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Protest At Travis AFB Against US Weapons For Israeli Genocide

At 7:30 a.m. on April 9, the heavy traffic flow into California’s Travis Air Force Base came to a sudden stop. As they have done numerous times, the “People’s Arms Embargo” blocked the main road into the base. The action this time commemorated the recently deceased long-time peace advocate David Hartsough, one of the co-founders of the Peoples Arms Embargo. With traffic into the base stopped, one angry airman jumped out of his pickup truck and threatened to assault the peaceful protestors. He finally thought better of it and returned to his truck. Other waiting airmen and airwomen were patient and a few indicated support for the protest.

Report: Washington Deploys Second THAAD System To Israel

The US has transferred a second Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) to Israel, Saudi news outlet Al-Hadath reported on 6 April, coming as there have been increasing threats by Washington to attack Iran. The report said the THAAD system arrived in Israel on Saturday. According to flight tracking websites, a US C-5M Super Galaxy transport plane landed at the Nevatim airbase in the Negev, one of the sites targeted by Iran in both of its ballistic missile attacks against Israel last year. The first THAAD system was sent to Israel late last year, along with US troops to operate it.

Congress, Trump Administration Use Weapons And Threats To Continue Israel’s War

US senators voted 82-15 and 83-15 on 3 April to reject two resolutions of disapproval regarding Washington's massive arms transfers and other military assistance to Israel. The resolutions were offered by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and received the support of only 15 out of 45 Democrats in the Senate. “The United States must end our complicity in these atrocities, we cannot be part of this any longer,” Sanders said in a video he released on Wednesday. Sanders has presented four resolutions since January 2024 to end or freeze US arms transfers to Israel, with none of them passing a vote on the Senate floor.

Palestine Action Just Cherry Picked Their Latest Protest

On Saturday 15 March, Palestine Action returned to shut down Elbit Systems’ Bristol headquarters for the 17th time, using a modified cherry picker to damage the operational hub of Israel’s largest arms firm. The last time the group shut down the site was a matter of weeks ago. To halt operations, stopping the Aztec West site’s contributions to genocide in Palestine, an activist locked-on inside the vehicle of the cherry picker, whilst others from inside the bucket began dismantling the factory. They sprayed red paint across the building and from their high vantage point; swinging a sledgehammer on rope to smash the windows of the weapons site.

Collapsing Empire: ‘NATO Is Dead’

On March 3rd, Timothy Ash of elite British state-connected ‘defence’ think tank Chatham House made a series of startling proclamations in an interview with Bloomberg. His topline message was stark – “NATO is dead.” He spoke following the very public February 28th Oval Office fallout between Volodomyr Zelensky and Donald Trump. The impact of that debacle reverberates today, with questions abounding over continued US aid and intelligence sharing with Kiev, pending the Ukrainian leader’s signoff on a White House-endorsed minerals for security agreements deal.

USA Is #1 Arms Dealer, Exporting 43% Of World’s Weapons

The United States is by far the biggest arms dealer on Earth, responsible for 43% of all weapons exports from 2020 to 2024. The US transferred 7.3 times more weapons than China, and 5.5 times more than Russia. In fact, Russia’s global arms exports declined by 64% from 2020 to 2024, and China’s fell by 5.4%, whereas those of the US grew by 21%. There were also large increases in weapons exports during this five-year period in Italy (+138%), Spain (+29%), France (+11%), and South Korea (+4.9%). This is according to data compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Trump Considers Ending All Aid to Ukraine; Will Europe Fill The Gap?

The White House is considering ending all aid transfers, including weapons, to Ukraine after an Oval Office press conference turned into an argument between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Ukrainian President Zelensky. According to The Washington Post, “The Trump administration is considering ending all ongoing shipments of military aid to Ukraine in response to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s remarks in the Oval Office on Friday and his perceived intransigence in the peace process.” If the aid is terminated, Ukraine would not receive billions of dollars in weapons from the US, including missiles and ammunition that was approved through the Presidential Drawdown Authority.

Palestine Action Just Shut Down Elbit For The Sixteenth Time

On Tuesday 25 February, activists from Palestine Action once again parked up outside the Elbit Systems HQ at Aztec West 600, Bristol. We say ‘parked up’. They, of course, blockaded the factory to stop its complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Arriving with a truck full of manure, Palestine Action blocked the only entrance into the British Headquarters of Israel’s biggest weapons firm. The activists then secured the vehicle, before locking-on inside, effectively shutting down Elbit HQ. According to Israeli media, Elbit provides up to 80% of the Israeli military’s land based military equipment and 85% of its killer drones. It supplies huge numbers of munitions and missiles – including the so-called ‘Iron Sting’, developed and deployed for the first time in the Gaza genocide, in which the deadly technology produced by Elbit has played a central role.

Elbit Drone Factory Landlords Cut Ties

LondonMetric, the landlords of Elbit’s ‘UAV Tactical Systems’ drone factory, has sold the site on after a targeted direct action campaign calling on them to cut ties with Israel’s largest weapons company. After struggling to find a buyer, LondonMetric have now relinquished their interest in Elbit Systems, despite what it claims is a strong commercial potential of the site. Business at ‘UAV Tactical Systems’ has been regularly disrupted and prevented due to its production of Israeli military drones [1]. The result comes after concerted efforts by Palestine Action, joined by the Youth Front for Palestine (YFFP), against the offices and premises of LondonMetrics.

Palestine Action Hits Eagle Strategic Consulting A Third Time

In the early hours of 10 February 2025, Palestine Action struck again at ‘Eagle Strategic Consulting Ltd.’, the weapons consultancy firm owned by Richard Applegate. Activists from Palestine Action smashed the door of Eagle Strategic Consulting’s London registered office and sprayed red paint into the building: Applegate, Elbit’s former Chairman, is the current Head of Strategy and New Business for Elbit Systems UK and serves as Director for Elbit’s drone-producing subsidiaries in Britain. This is the third direct action taken against this company, and Palestine Action will continue to escalate its campaign until the arms dealers behind the Israeli occupation are held to account.

A New Military-Industrial Complex Arises

Last April, in a move generating scant media attention, the Air Force announced that it had chosen two little-known drone manufacturers — Anduril Industries of Costa Mesa, California, and General Atomics of San Diego — to build prototype versions of its proposed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA), a future unmanned plane intended to accompany piloted aircraft on high-risk combat missions. The lack of coverage was surprising, given that the Air Force expects to acquire at least 1,000 CCAs over the coming decade at around $30 million each, making this one of the Pentagon’s costliest new projects.

Revenue Of Weapons Manufacturers Continues To Rise

US weapon manufacturers and military contractors registered an unprecedented increase in sales of arms and military services in 2024, according to a US State Department fact sheet. This made 2024 one of the most profitable years ever, in large part thanks to wars in Ukraine and Gaza as well as the military build up around China. According to the figures released by the US State Department, the total revenue from arms sales in 2024 reached a record USD 318.7 billion registering a 29% increase from the previous year. The top US military contractors include Lockheed Martin, Raytheon (RTX), and General Dynamics, among others.

Palestine Action Applying Heat To Another Genocide-Complicit Company

On Monday 3 February, Palestine Action targeted yet another new firm complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza – this time, a well-known household name. Biffa Limited. Overnight, activists from Palestine Action Scotland targeted the Glasgow and Edinburgh premises of Biffa Limited. They smashed windows, spray-painted ‘Drop Leonardo’, and covered the sites in red paint to symbolise the company’s complicity with spilling Palestinian blood. Biffa Limited dispose of hazardous waste for Leonardo and Thales, two weapons companies based in Scotland which arm Israel.

Palestine Action Smash A Van Into An Arms Factory

At around 5am on Tuesday 28 January, Palestine Action crashed a van into front of Teledyne Defence and Space in Shipley – yet another arms manufacturer complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. The van hit the main perimeter. Activists then attached themselves to the vehicle in order to disrupt the factory’s shipments of weapons parts to be used against the people of Palestine and Lebanon. The site was previously targeted twice by Palestine Action with rooftop occupations involving dismantling the factory. Before then, Palestine Action dismantled its ‘Teledyne Labtech’ factory at Presteigne, Wales, in 2022 where it caused £1m in losses.

Palestine Action Are Occupying The Offices Of Aviva

From 7.30am on Wednesday 22 January, Palestine Action begun occupying ‘The Aviva Centre’ in Bristol over its ongoing complicity with Israel’s genocide in Gaza. One activist is on top of the overhang of the ‘UK’s largest insurer’: Another spray painted the front glass of the building. Messages painted on the building include ‘Pal Action’ and ‘Elbit Out.' Aviva provides the mandatory employers liability insurance for UAV Engines in Staffordshire, a drone engine factory owned by Israel’s biggest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems. Recent disclosures show the company no longer holds direct shares in Elbit Systems. However, as well as insuring an Israeli weapons factory, Allianz also continue to hold investments in funds which hold Elbit shares.