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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Landlords for Israel's arms trade shut down, LondonMetric's Mayfair offices re-decorated - Palestine Action</h1>December 5, 2023</div>
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<img src="cid:ii_lpybfipe0" alt="signal-2023-12-05-112625_009-1536x1026.jpeg" width="440" height="294"><br><p><em>Photos and videos <a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/3nmz4mk6zw6gearvfqg3m/h?rlkey=3bkk704jypqec8xaymgwazkd1&dl=0" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">can be accessed here</a>, free to reproduce with relevant credit</em></p>
<p>The offices of property firm ‘LondonMetric’ have been shut down by
Palestine Action, with activists targeting the firm for their complicity
in Israel’s arms manufacturing in Britain. The company owns the land
and building of Elbit Systems’ UAV Tactical Systems drone factory in
Leicester, from which military technologies are <a href="https://caat.org.uk/data/exports-uk/overview?company=Elbit+Systems" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>produced for the Israeli weapons market</span></a>.
As a result of their criminal association with Elbit, LondonMetric’s
offices have been disrupted by activists: using a lock-on device on
their arms to prevent entry to the building at 1 Curzon Street, W1J 5HD,
and dousing the building in red paint to mark it with a symbol of the
Palestinian blood which soaks LondonMetric’s profits.</p>
<p>By hosting Israel’s largest weapons company at the Meridian Business
Park, Leicester, LondonMetric have established that they are content to
collect a rent paid for through the manufacture of Israel’s military
drones. The site makes millions annually through its <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230726-uk-elbit-factory-protest-enters-87th-day/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>sale of drones and/or drone components for Israel</span></a>. The <a href="https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span><em>Hermes</em> range of drones</span></a>,
in particular, parts for which the Leicester site is known to
manufacture, are central for Israel’s aerial surveillance and
bombardments of Gaza – the likes of which have claimed the lives of over
15,000 Palestinians over the past 8 weeks.</p>
<p>Today’s office closure comes just a week after Palestine Action took <a href="https://freedomnews.org.uk/2023/11/27/elbits-drone-factory-landlords-targeted/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>similar action against LondonMetric’s Birmingham</span> <span>offices</span></a>. It is also not the activist group’s first visit to 1 Curzon Street, having<span> <a href="https://www.palestineaction.org/actions-against-jll/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">two years ago</a></span> drenched
it red in opposition to the tenancy of Jones Lang LaSalle, a property
firm that had previously leased Elbit their London headquarters. Regular
action against Elbit’s 77 Kingsway offices, against JLL, and against
their subsidiary LaSalle Investment Management, <a href="https://www.palestineaction.org/london-hq-shut/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span>eventually led to Elbit’s vacating the premises</span></a> and JLL ending their relationship to the weapons firm.</p>
<p>This strategy sees the group attempting to make Elbit’s position in
this country increasingly unstable, jeopardising its ability to form and
maintain commercial links to the industries they rely on for their
manufacture of weapons for Israel. Last week, <a href="https://www.palestineaction.org/recruiters-drop-elbit/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">it was confirmed that</a> regular
action against recruiters IO Associates has led to their cutting of
ties with Elbit, and Palestine Action have stated that action will
continue against all firms facilitating Israel’s criminal operations in
Britain.</p>
<p><strong>ENDS</strong><br><strong>NOTES TO EDITORS</strong></p>
<p>If you would like any further information on Palestine action, please contact <a href="mailto:info@palestineaction.org">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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