Elbit Systems has been forced to permanently shut down their “Elite KL” factory in Tamworth, Staffordshire in England after a sustained direct action campaign by Palestine Action.
The factory was manufacturing cooling and power management systems for IOF vehicles, but was sold last month after suffering a 75% cut in profits, largely due to security and supply chain costs as a result of direct actions.
The new board unanimously agreed to withdraw from all future defense contracts and cut all ties with Elbit.
Starting in November 2020, actions against the factory included occupying their roof, smashing the site, ripping out the roof tiles, letting the rain destroy the inside, and defacing it with paint. The site was taken out of service three times in 2021 due to occupations. February 2022, the site was taken out of service for weeks due to damaged roof tiles and a £250,000 damage cost. 6 were arrested occupying the site a month later.
A Palestine Action spokesperson stated:
“Each activist who occupied and dismantled Tamworth’s Israeli weapons factory did so in order to bring an end to Israel’s weapons trade, and to end the profiteering from Palestinian repression. Every defeat Elbit faces is a victory for the Palestinian people. Kicking Elbit out of Tamworth shows once again that direct action is a necessary tactic. It is one which must be utilised and amplified in the face of the Gaza genocide.”
Elbit Systems, the zionist entity’s largest weapons developer, produces 85% of the IOF’s drones, as well as ammunition and surveillance systems. Elbit also sells these weapons and surveillance systems to repressive governments globally, including the United States, and its sites and subsidiaries are found worldwide.
You may find a global map of Elbit Systems subsidiaries, major investors, insurers, landlords, and supplies here.
You may read more about the Tamworth closure here.
#ShutElbitDown