NOTE: Palestine Action’s fight has now expanded to the United States. Activists recently targeted a weapons factory owned by the Israeli arms company, Elbit, in Boston, Massachusetts. See tweet below:
While senior representatives of the world’s largest arms firms convened at the ‘International Composites Summit 2023’ to discuss “cost-effective” weaponry components [1], Palestine Action snuck their way in and crashed the event.
Once inside the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, four activists took over the stage to disrupt the marketing of ‘genocide’ as a tool to be bought-and-sold to annihilate the Palestinian people.
Activists over-spoke the corporate speeches and raised the Palestinian flag, stating: “You are all war criminals. We’re making a stand against you and your weapons of death. Palestinians suffer everyday from the brutality of apartheid… We know who you are, we know what you do, merchants of death, we’re coming for you.”
Talks by Sean Cooper, Chief Engineer at Defence & Space National Composites Centre, representatives of weapons firm Qinetiq and missiles manufacturer MBDA were drowned out by the stage invasion; crippling the smooth running of the event [2].
Many of the companies who attended the event have previously been targeted by Palestine Action. One such firm is the ADS group — representatives and advocates for the world’s largest arms dealers, including Israel’s biggest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems [3].
The Group offer weapons companies exclusive access to arms fairs to gain market and stakeholder access — for the purpose of increased sales — along with business and network support, government lobbying and access to politicians [4]. Their own events have been attended by scores of British MPs [5], with ADS themselves, undertaking lobbying and influencing on behalf of other arms trade members.
Another is land and naval defence company Leonardo, who were given centre stage to deliver a prominent speech. In January 2023, activists in Scotland occupied their Edinburgh factory and cost the firm millions of pounds in losses, while bringing the production of their laser systems, designed for Israel’s F-35 fighters, to a complete standstill [6].
Two days ago, 25 more F-35 fighter jets were requested by the Israeli regime which will likely be used against the captive population of Gaza. The additional aircraft is to be delivered in batches of three by 2027, and will substantially increase the Israeli Air Force’s fleet [7]. Leonardo also supply the Israeli military with Aermacchi M-346 advanced jets, and components for its Apache helicopters [8].
Notes
[1] https://www.internationalcompositessummit.com
[2] https://www.internationalcompositessummit.com/#/agenda?lang=en
[3] https://www.palestineaction.org/ads-group/
[4] https://www.adsgroup.org.uk/membership/ads-member-services/
[5] https://www.bylinetimes.com/2020/02/10/the-london-dinner-oiling-the-wheels-of-the-global-arms-trade/