Protest on Tuesday in Sheffield
Over 1,000 activists rallied outside three arms factories on Tuesday in a significant escalation for the Palestine movement.
The angry protests targeted armaments factories that form part of the supply chain for F-35 fighter jets used in Israel.
The protests were called by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). They focused on Lockheed Martin in Havant, near Portsmouth, BAE Systems in Rochester in Kent, and Forged Solutions Group, Sheffield.
In Rochester, over 500 activists rallied outside the entrance of BAE Systems chanting, “BAE shame on you, your hands are bloody too!”
A protester who was leading the chants told the rally, “There are 1,600 people working here, making weapons for Israel in this factory. Let today be the first day of the people’s arms embargo.
“Do not let this factory operate in silence. We need to get people out here, and we need them active and we need to shut these places down.”
He added, “This factory is one of the biggest employers in the local area. We want it to stop making parts for the F-35 fighter jet programme. We say, move to building parts for civilian vehicles, buses, trains—they do not have to make parts for genocide.”
Imogen was outside Forged Solutions in Sheffield where over 500 people succeeded in blockading the factory. She told Socialist Worker, “It is really big—there is really good energy. I can see banners from Liverpool, Birmingham, Walsall and Halifax, and a banner from Barnsley Trades Council. The slogan, ‘Welfare not Warfare’, is really popular.
“We have shut the factory down—we are blocking the gates, they can’t get in or out. We need to do this repeatedly to hit them in the pockets and to bring the movement to the point where complicity in the genocide is at its sharpest.”
Protester Lynne, a local Palestine activist, thought it is “really important that we picket these sorts of killing factories”. She told Socialist Worker that BAE Systems has been “dropping 2,000 bombs on innocent people since day one”.
“I’m here because the British government is a hypocrite—they should be stopping arms sales to Israel. This is a genocide by anyone’s imagination,” she said.
“The workers in that factory are skilled, they are educated. They should transition those skills from working in the killing industry to the green industry. They would be snapped up—move into green industries and peace.”
Lynne said the government “could facilitate that if it wanted to—it’s possible”.
Another local PSC activist told Socialist Worker, “What’s happening in Gaza is the most distressing thing I’ve seen in my life. Everyone should be in the streets—and yet there’s so many people carrying on like nothing is happening.”
She thought this protest would put “pressure on politicians” complicit in Israel’s genocide. “Local politicians here have been silent around this too. That these weapons are made in my hometown, I cannot fathom it,” she said.
“Politicians do hold power here, and they are allowing this to happen. There are huge arms companies on their patch—and not a word of condemnation.” She added, “You have to hold arms companies, and these politicians, accountable.”
As more and more protesters rallied outside the gate of BAE Systems, people took to the microphone to address the crowd. Haya, from the Liberated Zone at Soas University, said, “The Zionist entity is relying on Western imperialism to sustain their illegal colonial entities.
“These imperialists have built these factories, and sustain them for their own capitalist profits. We are here to disrupt the status quo, to make sure these factories of death cannot operate in peace whilst Gaza burns.”
Sophia from the Socialist Workers Party told the rally, “As Israel attacks Iran and tries to escalate the war, we know who the real aggressor is. It’s a terror state with no right to self-defence.”
She praised the workers in the ports of France, Italy and Belgium who have taken action to boycott Israeli weapons. “This is the power of the working class,” she said. “We can shut down the whole system that is profiting off the genocide.
“From Palestine to Kashmir and Kurdistan, we stand with all those fighting occupation. We stand with the people who resist the Ice raids in the US.”
Sophia added, “Keir Starmer also has the blood of disabled people and trans+ people on his hands. If we stand together, we are stronger than them.”
The protest then marched to the main road—and didn’t stop. The spontaneous march began with blocking the road, and then hundreds set off chanting, “BAE, shut it down!”
“Why is my tax money going to pay for this?”, Hamza told Socialist Worker as the march set off. He’d travelled from Hertfordshire.
“As a Pakistani Muslim I see myself in the people dying in Gaza, I see my family reflected in them—this is the least I can do,” he explained.
“I see this working alongside the mass movement on the streets.”
Hamza said it’s “raising awareness” of “how deep complicity goes”. “I had a cousin who was working for a German engineering company, one that was complicity in genocide” he said.
“I got to him and now he’s looking for a new career path. It can happen.”
He added, “The government seems to just do what it wants at this point, so we need to disrupt more.
“Personally, I feel that this could’ve been more disruptive—we clearly have the numbers. We could have shut down the arms factory and blocked it,” he added.
Ending Britain’s complicity in Israel’s genocide is crucial to shutting down the Zionist war machine.
Tuesday marked a crucial step forwards, combining mass support with militant action. But it must be the beginning of the movement’s escalation. Reaching workers inside arms factories, and building to mass picket lines that can shut the factories down, is a crucial next step.
Amid Israel’s declaration of war on Iran, it is ramping up its campaign of starvation in Gaza. In combination with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a United States-backed private enterprise, the Israeli occupation has been massacring Palestinians at “aid” points.
As starving Palestinians try to get aid, Israeli forces and GHF-aligned mercenaries simply shoot them. Israel has placed the aid points in militarised zones, meaning people are forced to travel into dangerous areas just to get food.
It is yet another tool of Israel’s plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza, alongside bombs and attacking infrastructure.
And the US is directly helping in that managed starvation and slaughter. Israel has manufactured a situation where Palestinians, if they survive Israel’s mass bombing campaign, have to risk being shot to get a bag of flour. Israel has murdered over 330 people in this brutal fashion.
Israeli tanks killed at least 51 Palestinians on Tuesday as they awaited aid trucks in southern Gaza, with dozens of others wounded. Witnesses say tanks fired shells at thousands of people awaiting aid trucks.
On Monday, Israel open fire and killed at least 30 Palestinians at aid distribution centres. Ibitsam, who lives in Deir al-Balah in Gaza, described the current situation in Gaza as “catastrophic”. She said that a kilogram of flour used to be two shekels. Now, because of Israel’s blockade of aid, it’s a staggering 800 shekels.
There is also a complete shortage of gas, meaning people have to cook on fires made of plastic, which release toxic fumes. There is water in mid and south Gaza, but the lack of fuel means the filtration systems cannot function, so Palestinians are forced to drink dirty water. And Ibitsam’s 15-month-old daughter is becoming malnourished.
“Every day is harsher. We are suffering. We are trying to be patient in the hope that it will end soon,” she told Socialist Worker.
Another day of mass resistance
Plus: 500 on Leeds unity march
