PALESTINE Action campaigners have laid siege to a factory in Leicester which is the base of UAV Tactical Systems, owned by Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms firm.
The siege was launched on May Day and by Wednesday 33 protesters had been arrested.
A statement by the group on Tuesday said: ‘Leicestershire Police, having witnessed the speeches, workshops, dance, and community mobilisation that have characterised the siege thus far, stepped in with all of the force at their disposal to intimidate and detain those standing against Elbit.
‘Throughout Tuesday, arrests were made indiscriminately, without evidence and with the clear motivation to repress the growing mobilisation.
‘Police, who arrived with armed units yesterday, have deployed tactics including kettling, property seizure, breaking and entering cars, the raiding of homes and the dismantling of encampments.’
On Wednesday night, protesters had to sleep in sleeping bags on the road after the police removed tents and personal belongings including prescribed medication yesterday afternoon.
The statement continued: ‘Of the 33 arrested, the majority were taken to Euston Street station, released on bail overnight.
‘Police arrested a score of those who had populated a woodland camp adjacent to the site, along with four who had locked-on to each other in the road, and supporters and bystanders.
‘The action throughout Monday, where 250 people had assembled, was peaceful, and the police did not offer any reason for their encroachment into the camp.
‘The arrests included two co-founders of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori and Richard Barnard, taken into custody for reasons as of yet unclear, arrested in a different jurisdiction and transferred to Leicester early this morning.
‘The pair’s arrest, unconnected to any events at the site of the factory, demonstrate that the police strategy is one of intimidation and blanket detention.
‘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.
‘And the community is onside – after the police seized the tents, blankets, food and possessions of those camped at the site, the Leicester community turned up to donate blankets, sleeping bags, food and other necessities that the police had deprived protesters of.
‘With the south side entrance already occupied – the road hosting a camp from the first day – the disruption to Elbit was intensified on Tuesday 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.
‘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.
‘The second day of the siege has been seen action escalate as Palestine Action seeks to fulfil this pledge, disrupting any planned work and undermining operations.’
The group announced on May Day: ‘Together, for six days, we launch #ShutElbitDown. In a new front to the campaign, we’re heading back to finish what we started. In our masses, our siege will include staying put day and night, for weeks on end.
‘From May 1st, we’re not leaving until Elbit does.
‘Leicester is the base of UAV Tactical Systems, owned by Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms firm. Behind locked doors, drones are assembled which Elbit have tested on the captive population of Gaza.
‘Research shows their military drone equipment is exported to the colonisers of Palestine to murder, displace and oppress people across the world.
‘Elbit provides 85% of Israel’s military drone fleet, many of which are armed.
‘Being able to develop weapons on our siblings in Palestine, means they are able to export them to oppressive regimes across the world, including against the occupied people of Kashmir.
‘UAV Tactical Systems is an Israeli-French drone company based out of a factory at Unit F, Meridian East, Meridian Business Park, Leicester, LE19 1WZ, UK. The factory is used for design, testing, and manufacture of drones sold to the British army, Israel and international arms markets.
Watchkeeper Drone
‘UAV Tactical Systems’ flagship product is the Watchkeeper drone, made for the British Army and Border Force.
‘Having racked up 100,000 hours of service in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Watchkeeper was originally modelled on Israel’s Elbit-made Hermes drones, which have been extensively deployed in operations against Gaza.
‘By commissioning the Watchkeeper, the British government is thereby buying technology that claims to be ‘field-tested’ on Palestinians, while the Elbit CEO boasted of the ‘collaboration with the Israeli and UK governments’ made possible through the Watchkeeper programme.
UAV Tactical Systems arms Israel
‘The UAV Tactical Systems factory is directly supplying the Israeli military. Data to 2021 shows that the company holds export licenses for the sale, to Israel, of drones systems, target acquisition/surveillance systems, electronics equipment, and other military technologies. Freedom of Information disclosures show the company supplies Israel with infrared or thermal imaging equipment, and components for military grade ground vehicles.
‘We also know that the UAV Tactical Systems site has been used for projects operating the Hermes class of drones, on behalf of both the British military and for the United Nations.
‘This drone is notorious for its deployments against Palestinians, used for surveillance, bombings, and targetted assasinations.
‘Having been Israel’s “worst kept secret” for years, the Israeli military recently admitted that its Hermes drones are outfitted with explosives and munitions, and it is likely that parts for these drones are what comprise the many ML10-categorised exports that UAV Tactical Systems holds for the sale to Israel.
‘The UAV Tactical Systems site is therefore intimately tied to Israel’s drone warfare operation in two ways. On one hand, it is fuelling Israel’s drone programmes directly through the provision of hardware for Israel’s Hermes. While on the other hand, it further profits from these operations by repackaging and selling Israeli drones under the Watchkeeper brand.
Elbit Systems
‘All of this fits the pattern of Elbit’s British operations: profiting two-fold from Israeli occupation and from the export opportunities from Israeli occupation technologies.
‘Elbit Systems is Israel’s largest arms company, with their broad range of activities generating a broad influence in Israel’s militarised, securitised occupation of Palestine.
‘Elbit supplies the Israeli military with 85% of their drones and 85% of their land-based equipment.
‘The company’s surveillance equipment monitors Palestinians through drone operations, at border points, and across Israel’s apartheid wall.
‘Elbit supplies the IDF with all of its small calibre munitions through subsidiary IMI Systems, while its armed remote-control boats which have attacked Palestinian fishermen.
‘Their Hermes drones have been used for extra-judicial killings in foreign countries such as Sudan and operations in Egypt, while enabling the slaughter of Palestinians inside Gaza.
‘They were used extensively in the 2008 and 2014 assaults on Gaza, in which Israel killed 1,417 and 2,202 Palestinians respectively, including four boys killed by a Hermes attack while playing on a beach in Gaza in 2014.
‘Elbit’s business model is then to sell these technologies on to fuel imperialism elsewhere. Its drones have not only been deployed by British military and border operations, but are employed by the EU’s militarised border agency Frontex.
‘The same technologies outfitting Israel’s apartheid wall run along the US’ border wall with Mexico, and are used for monitoring of indigenous lands.
‘Elbit drones have been purchased in major volumes by India, in turn deploying them in violent military campaigns perpetuating the repression of Kashmiri populations.
‘The company formerly hosted 10 sites across Britain. As of 2023, with Elbit forced to close its Oldham factory and London headquarters, this has been reduced to 8 sites. Soon they’ll only have 7.’
Palestine Action is calling for more supporters to join the siege at Unit F, Meridian East, Meridian Business Park, Braunstone Town, Leicester, LE19 1TP.