Elbit Systems

By Who Profits

War profiteering is one of the main causes of war. To keep informed on what groups are doing to resist the merchants of death, you can sign up to WRI's War Profiteer's News. In our last issue we had stories about how the Palestinian BDS movement is gaining momentum, and how it learned from South Africa; how the EU is becoming more and more a militarised and pro-military industry union; how activists in Ecuador are nonviolently resisting the government's plans to extract oil from the Yasuní national park. Regular features of the newsletter include the campaign of the month, which this month highlighted the "Arming all Sides" initiative, which looks at the arms trade during WWI and beyond, and the war profiteer of the month, which profiles Elbit System, the Israeli arms manufacturer, and their increase in profit thanks to the attacks on Gaza.

Read more...

Elbit Systems is one of the world's largest defence electronics manufacturers and integrators. Established in 1967, and based in Haifa, Israel, Elbit employs 11,000 people worldwide. It supplies the military, navy and air force in the occupation of Palestine, and has profited greatly from Israel's numerous attacks and assaults on the Palestinian and Lebanese people.

The last fortnight has seen growing protests against the companies arming the Israeli military, in particular the company Elbit Systems. “This is part of a growing direct action campaign against corporations that are profiteering from making machineries of death”, said the Melbourne Palestine Action Group, who occupied their factory in Melbourne. In Britain, the London Palestine Action Group occupied Elbit's factory in Birmingham. In the US groups stopped the Israeli ship Zim Haifa from unloading goods at the Oakland port.  WRI has signed up to the European Network Against Arms Trade statement calling upon the European Union to end its military support for Israel. Have a look at Sahar Vardi's article on resisting militarism within Israel here and WRI's statement on the assault on Gaza.

Read more...

Each fall the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space organizes a week of local actions called Keep Space for Peace Week. This year events were held from October 1-8 and the theme chosen by our leadership was the expanding use of drones in U.S. wars in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

Protest actions took place throughout the U.S. and in six other nations at major space weapons installations and factories like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics.

For anyone with even just a passing interest in the military, it will have been hard to miss the recent rise of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) commonly known as drones. Over the past year, the Fellowship of Reconciliation England (FoR) and others have been working together to research and raise awareness of armed drones by the military, primarily the US, Israel and the UK.

Photo and video material from the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla expose the use of European and US produced war material. The attack on the relief boats was executed by Israeli navy special forces Unit 13 (Shayetet 13). Several large and small navy ships, as well as helicopters, were used, armed with US and European weapons.

The Transnational Awareness Group (TAG) collects and spreads information about the way companies contribute to armed conflicts. Initiated in Belgium by Vredesactie (Peace Action), this form of action - to track, expose and label war businesses - is now spreading internationally.

Elbit Systems is one of the world's largest defence electronics manufacturers and integrators. Established in 1967, and based in Haifa, Israel, Elbit employs 11,000 people worldwide. It supplies the military, navy and air force in the occupation of Palestine, and has profited greatly from Israel's numerous attacks and assaults on the Palestinian and Lebanese people.