[News] Community action shuts down Bristol drone factory HQ

[Anti-Imperialist News]

freedomnews.org.uk
<https://freedomnews.org.uk/2024/01/19/community-action-shuts-down-bristol-drone-factory-hq/#>
Community action shuts down Bristol drone factory HQJanuary 19, 2024
------------------------------

Palestine Action, supported by the Bristol-based group ‘Rise Up for
Palestine’, have shut down the Israeli-owned Elbit weapons Headquarters in
Bristol. Dozens from the local group are surrounding four activists from
Palestine Action, who’ve locked on to each other, making the blockade of
the only entrance to Elbit’s HQ immovable.

*“Disrupting Israel’s military supply chain through direct action and
community mobilisation is a crucial and necessary tactic to deploy as our
Palestinian siblings are under fire by Elbit’s weaponry. We do not stand
for genocide enablers on our doorstep, and we’ve once again made it clear
that Elbit is not welcome in Bristol or anywhere on British soil. We will
continue to rise up and take the power back into our own hands to shut down
the companies arming Israel’s genocide of Palestine.”*

~ A Palestine Action spokesperson

This action is happening whilst Israel is mounting a campaign of genocide
and ethnic cleansing, bombarding Gaza and killing over 25,000 Palestinians,
injuring over 60,000 people and displacing over 1.9 million captive
Palestinians
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/17/israels-war-on-gaza-live-brutality-of-gaza-crisis-unprecedented-un>
.
Action Elbit Systems Bristol 18/01/24

Elbit Systems UK operates across England and Wales and is owned by Israel’s
largest weapons company. The Bristol location, leased from Somerset
Council, is Elbit’s main operational facility. The Israeli weapons maker
supplies 85% of Israel’s drone fleet and land-based military equipment
<https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/> and is vital
in the state terror inflicted on Palestine.

In the past 24 hours, Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza, one of only 13 out of 35
remaining functioning hospitals, has come under attack by the Israeli army.
Drones and quadcopters, most likely developed by Elbit, are being used to
fire at anyone who enters or leaves the hospital
<https://www.newarab.com/features/israels-drones-close-gazas-al-aqsa-hospital>
.

The Israeli weapons firm openly talks of having “battle tested
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20231023-israel-tests-new-iron-sting-bomb-in-gaza/>”
its weapons through Israel’s deployment of them against Palestinians before
these are then sold on the global market. In the current bombardment, Elbit’s
new iron sting missiles and drone technologies
<https://www.forbes.com/sites/erictegler/2023/10/27/small-ai-enabled-drones-could-be-first-into-gaza-streets--buildings/>
are being used to massacre the Palestinian people. We refuse to allow
Elbit’s business to continue at the expense of the Palestinian people.
Action Elbit Systems Bristol 18/01/24
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20240119/49ef9957/attachment.htm>