The Live-Action Group shut down Elbit Systems’ offices in an attempt to halt the company’s operations in the UK and oppose the “continued involvement of the state in Israel’s apartheid regime.”
They smeared the office with blood-red paint to mark the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.
The Balfour Declaration in 1917 by Arthur James Balfour (then British Foreign Secretary), expressed support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. Essentially abolishing Palestinian land in favor of a small Jewish minority. . The declaration paved the way for the violent occupation of the territory that continues to this day. With Israeli authorities forcibly evicting Palestinian families from their homes and launching deadly attacks on Gaza.
Britain remained embroiled in this violence, proposing the Palestine Action and allowing companies like Elbit to manufacture their “killer products” in their cities. “The reference to the Elbit Systems headquarters in Bristol is another example of Britain’s continued disobedience (to). The Israeli apartheid regime and the Elbit System’s crimes against the Palestinian people,” the group told Dazed.
When they arrived at Elbit’s office at around 6 a.m. on Tuesday. The three activists managed to climb the building despite a quick response from police. Others used fire extinguishers to paint the office red – meaning “Palestinian bloodshed in favor of Elbit” – before fleeing the police.
“The purpose of direct action against the Elbit headquarters is to contribute to two strategic objectives,” Palestinian Action said. “First, he directly stopped and suspended Elbit’s operations in the country. Following the same strategy we followed last year to take a material stance against Israeli apartheid. Second, the group added, “Raising awareness of the government’s continued involvement in the crimes committed by Elbit and the State of Israel against the Palestinian people.”
This week, the action in Bristol is only the last in a series of Palestinian protests, The Action against Elbit. Since starting in July 2020, the network has blocked locations. Sprayed them with graffiti, occupied roofs, and generally disrupted its weapons production.