A century of British complicity and enabling of Palestine's #colonisation - from the Balfour declaration in 1917, to supplying Israel with tanks in 1967 to displace 325,000 Palestinians - and it continues today, with Israel's largest arms company, Elbit Systems, operating on British soil.
The Israeli arms company that provided the tools for the murder of Zomi Frankcom and six other World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers will still be handed more than $900 million by Australian taxpayers.
#MIC / The 2023 financial reports revealed a record-breaking year for Israel's state-owned aerospace and defense giants like Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Elbit Systems, and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Their success was fueled by surging global demand for military equipment amid the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.
IAI announced its highest-ever annual sales of $5.3 billion, a 7% increase from 2022, with net profits soaring 49% to $318 million. Its order backlog swelled to $18 billion thanks to the conflicts.
According to the Swedish #SIPRI institute's report on the world's 100 largest arms companies, #Elbit ranked 24th, #IAI 35th, and #Rafael 42nd in 2022 sales - not yet reflecting the full impact of the Gaza war revenues.
The report highlights how the aerospace giants, including former Labor party leader Amir Peretz who chairs IAI with a $125,000 monthly salary, have profited immensely from the surge in global arms trading driven by the region's wars.
Israel's well-established defense exporters capitalized on heightened military spending, solidifying their positions among the world's largest weapons manufacturers dominated by U.S. corporations like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.
Activists establish protest camp outside Antony Blinken’s home as demonstrations escalate against the Biden administration
Activists are camped outside Antony Blinken’s home to bring the call for a Gaza ceasefire directly to the Secretary of State’s doorstep. The protest is part of an escalating wave of protest directed squarely at the Biden administration.
Palestine Action in Manchester earlier, some of them climbed the roof of the Elbit building. Manchester Fire Brigade refused to get them down. Elbit supplies unmanned drones and other weapons to Israel.
🇮🇱 Exporting militarism: how Israeli companies market repression in Latin America
「 In the favelas in Brazil, the militarised police unit BOPE (Special Police Operations Unit) cooperates with ISDS, and the methods of repression in the favelas and in Palestine are very similar. BOPE occupies the rooftops of homes to control and kill people, just as the Israeli military does in Palestinian cities 」
🎯 Many banks and financial institutions have divested from Elbit Systems,
🎯 Elbit lost contracts in France and Denmark after public campaigns,
🎯 G4S lost contracts worth millions of dollars with unions, banks, universities and other bodies,
🎯 Dozens of city councils, including the cities of Dublin and Barcelona, have endorsed a military embargo of Israel,
🎯 Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil cancelled a satellite program with Elbit Systems
Elbit is particularly complicit in the brutal occupation and repression of the people in #Gaza. They like to boost that their weapons have been battled tested in Gaza.
We have to break the kill chain. War and the arms industry are at the heart of all that is miserable in our shared world. Their beginnings are far from the front lines. Resistance must start long before the bombs explode and kill.
I lack Amber's courage, but her actions are urgent and necessary. Please share and donate (if you can)