Protesters have blocked the entrance of an Israeli-owned factory in England where they claim deadly weapons are made.
Activists from Palestine Action and Extinction Rebellion chained the gates of the Elbit Ferranti factory in Greater Manchester early Monday. Two protesters climbed onto a ledge in front of the building, daubing red paint over the windows and spraying the words “Shut Elbit Down.”
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Palestine Action and Extinction Rebellion protesters chain gates of Israeli-owned Elbit Ferranti factory in Greater Manchester
The two groups said their joint action was meant to show Elbit, Israel’s largest arms firm, that they will “continue to take direct action until we shut Elbit down and end all complicity in systematic injustice.”
Greater Manchester Police said officers were sent to the scene. Elbit Systems UK, which has 10 sites across the country, declined to comment.
Elbit recently won a contract with Britain’s Ministry of Defense to provide technology enabling frontline soldiers to detect and engage enemy targets in seconds.
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Palestine Action and Extinction Rebellion protesters on ledge in front of Israeli-owned Elbit Ferranti factory in Greater Manchester, daubing red paint over the windows and spraying words 'Shut Elbit Down'
After the deal was announced last month, defense procurement minister Jeremy Quin said: “This contract with Elbit Systems UK not only delivers the very latest in battlefield technology to our frontline soldiers, but also invests in the British defense industry, sustaining more than 500 jobs across the UK.”
The company employs over 500 people in the U.K. in high-tech and specialist manufacturing, and it also supplies a fleet of 38 aircraft to the U.K. military flying training school.