The last two pro-Palestine protesters who remained on the roof of an Israeli-owned arms factory in Leicester for six days were taken down and arrested by the police, but activists have occupied another facility that produces military technology and hardware for Israel's army in England's Midlands, Palestine Action co-founder Richard Barnard told Sputnik on Tuesday
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th May, 2021) The last two pro-Palestine protesters who remained on the roof of an Israeli-owned arms factory in Leicester for six days were taken down and arrested by the police, but activists have occupied another facility that produces military technology and hardware for Israel's army in England's Midlands, Palestine Action co-founder Richard Barnard told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"At 4:30 this morning more Palestine Action activists went on the roof of Elbit's Elite KL in Tamworth, and they are currently occupying the site. They intend to occupy it for as long as possible," Barnard said.
Barnard also confirmed that after six days of protest, the Leicester Police removed the final two protesters that had stayed on the UAV Tactical Systems factory in the outskirts of the English city where Elbit Systems, Israel's largest private arms manufacturer, produces military drones.
According to the activists, hundreds of people from Leicester local community rose up and blocked the police vans on leaving the site with the arrested protesters until the early hours of Tuesday, when they eventually took the two activists to the police station.
Palestine Action has been targeting Elbit's factories in the UK for the last nine months to demand their closure, claiming that the parts and weaponry they produce are being tested and used against the Palestinian people in Gaza and other territories occupied by Israel.
"This is what've been doing since nine months ago, continuous shutdown, sustained and direct actions to shut the factories down, spraying them with red paint to signify the blood of the Palestinian people that are killed by their weapons, causing damages so they can't open," Barnard said.
The activist said that the protesters that scaled the roof on the Tamworth factory on Tuesday have supplies and a tent, so they will try to keep the site closed for as long as they can.
