<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<h1 class="page__title title balance-text" id="page-title">Protests
close four factories owned by Israeli arms firm Elbit</h1>
<header class="node__header">
<p class="node__submitted"> <span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/hilary-aked"
typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel"
datatype="">Hilary Aked</a></span> <span class="field
field-blog"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blog/activism-and-bds-beat"
typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel"
datatype="">Activism and BDS Beat</a></span> <span
class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single" property="dc:date"
datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2015-07-06T10:08:30+00:00">6
July 2015<br>
<b><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/hilary-aked/protests-close-four-factories-owned-israeli-arms-firm-elbit">https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/hilary-aked/protests-close-four-factories-owned-israeli-arms-firm-elbit</a></small></small></small></b><br>
</span></span> </p>
</header>
<figure id="file-31391--2" class="file file-image file-image-jpeg"><picture><source
srcset="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/electronicintifada.net/files/styles/original_800w/public/150706-shenstone.jpg?itok=0Xaogdkd×tamp=1436185214
1x" media="(min-width: 72rem)"></picture><figcaption
class="group-caption field-group-html-element"><small
class="credit"><span class="field field-author"></span></small></figcaption></figure>
<p>Protesters today shut down four different factories owned by
Israel’s biggest arms company, <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/elbit">Elbit Systems</a>.
The protests mark the one-year anniversary of the 2014 Israeli
attack on Gaza.</p>
<p>Police issued an injunction against protests at one of three UK
sites, a drone engine factory near Shenstone, Staffordshire.
Despite this, a number of activists have been locked-on at <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/uav-engines-limited">UAV
Engines Limited</a> (UEL) since early this morning, blocking the
road and entrance to the factory. Hundreds of Palestine solidarity
campaigners are supporting them. Police have made at least 10
arrests.</p>
<p>Also in the UK, production has been halted at <a
href="http://www.elitekl.co.uk/military/">Elbit’s Elite KL
factory</a> in Tamworth, Staffordshire. A third Elbit-owned
factory called <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/instro-precision">Instro
Precision</a> in Broadstairs, Kent, has also been shut
down. Activists are protesting on the roof of both factories.</p>
<p>A similar occupation took place in Melbourne, <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/australia">Australia</a>.<br>
</p>
<p>The activists accuse the company of complicity in Israel’s
alleged war crimes in Gaza.</p>
<p><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/amnesty-international">Amnesty
International</a> <a
href="http://www.amnesty.org.uk/blogs/press-release-me-let-me-go/gaza-are-israels-pilotless-drones-powered-british-made-engines">research
into the UEL factory</a> has indicated that components made in
the factory, engines for armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, or
drones), were used in Israel’s 2008-2009 attack on Gaza.
Code-named “Operation Cast Lead,” this attack killed 1,400
Palestinians in Gaza.</p>
<p>The UEL factory is known to export its drone engines to Israel.</p>
<p>The Shenstone and Broadstairs factories have been targeted by
protesters before. At the height of Israel’s 51-day assault last
year, nine protesters <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/uk-activists-shut-factory-demand-israel-arms-embargo">staged
a sit-in on the roof of the UEL factory</a>, closing it for two
days in August before they were arrested. Rooftop protesters shut
down the Instro Precision factory in Kent <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/israeli-drone-maker-elbit-targeted-uk-activists-close-second-factory">for
a day in February</a>, with no arrests made.</p>
<figure id="file-31392--2" class="file file-image file-image-jpeg"><picture><source
srcset="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/electronicintifada.net/files/styles/original_800w/public/150706-elite-kl.jpg?itok=SoGp9-mp×tamp=1436185135
1x" media="(min-width: 72rem)"></picture><figcaption
class="group-caption field-group-html-element"></figcaption></figure>
<p>According to a police statement by the Shenstone factory’s
general manager, <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/case-dropped-against-protesters-who-cost-elbit-drone-parts-factory-280000#cliff">seen
by The Electronic Intifada in February</a>, the protesters’
action cost the company £186,000 (almost $280,000) in lost
revenue.</p>
<p>Yet charges of “aggravated trespass” were later <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/case-dropped-against-protesters-who-cost-elbit-drone-parts-factory-280000">dropped
by the Crown Prosecution Service</a> just hours before a
deadline set by the court for the prosecution to release critical
documents. The evidence to be disclosed related to arms export
licences granted to UEL to send its hi-tech engines to Israel for
use in the <a href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/hermes">Hermes</a>
450 drone. </p>
<p>The dropping of the case left Elbit factories in the UK open to
direct action such as is taking place today. <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/adie-mormech">Adie
Mormech</a>, one of the Shenstone nine, said in February that it
was a “green light for further action” by activists against the
factory.</p>
<h2>Solidarity with Palestinians</h2>
<p>Elly Hassan, from <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/london-palestine-action">London
Palestine Action</a>, one of the groups coordinating today’s
“Block the Factory” actions, said: “These Israeli-owned factories
are very much a part of Israel’s brutal regime of apartheid and
settler-colonialism over the Palestinian people.”</p>
<figure id="file-31395--2" class="file file-image file-image-jpeg"><picture><source
srcset="https://electronicintifada.net/sites/electronicintifada.net/files/styles/original_800w/public/150706-instro.jpg?itok=skg9pOb8×tamp=1436185556
1x" media="(min-width: 72rem)"></picture><figcaption
class="group-caption field-group-html-element"></figcaption></figure>
<p>“Israel was only able to massacre thousands in Gaza last summer
because factories like these are allowed to operate and because
governments such as the UK government continue to allow arms
exports to Israel,” she explained.</p>
<p>“People have come here from all over the country to show their
solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and
equality and to demand that the UK government imposes a two-way
military embargo on Israel,” she continued. ”We urge people that
share our opposition to Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian
people to join the growing movement for a boycott of Israel.”</p>
<p>Last summer in Gaza Israel <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/balance-un-gaza-report-cant-hide-massive-israeli-war-crimes">killed
more than 2,200 Palestinians including 551 children</a>. The
2014 assault, which Israel code named “<a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/operation-protective-edge">Operation
Protective Edge</a>,” also left approximately 11,000 people
injured, including 1,000 children left with permanent
disabilities. An estimated 18,000 homes were destroyed or severely
damaged, making 100,000 people homeless. </p>
<h2>“Business as usual”</h2>
<p>During the bombing, arms sales to Israel became a topic of
intense political scrutiny in the UK. Conservative
government minister <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/sayeeda-warsi">Sayeeda
Warsi</a> quit her post in the cabinet, calling the UK
government’s stance “morally indefensible.”</p>
<p>A <a
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/britain-still-arming-israel-despite-fear-weapons-will-be-used-against-gaza-10357621.html">report
called “Arming Apartheid,” released last week</a> by the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/campaign-against-arms-trade">Campaign
Against the Arms Trade</a>, <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/war-want">War on Want</a>
and the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/palestine-solidarity-campaign">Palestine
Solidarity Campaign</a>, found that fresh arms exports to Israel
worth nearly £4 million ($6.2 million) - including components for
drones - were approved by Britain within weeks of the attack.</p>
<p>These deals show that despite Israel’s alleged war crimes, the
government’s attitude to the arms trade with Israel is “business
as usual,” they said.</p>
<p>The action also marks ten years since the launch of the boycott,
divestment and sanctions movement that pressures Israel to comply
with international law. In the UK, the movement is backed by major
UK trade unions, the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/green-party-england-and-wales">Green
Party</a> and the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/national-union-students">National
Union of Students</a>.</p>
<p>Recent successes include the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/boycott-hit-orange-may-dump-israeli-partner-mid-2017">announcement
by Orange</a> that it intends to leave the Israeli market and
the news that <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/foreign-investment-israel-plummets-half-gaza-massacre">foreign
direct investment into Israel has dropped by almost 50
percent last year</a>, partly due to the growth of the boycott
movement. <br>
</p>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415
863.9977 <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>