A march on Teledyne on Wednesday (Picture: Judy Cox)
Around 200 Palestine campaigners gathered outside the Teledyne Defence and Space factory on Wednesday near Bradford. They came to show their revulsion at the firm aiding Israel’s war machine and to demonstrate their support for a recent occupation of the site.
Palestine Action supporters had breached security to take over the factory roof on Tuesday—and local people rushed to support them.
Their action at the Shipley factory halted activity at the site from which exports of military electronics and munitions components go to Israel each year.
Bradford Socialist Worker supporter Judy reported on Tuesday that the occupiers were “cheered on by a crowd chanting ‘brick by brick, wall by wall, Teledyne has got to fall’.” She added that on Wednesday people on the solidarity march came from Bradford but also from Leeds, Wakefield and other places.
The Leeds contingent included students involved in the recent pro-Palestine university occupation.
Police removed the four Palestine Action supporters from the Teledyne roof and arrested them around 10pm on Tuesday. Palestine Action said the four “tore the roof apart” and added, “By putting their liberty on the line, they halted the production of parts for missiles and fighter jets used by the Israeli military to commit genocide in Gaza.”
Teledyne is a US multinational with three plants in Britain—in Shipley, Colchester and on Merseyside. Its technology of death is used by Israel and the Indian government for repression in Kashmir.
Bradford Friends of Palestine has staged eight well-supported protests outside the Shipley plant over the last few months.
Between 2009 and 2014 the government granted the site at least 86 licences for the export of weapons to Israel. These were mostly for ML11-category military electronics equipment, and
ML4 category explosive weapons, munitions, or parts for them.
Members of Palestine Action are on the roof of Teledyne arms suppliers in Shipley, near Bradford. Palestine campaigners have rushed to offer support. Judy reports, “They are dismantling the roof to great cheers from the crowd”. pic.twitter.com/uwBYU3anXj
— Socialist Worker (@socialistworker) April 2, 2024
After 2014, the company’s sales and licensing was handled by the parent company Teledyne UK, which continued to export vast quantities of ML4 and ML11 weapons to Israel as part of its 48 export licences between 2014 and 2020.
Teledyne is, along with its subsidiary ev2, the largest exporter by volume of licences granted for weaponry from Britain to Israel.
On Wednesday Palestine Action blocked the road in and out of Elbit’s UAV Engines factory in the West Midlands. UAV Engines make components to power Israeli military drones which are marketed as “battle-tested” on the Palestinian people. Israeli used a drone to murder the World Central Kitchen workers on Tuesday.
The UAV Engines plant is at Lynn Lane, Shenstone, WS14 0DT
Around 40 people gathered outside Hastings Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to support the Hastings Three—campaigners arrested on a protest outside the local General Dynamics factory and charged with “aggravated trespass”. They pled not guilty and the court set a trial for 27 August.
Palestinian journalist Alaa Salamah is trapped in Rafah. She has a message for Western leaders after the discovery of Israel’s massacres at al-Shifa hospital:
They must stop this barbaric war and stop being hypocrites—all they care about is power and money.
Be honest with your people about what you are doing and how you support Israel. The United States government is turning a blind eye to what is happening in Gaza. They are standing with Israel.
I think there needs to be a change of rulers everywhere. They can’t do their job properly, and they don’t deserve to rule.
Conditions here are very harsh. We moved from a flat to a tent placed on some sand. Even making a simple toilet is difficult.
In Rafah you cannot find food, though there are shortages of all kinds. Most of the food we get comes from the aid that is distributed. You can find food in the markets, but it is much too pricey for most families to afford.
There is also a water crisis here. We have limited access to any water, but the water we do get is still not clean according to international standards.
There was already a water crisis in Gaza before the war, but now it has become acute. It’s very easy to get a disease from drinking the water currently.
Many people are desperately launching fundraising campaigns so they can get out.
We just want to live in dignity on our land. We are very desperate and tired. The Zionists have tried to kill any hope that still lives inside us. They have tried to kill anything human inside us.
But what they don’t understand is that they can’t do that. We still have faith that one day we will be free.
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