Protesters from Extinction Rebellion North and Palestine Action have smashed in windows and locked onto the gates of the factory after storming the site just after 4am this morning.
One protester is chained to the gates via a D-lock around her neck, while red paint has been hurled across the front of the five-storey factory. Workers arriving at the site were seen turning around at the gates, prevented from entering by the blockade.
Ferranti Technologies, based in Oldham, is wholly owned by Elbit Systems — a major supplier to Israel’s military and the world’s largest exporter of drones.
The occupation marks the first time the two direct action groups have come together. The Morning Star interviewed activists currently blockading the factory.
Ryan, 34, a welfare benefits adviser, who is involved with Extinction Rebellion and now Palestine Action, said the causes are “interlinked.”
“The climate and emergency disaster… is an outcome from a system that prioritises profit over the environment and people for the benefit of a very small minority,” he said. “It’s this greed that is fuelling a lot of the social and environmental issues on the planet.”
“The climate and emergency disaster… is an outcome from a system that prioritises profit over the environment and people for the benefit of a very small minority,” he said. “It’s this greed that is fuelling a lot of the social and environmental issues on the planet.”
Another protester, Adam, a member of XR North, who is on the roof of the factory, said the climate direct action group has “always been about social justice not just climate justice.”
“[They are] both fighting largely for the same thing … challenging the system that allows massive loss of life, whether that be through weapons manufacture or climate breakdown,” he said.
Adam said Elbit’s weapons are becoming “more advanced” and “more and more usable to kill more and more people,” so taking action now is “important to prevent more loss of life.”
The protest comes a few weeks after the Ministry of Defence announced a new contract with Elbit Systems UK worth £100 million to supply “sensor to shoot” technology for British troops.
The activists have accused the British government of “profiting from the colonisation of Palestine for over 100 years” and now allowing a network of Elbit factories to be established across England and Wales.
Since 2005, Elbit Systems UK has opened 10 sites including four arms factories in Britain.