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Palestine campaigners raid Elbit arms factory in Staffs

PALESTINE supporters raided and wrecked an Israeli-owned weapons factory in Staffordshire yesterday causing damage they said would render it inoperable for the foreseeable future.

Palestine Action activists reported that armed police and riot officers were heading into the UAV Engines factory at Shenstone as air-conditioning equipment was wrecked, the roof occupied, windows smashed, blood-red paint sprayed and equipment taken apart.

But the direct action group said: “The activists have held out and continue to occupy the site.”

The factory is part of Elbit Systems, Israel’s biggest arms manufacturer and supplier of drones and pilotless war planes to the Israeli military. Its weapons have been used in attacks on Gaza.

The activists displayed a banner bearing the words “One down — nine to go,” a reference to Elbit’s closure two weeks ago of its drone factory at Oldham in Greater Manchester after 18 months of occupations, blockades and protests.

Elbit has 10 operations in Britain, including factories and weapons testing sites.

Palestine Action said its Shenstone raid was intended to draw parallels with Israel’s recent and ongoing eviction of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, whose homes are being demolished.

A Palestine Action spokesman said: “Israel’s weapons trade is fundamental to the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

“Elbit should know by now that we mean what we say: we will keep occupying, disrupting and dismantling their sites until they leave Britain for good.

“We’ve taken down one of their factories for good, and now we’re taking apart the rest.”

The United Nations considers East Jerusalem to be part of the Palestinian West Bank and has ruled its occupation by Israel illegal.

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