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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://popularresistance.org/the-siege-against-leicesters-israeli-weapons-factory-begins/">popularresistance.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The Siege Against Leicester’s Israeli Weapons Factory Begins <br></h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By Palestine Action.</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">May 2, 2023<br></div>
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<img src="cid:ii_lh7tgfuy0" alt="image.png" width="392" height="253"><br><p>Above Photo: Images and videos from The Siege can be accessed via <a href="http://bit.ly/SiegeMedia">bit.ly/SiegeMedia</a>.</p>
<blockquote><p>NOTE: Listen to a recent interview with a co-founder of Palestine Action <a href="https://popularresistance.org/direct-action-succeeds-in-weakening-support-for-israeli-apartheid/">on Clearing the FOG here</a>.</p></blockquote>
<p>Palestine Action’s siege has begun. Hundreds have descended on
Meridian Business Park in Leicester to force Elbit’s factory to shut
down. The crowds began arriving this afternoon, and have been growing in
number through the day. With banners, chants, flags, and rousing
speeches delivered so far, the mass of people were welcomed later by an
empowering performance by rapper and activist Lowkey, along with award
winning actor and playwright Tayo Aluko, Palestinian Dabke, poetry, and
more.</p>
<p>The Siege against Leicester’s Elbit-owned UAV Tactical Systems
(‘U-TacS’), is a mass action which involves huge numbers willing to
remain at the site, using themselves to disrupt the flow of business [<a href="https://www.palestineaction.org/siege/">1</a>]. Palestine Action refuse to leave until Elbit does.</p>
<p>There is a heavy police presence on the ground, with riot vans
deployed and a metal wall erected around the factory, but actionists,
undeterred, continue to arrive on the scene. Police have been conducting
raids and arrests at random – smashing their way into parked cars to
‘search’ them. Ahead of the action, the company has also reinforced its
site with extra fencing, cameras, and shuttered their windows. Despite
this, a woodland camp was built by actionists days before the siege
began and initially went unnoticed for 12 hours — even with Elbit’s
‘state-of-the-art’ surveillance. Others have now decamped on the road
leading to the factory, pledging to stay there for as long as they can.</p>
<p>U-TacS is a drone factory owned and operated by Israel’s largest
weapons company, Elbit Systems, in partnership with French arms firm
Thales. Its flagship product is the <em>Watchkeeper</em> drone, modelled on the Hermes 450 after the latter was “battle-tested” on Palestinians [<a href="https://waronwant.org/sites/default/files/Killer%20Drones%2C%20War%20on%20Want.pdf">2</a>]. The company boast that the <em>Watchkeeper</em> allegedly operated for over 100,000 hours over Afghanistan and Iraq [<a href="https://u-tacs.co.uk/product/watchkeeper-x">3</a>].
Despite insisting that they only sell to the British military, U-TacS,
in fact, export around £5 million worth of military equipment to Israel
yearly, consisting primarily of drones and/or drone components, along
with targetting and surveillance technologies, and other military
equipment [<a href="https://caat.org.uk/data/exports-uk/licence-list?index=date®ion=Israel&company=Elbit+Systems">4</a>].</p>
<p>Elbit manufacture 85% of Israel’s military drone fleet [<a href="https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/">5</a>],
not only arming the Israeli military with these drones and developing
the technology, but also operating the drones alongside the military,
directly assisting them in their attacks. Palestine Action occupied
Leicester’s Elbit site for six days in May 2021 [<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-57243045">6</a>]
at the height of the Israeli aggression on Gaza in 2021 — a bombing
campaign which left over 250 Palestinians dead, including over 60
children [<a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220506-remembering-israels-2021-onslaught-on-gaza/">7</a>].</p>
<p>The siege intends to sever what Palestine Action describe as the <em>apparatus of the Israeli military working from Britain</em>:</p>
<p>“Protests, petitions and all appeals to the British establishment to
end their century-long complicity have failed. However, the mass
movement of people willing to mobilise to shut Elbit down demonstrates
that the route to victory lies with the people – and with not the powers
that be. We will resist until we win.”</p>
<p>Reporters are encouraged to continue attending the site throughout
the month of May and witness the public’s drive and determination to
kick Elbit out of the city.</p>
<p>Regular updates can be found on Palestine Action’s Twitter [<a href="https://twitter.com/Pal_action">8</a>] and social media accounts [<a href="https://www.instagram.com/pal_action/?hl=en">9</a>].</p>
<p>[1] <a href="https://www.palestineaction.org/siege/">https://www.palestineaction.org/siege/<br>
</a>[2] <a href="https://waronwant.org/sites/default/files/Killer%20Drones%2C%20War%20on%20Want.pdf">https://waronwant.org/sites/default/files/Killer%20Drones%2C%20War%20on%20Want.pdf</a><br>
[3] <a href="https://u-tacs.co.uk/product/watchkeeper-x">https://u-tacs.co.uk/product/watchkeeper-x</a><br>
[4] <a href="https://caat.org.uk/data/exports-uk/licence-list?index=date®ion=Israel&company=Elbit+Systems">https://caat.org.uk/data/exports-uk/licence-list?index=date®ion=Israel&company=Elbit+Systems</a><br>
[5] <a href="https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/">https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/</a><br>
[6] <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-57243045">https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-57243045</a><br>
[7] <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220506-remembering-israels-2021-onslaught-on-gaza/">https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220506-remembering-israels-2021-onslaught-on-gaza/</a><br>
[8] <a href="https://twitter.com/Pal_action">https://twitter.com/Pal_action<br>
</a>[9] <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pal_action/?hl=en">https://www.instagram.com/pal_action/?hl=en</a></p>
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