Wednesday 15 May marked 76 years since Israel militia, backed by the UK, committed the Nakba against the Palestinian people. It’s arguable it never actually ended. So, to mark the day and send a clear message to warmongering arms manufacturers propping up Israel’s genocidal regime, Palestine Action has hit several targets across the country.
Palestine Action: marking the Nakba with action
First, at UAV Engines Ltd (UEL) factory in Shenstone, Palestine Action activists locked on outside:
Whilst at Teledyne Defence and Space (TDS) in Shipley, activists occupied and dismantled the roof of the factory to bring operations to a halt:
At the Elbit subsidiary UEL, seven activists from Palestine Action locked down the entrance to the weapons factory, using both vehicles and lock-on boxes to prevent any shipments or workers from entering and continuing their complicity in genocide:
The factory is a crucial part of Israel’s war machine because it is owned by Israel’s largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems — who provide 85% of Israel’s military drone fleet. Specifically, UEL designs and produces engines to power Elbit’s drones, which are used for both the surveillance and bombing of targets during the ongoing genocide.
At Teledyne, Palestine Action activists occupied the factory’s roof and began taking it apart to render the factory inoperable:
Through the occupation, Palestine Action activists halted the production of key components for missile systems – specifically missile filters – exported from the site to Israel.
The US arms maker has often boasted of its involvement with missile products procured by Israel, including the AGM-Harpoon, AIM-120 AMRAAM, and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles – the latter reportedly being used by Israel to strike Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. The site also produces parts fitted in F-35 Fighter jets, such as the Phobos ESM System used in the AN/APG-81 AESA radar (listed as ‘radar warning receiver’ on their radar components page).
All actions were taken to mark 76 years since the Nakba.
The Nakba has never ended
The Nakba, (‘The Catastrophe’ in English) saw Zionist militias, armed and trained by the British Armed Forces, expel over 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland. These militias destroyed over 500 towns and villages, and massacred over 13,000 people – including entire families.
This started an ongoing process of disposession and ethnic cleansing, which culminated in the ongoing genocide being waged by the Zionist entity since 7 October 2023.
Since that date, over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed by the settler colonial state, with almost half of that number being children. Not only that, but the survivors are repeatedly being forced to flee on dangerous death marches to “safe places” where Israel’s military will inevitably bombard them again.
A Palestine Action spokesperson said:
It is a common phrase by Palestinians to say: the Nakba is not an event but a process. And just like the actions of Israel today were set in motion by the Nakba, so too was Britain’s complicity.
The Zionist militias which perpetrated the catastrophe were trained by British soldiers, and today we see history repeat when Britain allows the companies we have targeted today to continue with their business backing brutality whilst Israel butchers Palestinians en mass. This is a crime, and one we fully intend to stop. As we have always said: we won’t stop till the Nakba does.
Featured image via Neil Terry Photography and additional images via Neil Terry Photography and Palestine Action
