems and French arms
firm Thales. After Palestine Action crashed a van through the factory gates
last week
<https://www.palestineaction.org/palestine-action-crashes-into-leicesters-israeli-drone-factory/>,
three activists were arrested after confronting the factory with the aim of
halting its weapons production. At the same time, just metres away within
the Meridian Business Park, another team scaled and occupied the factory
roof of Howmet Fastening Systems, halting the production of components for
Israel’s F-35 fighter jets. Whilst positioned on the roof, activists from
Palestine Action have begun disarming the factory with sledgehammers.

U-TacS specialises in the manufacture of military drone technologies, which
it exports in huge volumes
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230726-uk-elbit-factory-protest-enters-87th-day/>
yearly
to Israel. Israel is not a customer of U-TacS’ flagship product, the
*Watchkeeper*, meaning that these exports will almost certainly be
components for the closely-modelled *Hermes. *In previous bombardments of
Gaza, Hermes 450 and Hermes 900 drones played a prominent role. Either
dropping explosive payloads for bombing strikes
<https://www.972mag.com/israeli-arms-companies-surveillance-gaza/>, in the
case of the Hermes 900, or by providing targeting for guided missile strikes
<https://www.972mag.com/armed-drones-automated-killing-palestinians/> in
the case of the 450, these drones are responsible for vast numbers of
Palestinians killed and are certain to be playing a role in the current
genocidal terrorism being committed by the Israeli military.

Howmet, U-TacS’ neighbour, is a spin-off of Arconic Incorporated, the
company which knowingly made the faulty, lethal cladding
<https://www.palestineaction.org/grenfell-arconic/> for Grenfell tower. On
its website, Howmet proudly boasts of the use of its fastening systems in
building the F-35 Lightning II
<https://www.howmet.com/f35-speed-stealth-agility/>, a stealth fighter jet
used by Israel to bombard Gaza, and in particular its work on the F-35
Engines, for which Howmet Aerospace Engine Bolts are exclusively made in
Leicester <https://www.howmet.com/united-kingdom/>. The F-35, which is
estimated to be 15% British-made, has been deployed extensively in recent
airstrikes to devastating effect
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/10/20/a-herd-of-independent-minds/?__cf_chl_tk=WQd8glMnxgOis51l2LqsOziUlK5C1g1XKEReJIm7xj4-1698191567-0-gaNycGzNDdA>.
In
the past two weeks, over 5,000 Palestinians
<https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142687> have been massacred by
Israel, with the vast majority of those dead having been killed by
airstrikes.

These actions represent the strength in numbers of those willing and ready
to take direct action to shut down the Israeli war machine – while our
politicians and media rally behind Israel’s criminality, the grassroots
movement against Israel’s war machine sees people power as the only way to
stand against genocide. This week has seen this movement spread, rapidly:
as Palestine Action US launches
<https://progressive.international/wire/2023-10-19-palestine-action-us-campaign-launches-to-stop-israeli-genocide-of-palestine-and-shut-elbit-down/en>
with
the first actions against Elbit in Boston, MA, activists in Australia have
similarly escalated their activity against Elbit in Melbourne
<https://honisoit.com/2023/10/pro-palestine-activists-around-the-world-protest-israeli-weapons-manufacturer-elbit-systems/>
.


*ENDSNOTES TO EDITORS*

*Images and videos are available for free, with the relevant credit*
<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/tflxwn4fyd8kf21qsg9tz/h?rlkey=bapsklrb3dftpfcnszq1ouy9e&dl=0>

If you would like any further information on Palestine action, please
contactinfo at palestineaction.org

Palestine Action is a direct-action network of groups and individuals
formed with the mandate of taking action against the sites of Elbit Systems
and other companies complicit in Israeli apartheid, calling for all such
sites to be shut down.
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