PALESTINE Action scaled the roof of another Israeli arms factory yesterday, morning holding ‘Shut down Elbit’ banners.
They announced: ‘We’ve taken to the roof of Israel’s arms factory in Oldham once more, spraying it blood red with fire extinguishers, laying bare the profits of a military occupation and extinguishing Elbit through direct action.’
In another tweet, the group said they had ‘blockaded’ the gates of the Israeli arms factory in Oldham by vehicles, and halted its ‘deadly production line’.
One of the pictures showed an activist sitting on the roof, with clenched fist. The caption read: ‘They may try to lock us up in chains but we’ll always keep coming back and taking the fight to Elbit to tear apart their links in Israel’s killer supply chain.’
In a statement published on its website, Palestine Action said the move comes ‘as Israel continues to raid Palestinian communities in Gaza and the West Bank while brutalising civilians, using UK-manufactured weapons and technologies produced by firms such as Elbit Systems.’
It said the Oldham arms factory is used for the ‘production of a range of specialist weapons technologies, including components for Israeli drones and battle tanks.’
‘The activists currently occupying the Elbit Ferranti factory have once again shown the power of direct action against Israeli oppression. While Western governments continue to side with the oppressors, and while media attention on Palestinian suffering has dwindled, Palestinians are still exposed to daily brutality, starvation, apartheid and death.
‘These activists are bravely standing against this injustice – and we will continue to do so until Elbit is shut down,’ their statement said.
It is the second time in three months that pro-Palestine activists in the UK have scaled the roof of an Israeli arms factory. In May, a week-long protest in Leicester resulted in court action.
The group has been vigorously campaigning against Elbit, Israel’s largest arms producer, across the UK since last year, targeting a number of sites owned by the arms company.