“It’s ludicrous to suggest the extremists are those of us who want to stop genocide, rather than the politicians & companies which arm it.”
From Workers for a Free Palestine
Workers and trade unionists have shut down arms factories in England and Scotland which produce components for F-35 fighter jets – the world’s most advanced fighter jet which are currently being used by Israeli forces in its bombardment of Gaza – in order to disrupt the flow of arms to Israel as it prepares a ground invasion of Rafah.
Over 600 workers and trade unionists are blockading these arms factories under the banner “Workers for a Free Palestine” following the Canadian Government’s announcement last night that it will halt future arms sales to Israel.
The health workers, teachers, hospitality workers, academics, artists and others, who are members of a wide range of trade unions including Unite, UNISON, GMB, the NEU, the BMA, UCU, BECTU and BFAWU, shutting down GE Aviation Systems in Cheltenham and Leonardo UK in Edinburgh are demanding that the UK Government follows Canada by urgently halting arms supplies to Israel before it invades Rafah and supports an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
In a defiant response to the Government’s threats to curb rights to protest in the UK under the guise of “anti-extremism”, these blockades will form part of a month of disruptive direct action answering a call by Palestinian unionists on workers around the world to help stop their governments’ complicity in war crimes being committed by Israel.
The UK has continued to provide military support to Israel despite its illegal occupation and widely documented war crimes. The Ministry of Defence has recently admitted that nine Israeli military aircrafts have been allowed to land and take off from British bases and nearly 50 Royal Air Force aircrafts have been flown to Israel since 7 October.
UK industry provides 15% of the components for F-35 stealth combat aircraft and this production will be disrupted at the sites targeted today. Hundreds of politicians from 12 countries have been calling for an arms embargo on Israel as a moral and legal necessity and the Court of Appeal in The Hague recently ordered the Netherlands to ban the export of F-35 components, citing potential complicity in ongoing Israeli human rights abuses.
The UK Government’s arms export criteria includes the same obligation as the Netherlands’ criteria relied on by the Dutch court that exports be halted where there is a clear risk such weapons may be used in the commission of serious violations of international humanitarian law, raising questions about the UK Government’s compliance with its own legal obligations.
Zad, a housing support worker and union member taking part in the blockade in Cheltenham, said:
“Israel is on the brink of invading the very area they told the people of Gaza it was safe for them to flee to. Such atrocities could not take place without the political and military support of governments like Britain. The Canadian Government has just shown how easy it is to end that complicity.
“We’re demanding our government follows in Canada’s footsteps by immediately halting arms supplies to Israel before it launches this offensive in Rafah using British-made bombs. But we are not waiting for this genocide appeasing Prime Minister to act. We’re taking action ourselves to stop the flow of arms from our shores to Israel before an assault on Rafah, which the United Nations has made clear will cause catastrophic levels of death and destruction, and plunge Gaza into famine.”
Cam, a local resident taking part in the Edinburgh blockade, said:
“We can’t allow arms being used to massacre Palestinians to be supplied in our name and funded by our taxes, and as local residents we don’t want murder being manufactured on our doorstep. It makes us feel complicit.
“We don’t blame the workers at these sites. We blame the bosses who decide to sell these components to Israel so they can be used in an ongoing genocide. As Israel threatens to invade Rafah, predicted to cause an unthinkably brutal bloodbath, we couldn’t stand by silently while a factory down the road resources that massacre. We had to act.”
Laura, a trade unionist and Workers for a Free Palestine organiser, said:
“Polling shows the majority of Brits support a ceasefire and one million people have marched for that cause. Both the Conservatives and the Labour Party have refused to listen and now, in response to the strength of solidarity with Palestine among the British public, the government is seeking to instead suppress this and crack down on our rights to protest under the guise of “anti-extremism”.
“It’s ludicrous to suggest the extremists are those of us who want to stop genocide, rather than the politicians and companies which arm it. We will not be cowed by such threats. Today’s arms factory shutdowns are a defiant response to these intimidation tactics during a month of direct action answering the call of Palestinian trade unions on workers around the world to disrupt Israel’s murderous war machine.”
- Join the Day of Action for Palestine on March 23 and the national demonstration on March 30.
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