Palestine Action has probably just caused a global internal panic for a PR firm that lobbies on behalf of Israel weapons manufacturers. Because the last time the group targeted company APCO, it caused it to go into a tailspin.
Palestine Action: taking on APCO again
On Friday 25 October, activists from Palestine Action blockaded the London headquarters of ‘APCO Worldwide’, registered political lobbyists for Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons firm:
Returning to the APCO site after a September action of the same effect, activists locked-on to block the office’s main entrance, the premises sprayed in red paint:
Police swarmed onto the scene, but were unable to do anything for several hours after Palestine Action’s 8:30am wake up call to APCO:
Front and back entrances to APCO's London office are locked off, shutting down the paid lobbyists for Israel's biggest weapons firm.
Corrupting our political and judicial system for a foreign genocidal arms manufacturer will not be tolerated. pic.twitter.com/EgevmjAGRq
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) October 25, 2024
Eventually cops arrested the actionists – but not until they’d been there for around four hours:
Actionists arrested after they shut down APCO, paid lobbyists for Israel's largest arms producer, Elbit Systems pic.twitter.com/H2CuoubRgU
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) October 25, 2024
At a time when Elbit System’s weapons are being used to commit genocide in Gaza, and a genocide within a genocide in north Gaza, APCO is working to represent Elbit in the halls of the British parliament and government.
APCO: lobbying for genocide
APCO is a provider of consultant lobbying services to ‘Elbit Systems UK’, a major exporter of drone components to Israel and a subsidiary of ‘Elbit Systems Ltd’ which provides for the vast majority of Israel’s military drone and ground vehicles.
Among APCO’s staff is ‘Lord Stuart Polak’, whose own lobbying firm ‘TWC’ was purchased by APCO in 2018, six years after TWC was reported to have conducted a “secret campaign” to secure a £500m Ministry of Defence contract for Elbit, according to the Sunday Times.
However, Palestine Action had previously managed to disrupt the ‘business as usual’ of APCO. As it tweeted, after its last action in September, the company went into meltdown – cancelling internal meetings. It was because there had been disquiet from employees in the Middle East over APCO’s involvement with Israel:
Our first action at Elbit's hired lobbyists, APCO, caused internal disputes for the firm.
The solution is simple. Drop Israel's biggest weapons producer as a client. pic.twitter.com/5EuypWM0Jw
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) October 25, 2024
APCO Worldwide is doubtless also concerned with Elbit’s relationship to MoD procurement, particularly as Elbit Systems Ltd looks to internationally market its “battle-tested” new products, – including new lines of missiles, and its ‘quadcopter’ drones recently displayed for the British market at Elbit’s Bristol HQ.
Palestine Action: 16, not out
Currently, 16 Palestine action prisoners are jailed across Britain, ten of whom have been detained and investigated using powers under the ‘Terrorism Act’, breaches of which they were not subsequently charged with.
These individuals have been imprisoned using powers abused at the request of Israel’s war machine. FOI information shows that not only Elbit, but the Israeli Embassy, have lobbied the British state to take greater repressive action against Palestine Action activists.
Its lobbyists have certainly pushed for the same repression.
Featured image and additional images via Martin Pope
