News / Politics
Hundreds protest outside Bristol base of Israeli arms manufacturer
Protesters from as far as Liverpool, Birmingham, Dorset, Bournemouth and London gathered in Filton on Thursday to demonstrate against defence technology firm Elbit Systems.
The weapons manufacturer, which is based on Bolingbroke Way and in Almondsbury, is accused by activists of supplying the Israeli government with arms.
“It’s a disgrace what’s happening,” said protestor David Moorhead, who had travelled on a specially-run bus from Liverpool.
is needed now More than ever
“Elbit systems shouldn’t be in this country making weapons to sell to Israel which are killing thousands of people; making weapons of death so that children, women and men are all killed.
“Andy Burnham needs to stop it immediately.”
Elbit Systems denied weapons made in Bristol were sold to Israel but did not not comment on whether weapons made elsewhere were
Protestor Sophie, who did not want to give her surname, said: “We have seen a live-streamed genocide for three years (and) we know that the British government has participated.
“I just find it astonishing that Israeli weapons companies continue to operate on British soil.
“Money is more important than life to the UK government. It’s the world gone upside-down.
A spokesperson for Elbit Systems said: “Any claims that our Bristol facility supplies the Israeli military or Israeli Ministry of Defence are completely false.”
However, they did not comment on whether other Elbit Systems facilities supply the country.
“We will continue to do everything possible to protect our employees in Bristol, who perform a vital role in delivering advanced technology to the British Armed Forces,” the spokesperson continued.
Protests amassed in their hundreds
For Sophie, the hundreds gathered in Filton were still not enough of a protest.
“I just wish that more people would wake up and be aware of what’s happening in their own country,” she said.
“We are complicit. We are the reason for the problem all the way back decades and decades and decades ago.
“This problem actually started with us.”
All photos: Molly Pipe
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