Latest news with #ElbitSystems
Times
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Times
Palestine Action group shows no signs of slowing down
'We are tired of being ignored. It is up to all of us to stop this complicity' were the words that launched Palestine Action almost five years ago. Founded by Huda Ammori, who has Palestinian and Iraqi heritage, and Richard Barnard, a veteran left-wing activist, the fledgling group said direct action should be taken against Elbit Systems, a weapons manufacturer that they claim 'profits from Israel's war crimes'. Two months later, in September 2020, they did just that. Activists occupied a factory in Shenstone, in Staffordshire, smashing windows, drilling holes into ceilings, throwing air conditioning units to the ground and dousing the building in red paint. The demonstration marked the start of co-ordinated attempts to damage both the defence firm facilities and finances across the country, which have propelled the group on a path towards proscription. Throughout 2021 Palestine Action widened its activities, occupying a drone factory in Leicester. The occupation lasted six days, and ten arrests were made for conspiracy to commit criminal damage and aggravated trespass. The defendants were cleared after the trial judge instructed the jury to consider the common law defence of Necessity. After launching their Scottish branch, they targeted Thales, another defence firm. Having infiltrated its Glasgow facility in 2022, the activists allegedly caused more than £1 million of damage. Five were jailed after members of the group threw a smoke bomb into an area where staff were being evacuated. Protesters in red suits and balaclavas also caused hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage to an electronics plant in Wales that year, which they believed was making circuit boards for Israeli drones. The group's activities ramped up after the October 7, 2023 attacks. As Israeli forces announced a 'full siege' on Gaza, Palestine Action published a list of over 50 targets 'complicit in Elbit's murderous arms trade'. A few days later they sprayed the headquarters of the BBC — which wasn't on the list — with red paint to 'symbolise complicity in genocide'. Protestors also blockaded Lockheed Martin in Bedford, smeared red paint over the Foreign Office and targeted the headquarters of aerospace firm Leonardo, at which two men were arrested for what the Met called racially aggravated criminal damage. Their actions began to go beyond scaling roof tops and breaking factory windows. Members of the campaign group allegedly used a modified prison van to ram the entrance of Elbit's Bristol HQ last summer. Once inside they dismantled weapons, allegedly caused £1 million in damage and assaulted two officers were with a sledgehammer, police said. Eighteen people were charged and held on remand over the break-in. Less than a month after members of Just Stop Oil threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh's Sunflowers painting, two Palestine Action members squirted tomato ketchup at a statue of former prime minister Arthur Balfour. The former foreign secretary has been a focus of activist anger as he was the signatory of the Balfour Declaration, a 1917 document that pledged support for the establishment of a 'national home for the Jewish people' in Palestine. In March 2024, the group used blades to slash a painting of Lord Balfour hanging in the University of Cambridge. Seven months later — to mark the declaration's anniversary — they reportedly stole two busts of Israel's first president from the University of Manchester's chemistry building. As Palestine Action grew in notoriety and numbers, the British state also became a target. Early in 2024, six members were arrested for allegedly plotting to prevent the London Stock Exchange from opening. Activists have inevitably attracted the attention of authorities and received jail time. Among the first to be hauled before the courts were five members in November 2022, who had covered Elbit's Kingsway offices in their, now signature, red paint. They were, however, acquitted by a jury of 'conspiracy to commit criminal damage' and the offices later closed. Palestine Action declared a victory for this and for the closure of an Elbit factory in Oldham, where their sustained protests had resulted in 36 arrests. In August 2024, five members of the group were handed custodial sentences for protest action. It took two years for the courts to hand out suspended prison sentences and order the protesters to pay more than £5,000 in compensation after seven activists broke into the Bristol headquarters of Elbit to destroy equipment. Zoë Rogers turned 21 in prison. She had been charged with criminal damage, violent disorder and aggravated burglary in relation to the Bristol incident after telling her mother, Clare, that the pro-Palestine marches 'weren't working'. She was denied bail and is on remand with a trial set for November 2025. Fatema Zainab was arrested and charged as part of the same operation. As the court system caught up in December 2023, two members of a group known as the Elbit Eight, Genevieve Scherer and Jocelyn Cooney, were acquitted on charges relatingfrom July 2020 to January 2021. Their defence had argued that they were justified in 'working to disrupt manufacture of Israel's weaponry'. Richard Barnard was convicted of one count of criminal damage at the now-closed Elbit factory in Oldham.
Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Telegraph
Singer shouts ‘Free Palestine' before first match of Lions tour
An Irish singer shouted 'Free Palestine' during a performance before the rugby match between the British & Irish Lions and Argentina. Cian Ducrot, the Irish singer-songwriter, began his set at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin with his hit I'll be Waiting and finished his second song as players from both sides were returning to the changing rooms. Just as they left the pitch, the 27-year-old called out 'Free Palestine' in place of a lyric. Ducrot's pro-Palestine protest is the latest seen in sport. Other recent examples include a Palestine flag flown over Allianz Stadium by a drone during the Six Nations game between England and Italy in March. The group responsible, Palestine Action, said it targeted the match because Allianz insures Elbit Systems, one of Israel's largest weapons manufacturers. Palestine Action had also targeted Turnberry, Donald Trump's Scottish golf course, digging up greens, spray-painting the clubhouse and daubing 'Gaza is not for sale' on the course in 10ft-high graffiti. In football, Paris St-Germain fans held up a 'Free Palestine' banner last November, while a female spectator threw leaflets with the same message onto the court at the Australian Open match between Alex Zverev and Cameron Norrie in January. Ducrot is a Grammy-award winning singer who grew up in Cork. His protest comes two days after Liam O'Hanna, an Irish-language rapper, was released on bail after appearing in court on a terror charge related to his support of Hezbollah.
LeMonde
8 hours ago
- Business
- LeMonde
Banned from Paris Air Show, Israeli defense firms are both frustrated and powerless
Two people loading coffee machines onto a cart were all that remained at the stand reserved by Israeli defense firm UVision at the Paris Air Show as it prepared to open to the public for three days in Le Bourget, north of the French capital, on Thursday, June 19. By the time the convention was concluding its days reserved for industry players, the Israeli firm had already left. Along with fellow Israeli companies Elbit Systems, Aeronautics, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries, UVision was blocked from displaying its weapons systems: its booths had been off-limits, boarded up by black barricades, at the request of the French government, since the professionals-only part of the show launched on Monday. "France has made it clear that offensive weapons would not be part of the show," Prime Minister François Bayrou said at the venue on June 16, adding the situation in Gaza was "morally unacceptable" and required an expression of "disapproval" and "distance." However, talks between the French government and the Israeli embassy in Paris in the lead-up to the gathering were supposed to define the conditions by which the Israeli companies could show their weapons. The show's organizers, aware of each booth's layout and the items on display, had approved their participation.
Miami Herald
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Pro-Palestinian group break into Britain's largest air force base
June 20 (UPI) -- A pro-Palestinian group announced early Friday it managed to break into Britain's largest air force base and damage two planes in what it said was a protest against the country's support of Israel. Palestine Action posted video footage to its X account that allegedly shows members of its group, who they refer to as "actionists," on the grounds of RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where they sprayed red paint on two Airbus Voyager air-to-air refueling tankers before successfully making an escape. Additionally, although not shown in the video, the group also damaged the planes with crowbars and left a Palestinian flag behind. In the post, Palestine Action purports that Britain sends planes daily to a base in Cyprus, from where it can "collect intelligence, refuel fighter jets and transport weapons to commit genocide in Gaza." U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated Friday on social media that "The act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful." "Our Armed Forces represent the very best of Britain and put their lives on the line for us every day," he continued, "It is our responsibility to support those who defend us." Palestine Action posted a photo later Friday morning of what it alleges to be an office that is used by the Allianz Group financial services providers company, located in the British city of Chelmsford. The image ostensibly shows a doorway and stairs spray painted red, with what appears to be a door or window broken and covered with a board. "By providing insurance to Elbit Systems, Allianz enables the production of Israeli weaponry on British soil," the group alleged, before threatening to continue with attacks "until Allianz ends all ties to Israel's biggest arms producer." Elbit Systems is an Israel-based military technology company and defense contractor. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
India.com
14 hours ago
- Politics
- India.com
Iran Israel war: Bad news for Israel as Iranian missiles hit Israel's ‘crown jewel of science', it is located in…, it is important for Israel due to…
Iran Israel war: Bad news for Israel as Iranian missiles hit Israel's 'crown jewel of science', it is located in..., it is important for Israel due to... At least 14 nuclear scientists are believed to be among those killed in Israel's Operation Rising Lion, launched on June 13, 2025, ostensibly to destroy or degrade Iran's nuclear programme and military capabilities. Deliberately targeting scientists in this way aims to disrupt Iran's knowledge base and continuity in nuclear expertise. While no one was killed in the strike on the Weizmann Institute of Science early Sunday, it caused heavy damage to multiple labs on campus. For years, Israel has targeted Iranian nuclear scientists, hoping to choke progress on Iran's nuclear program by striking at the brains behind it. Weizmann has ties to Israel's defense establishment While it is a multidisciplinary research institute, Weizmann, like other Israeli universities, has ties to Israel's defense establishment, including collaborations with industry leaders like Elbit Systems, which is why it may have been targeted. Weizmann, founded in 1934 and later renamed after Israel's first president, ranks among the world's top research institutes. Its scientists and researchers publish hundreds of studies each year. One Nobel laureate in chemistry and three Turing Award laureates have been associated with the institute, which built the first computer in Israel in buildings were hit in the strike, including one housing life sciences labs and a second that was empty and under construction but meant for chemistry study, according to the institute. Dozens of other buildings were damaged. The campus has been closed since the strike, although media were allowed to visit Thursday. Large piles of rock, twisted metal and other debris were strewn on campus. There were shattered windows, collapsed ceiling panels and charred walls. Why target nuclear scientists? In foreign policy, there are numerous tools available if one state aims to prevent another state from acquiring nuclear weapons. Alongside targeting scientists, there are sanctions, diplomacy, cyberattacks and military force. Targeting scientists may remove critical scientific expertise and impose costs that increase the difficulty of building nuclear weapons.
