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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.palestineaction.org/siege-lock-ons/">palestineaction.org</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Palestine Action blockade UAV Tactical Systems, on Day Two of the Siege <br></h1>May 2, 2023</div>
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<img src="cid:ii_lh9a7rpf0" alt="image.png" width="457" height="257"><br><p>On Day Two of The Siege, four activists used lock-ons to block both
roads which lead to the factory of Elbit subsidiary, UAV Tactical
Systems. Completely cutting off access, the activists have put their
bodies in the way and their liberties on the line, in determination that
Elbit cannot be allowed to make their drone technologies in Leicester,
not today nor any day to come. More developments are expected through
the day, as scores continue to mobilise against UAV Tactical Systems in
solidarity with the victims of Elbit weaponry in Palestine and
elsewhere.</p>
<p>With the south-side entrance already occupied – the road hosting a
camp from the first day – the disruption to Elbit was intensified this
morning. The camp occupation was reinforced by a lock-on, as was the
site’s north-side entrance, by activists who made their way past the
police and their metal separation wall which had been guarding the
site’s second entrance. Both access points on the Meridian East road
have now been blockaded.</p>
<p>Ahead of the siege, Palestine Action had pledged that UAV Tactical
Systems would be made the third Elbit site to be shut down permanently,
after sustained actions at their Oldham factory and London headquarters
led to those sites’ closure [<a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2022/01/victory-in-oldham-elbit-forced-to-sell-ferranti-after-sustained-direct-action-campaign/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">1</a>, <a href="https://freedomnews.org.uk/2022/06/21/elbit-have-left-the-building-palestine-action-permanently-closes-down-the-companys-london-hq/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">2</a>].
The second day of the siege has been seen action escalate as Palestine
Action seek to fulfil this pledge, disrupting any planned work and
undermining operations.</p>
<p>This comes after hundreds turned out throughout the first day of the
siege, amassing outside the factory for a mass action. The start of the
sustained resistance was marked by Palestinian Dabke, poetry, speeches
and performances by Lowkey and Tayo Aluko. Activists settled in two
camps, in addition to the woodland camp previously established [<a href="https://freedomnews.org.uk/2023/04/30/palestine-action-occupy-leicesters-israeli-drone-factory/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">3</a>],
tents were pitched on the road immediately outside the factory, in what
Lowkey described as creating a future ‘village called Free Palestine’.</p>
<p>As expected, the police turned out in full force and were using
multiple means to intimidate those amassed for the siege. Three arrests
in total were made, including a nighttime house raid, as the police
found spurious reasons to make arrests and searches on suspicion of
‘conspiracy to commit criminal damage’.</p>
<p>In Leicester and across Elbit’s other 7 remaining sites in Britain,
military technologies are manufactured for export directly to Israel.
The UAV Tactical Systems site regularly sends drones and drone
technologies to Israel [<a href="https://caat.org.uk/data/exports-uk/licence-list?index=date®ion=Israel&company=Elbit+Systems" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">4</a>], where Elbit’s drone products brutally enforce the Israeli occupation of Palestine. UAV Tactical Systems’ flagship drone, the <em>Watchkeeper</em>,
has been used by the British military in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the
English Channel – but is itself modelled on the notorious and deadly <em>Hermes</em> drone, after the latter was ‘battle-tested’ on Palestinians [<a href="https://waronwant.org/sites/default/files/Killer%20Drones%2C%20War%20on%20Want.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">5</a>].</p>
<p>The Elbit and UAV Tactical Systems business model is based on,
firstly, facilitating apartheid and Israel’s war crimes; in doing so,
Elbit develop their technologies through ‘battle-testing’ on
Palestinians, before repackaging and selling on products used to fuel
violence abroad. Elbit, Israel’s largest weapons company, supplies 85%
of Israel’s drones, and 85% of its land based military equipment [<a href="https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">6</a>]. Its products, including the <em>Hermes</em>, have been linked to documented attrocities by the Israeli state [<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/08/11/israel-palestine-drone-strike-operation-protective-edge/?comments=1#comments" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">7</a>, <a href="https://whoprofits.org/company/elbit-systems/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">8</a>].</p>
<p>Speaking of today’s events, a Palestine Action spokesperson has said:</p>
<p><em>“These individuals have taken it upon themselves to make sure
that UAV Tactical Systems does not open, and to stand against the
‘business-as-usual’ of a company whose profits are soaked in Palestinian
blood. This site’s existence is a stain on this country, and we remain
determined to see U-TacS closed down.”</em></p>
<p>[1] <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2022/01/victory-in-oldham-elbit-forced-to-sell-ferranti-after-sustained-direct-action-campaign/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://mondoweiss.net/2022/01/victory-in-oldham-elbit-forced-to-sell-ferranti-after-sustained-direct-action-campaign</a><br>[2] <a href="https://freedomnews.org.uk/2022/06/21/elbit-have-left-the-building-palestine-action-permanently-closes-down-the-companys-london-hq/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://freedomnews.org.uk/2022/06/21/elbit-have-left-the-building-palestine-action-permanently-closes-down-the-companys-london-hq/</a><br>[3] <a href="https://freedomnews.org.uk/2023/04/30/palestine-action-occupy-leicesters-israeli-drone-factory/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://freedomnews.org.uk/2023/04/30/palestine-action-occupy-leicesters-israeli-drone-factory/</a><br>[4] <a href="https://caat.org.uk/data/exports-uk/licence-list?index=date®ion=Israel&company=Elbit+Systems" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://caat.org.uk/data/exports-uk/licence-list?index=date®ion=Israel&company=Elbit+Systems</a><br>[5] <a href="https://waronwant.org/sites/default/files/Killer%20Drones%2C%20War%20on%20Want.pdf" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://waronwant.org/sites/default/files/Killer%20Drones%2C%20War%20on%20Want.pdf</a><br>[6] <a href="https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/</a><br>[7] <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/08/11/israel-palestine-drone-strike-operation-protective-edge/?comments=1#comments" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://theintercept.com/2018/08/11/israel-palestine-drone-strike-operation-protective-edge/?comments=1#comments</a><br>[8] <a href="https://whoprofits.org/company/elbit-systems/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">https://whoprofits.org/company/elbit-systems/</a></p>
<p><strong>ENDS<br>NOTES TO EDITORS</strong></p>
<p>If you would like any further information on Palestine action, please contact <a rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">info@palestineaction.org</a></p>
<p>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.</p>
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