Palestine protestors occupy Airbus London HQ over Israel arms links
London Palestine Action group in London HQ of Airbus

London Palestine Action group in London HQ of Airbus

Image by London Palestine Action

More than 20 campaigners from the London Palestine Action group have this morning occupied the central London offices of Airbus to protest its links with Israeli arms company Israeli Aerospace Industries and the Israeli military.

Staff were unable to arrive for work and senior executives agreed to meet the campaigners in a bid to end the occupation of the second floor office on the Strand in central London. The occupation lasted more than an hour, whilst others distributed leaflets and spoke to the public outside the offices.

Airbus has close ties with Israeli Aerospace Industries, which is an Israeli state owned company that is a key supplier of drones to the Israeli military. Drones were widely used in attacks on civilians during the recent Israeli attack on Gaza in which more than 2,100 Palestinians were killed.

Airbus and Israeli Aerospace Industries are collaborating together on the manufacture of a drone that is based on the Heron drone that has been documented as being used by the Israeli government in war crimes against Palestinian civilians.

The two companies have teamed for other military and commercial ventures, including the development of an “early warning system” for warplanes, and a “semi-robotic pilot controlled vehicle” called Taxibot. Their collaboration also extends to several EU-funded scientific research projects. This year, they’ve announced their latest joint venture that will see them supplying the German military with drones until 2020.

Sophie, a member of London Palestine Action, today said:

“By working with Israeli Aerospace Industries to develop a drone that has been used to deliberately attack Palestinian civilians, Airbus is profiting from Israel’s war crimes.

Companies such as Airbus must stop contributing to the destruction of the Palestinian people.

Drones are “field tested” on the Palestinian population before they are marketed to the rest of world.”

According to the Al Mezan Center, more than armed drones killed 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza in the period 2000-10, a number that is expected to rise sharply once data from Israel’s most recent massacre in Gaza is collated. 

David, another member of London Palestine Action added:

“Israel is a state that violates the human rights of Palestinians every day, and by cooperating with it, Airbus is complicit in the on-going torture, murder, and the occupation of land. We are saying no to profiting from blood.

Airbus writes on its website that ‘contributing to the wellbeing of the communities in which it works is an ethical imperative,’ but there is nothing ethical about profiting from Israel’s war crimes against the Palestinian people.”

London Palestine Action is a network of people in London taking creative action against Israeli apartheid through boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigning and other solidarity actions.

This summer, the group organised a high profile campaign of direct action against companies and government departments that arm Israel that included an occupation of theUK cabinet office and a rooftop occupation that closed an Israeli arms factory for more than two days. 

blog comments powered by Disqus