Palestine Action activists targeted the London headquarters of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems this morning, just 8 days after their previous action to shut the office down.
Despite the 24-hour security presence of a guard outside the door at 77 Kingsway, Holborn, three young women blockaded the front door and sprayed blood red paint once more over the front of the building and pavement.
The office has no signs to indicate what goes on inside the building or who the tenants are, but one of the activists told passers-by that people inside work on marketing, “designing slogans about how best to advertise weapons that are being used to kill people right now”.
Elbit have used the phrase “battle-tested” to market their deadly trade, alluding to the widespread use of Elbit equipment in the illegally-occupied Palestinian territories.
Another of the activists, just 17 years old, spoke of the 160 children currently detained in Palestine, 20 in solitary confinement.
Palestine Action is a network of activists working to shut Elbit down, and today’s action was carried out by members of XR Youth, marking a new cross-campaign collaboration and connecting the issues of climate change with imperialism and militarisation. Military activity, land use and fuel use, make a very significant contribution to the planet’s ecological problems and carbon emissions.
Their campaign has been ongoing for around 18 months, but despite millions of pounds worth of alleged damage and lost business, due to factory occupations and direct actions, there is yet to be a successful court case against activists, only collapsed trials and acquittals.
More info and regular Zoom meetings at palestineaction.org
