LONDON (Dispatches) – Pro-Palestinian activists have occupied the London headquarters of the Zionist regime’s arms manufacturer Elbit Systems.
Friday’s takeover of the offices in Holborn is the latest in a series of direct action protests by Palestine Action against Elbit, whose drones have been used in combat over the skies of Gaza.
In a statement, Palestine Action said it had scaled the entrance of Elbit’s building and was “currently occupying the site and preventing operations”.
“The facade of the building has been covered in spray-painted calls to ‘evict Elbit’, ‘Shut Elbit Down’ and ‘Free Palestine’,” it said.
“The site premises have been sprayed completely red to signify the bloodshed from which Elbit profits, with their UK-made drones and military tech being used to commit war crimes and repression in Palestine and across the globe.”
The organization said that alongside those currently occupying the site, a group of protesters had turned up to demand Elbit are evicted from their London offices, adding that a group of drummers had shown up in solidarity.
Palestine Action said Elbit’s drones had been used by Zionist troops to bombard and surveil Palestinian civilians before they entered the global market, where they were sold as “battle-tested” and “field proven” to repressive governments around the world.
Elbit’s headquarters have been targeted several times by Palestine Action, and Friday’s direct action occurred in the week of the organization’s first anniversary of its campaign against the Zionist company.
Past protests have taken place at sites linked to the company, including in the county of Kent, the Greater Manchester area, Runcorn and Leicester.
According to Palestine Action, it has disrupted Elbit’s operations for 105 days out of 365, across the company’s 10 UK sites, plus those of their drone parts supplier APPH.