Palestine Action use van to block entrance to Elbit factory – as the police look haplessly on

Cops are getting more and more hapless when it comes to dealing with Palestine Action – as a blockade of Elbit’s Bristol site – involved in Israel’s genocide – just showed.

Palestine Action: blocking Elbit again

On Thursday 2 May, Palestine Action activists have, once again, managed to halt business-as-usual at the centre of Elbit System’s operations in Britain, at their headquarters located at ‘Aztec West 600’ in Bristol:

That site is used by Elbit – Israel’s largest weapons company – to oversee their logistical, financial, and operational affairs throughout the country, making it a key hub for Israel’s arms trade in Britain.

Activists used a van to blockade the road leading to the site, directly outside the premises’ gates, affixing themselves to it to prevent its removal:

From inside, and utilising holes cut in the van roof, they launched red paint at the Elbit site – to mark it in a symbol of the Palestinian bloodshed staining Elbit’s profits:

They held the blockade for hours, preventing the headquarters from opening and thus hindering the manufacture and supply of weaponry to Israel. Eventually though, cops managed to get themselves organised enough to arrest the actionists:

Three arrested for shutting down the British logistical centre of Israel’s weapons trade. No matter what, we will #ShutElbitDown for good! pic.twitter.com/0czcbUR3zs

— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) May 2, 2024

This is far from the first time that Palestine Action has blockaded Elbit’s Bristol HQ in the months since Israel’s genocide in Gaza commenced.

The action successfully forced the site closed despite the ongoing police harassment of activists in Bristol – last week conducting a raid on a dwelling to make nine arrests. As Bristol Live reported:

Multiple people have been arrested after an overnight police raid in Bristol. Nine people were taken into custody at an address in Bristol overnight between April 24 and 25, police have confirmed.

According to the group Palestine Action, members were arrested for “allegedly conspiring to commit criminal damage”. Posting on social media, the organisation said 15 people had been taken into custody, but Avon and Somerset Police has said nine people were arrested.

A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset Police said: “Nine people were arrested at an address in Bristol over the night of 24 and 25 April on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage. They have since been released on conditional police bail.”

Shut Elbit down

It is obvious, however, that the need to shut this site, and all Elbit sites, down could not be more urgent: their weapons are playing a central role in Israel’s campaign in Gaza, which has already claimed over 34,000 Palestinian lives.

According to Israeli media, Elbit provides up to 80% of the Israeli military’s land based military equipment and 85% of its military drones. It supplies vast numbers of munitions and missiles – including the ‘Iron Sting’ recently developed and deployed for the first time in the 2023-2024 Genocide in Gaza, along with wide categories of surveillance technologies, targeting systems, and innumerate other armaments.

Palestine Action said in a statement:

We have a moral duty therefore not to permit these weapons to be manufactured in Britain, if we wish to not be complicit in Israel’s genocidal acts.

Underscoring this risk of complicity, Somerset Council’s CEO last week reversed the democratic decision of the Council – apologising to Elbit for passing a motion which provided the mandate for evicting the weapons giant from the Aztec West site ultimately owned by Somerset Council.

Palestine Action have made clear that this site, and Elbit generally, should not be permitted to operate – and that activists will continue to take direct action until it is shut down permanently.

Featured image and additional images via Palestine Action