Tag: Elbit Systems
Britain’s biggest hunger strike in decades – and the media won’t touch it
CLAMPDOWN: People take part in a demonstration at Parliament SquareTHE Palestine Action hunger strike is on track to become the largest since the 1981 Irish republican protest led by Bobby Sands, yet campaigners say it has faced a “mainstream media blackout.”
So far, seven prisoners have refused food — some for as long as four weeks — with more expected to join.
They are among 33 prisoners who are locked away without trial, over alleged involvement in non-violent actions aimed at blockading arms supply to Israel.
The hunger strikers’ demands are clear. They want Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit Systems, to cease operating in Britain for good.
They want the ban on Palestine Action, currently designated a terror group, to be lifted. And they are demanding immediate bail and a fair trial — basic democratic rights that should already be guaranteed.
Francesca Nadin, a spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine, spoke to the Morning Star about their struggle.
Nadin herself was in prison on remand last year, over actions at a Teledyne weapons factory and a Barclays branch in Leeds.
“The fact is that for the charges that they have, which is property damage, people are never usually kept on remand,” she says.
“It’s clear to me that the process is the punishment.”
Four of the strikers — Qesser Zuhrah, Heba Muraisi, Teuta Hoxha and Kamran Ahmed — have been held on remand since last November, far exceeding the six-month pre-trial custody limit.
They are part of the “Filton 24” — inmates held in connection to an action in which activists reportedly drove a repurposed prison van into an Elbit manufacturing hub and dismantled equipment inside.
Qesser, who hasn’t eaten for over four weeks, now feels close to collapse, campaigners report, while Heba, who has also gone more than a month without food is severely fatigued and is finding it increasingly difficult to hold water down.
Teuta and Kamran, who haven’t eaten for 26 and 25 days, were both recently hospitalised.
“As you can imagine now, they’re all very weak”, Nadin says.
“It’s getting to the point of serious deterioration. We are just prepared for something very serious to happen any moment now.”
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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/britains-biggest-hunger-strike-decades-and-media-wont-touch-it
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. 
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts. 
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’. London pension fund accused of investing in firms linked to ‘genocide’ against Palestinians: Report
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes targeted residential areas in the Gaza Strip, as seen from Israel near the border, on October 07, 2025. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency] A new report has accused London’s £34 billion ($45.43 billion) public sector pension fund of investing billions in companies allegedly complicit in Israel’s human rights abuses against Palestinians, Anadolu reports.
The Blood Money report, released Thursday by the campaign group Shake The CIV, claims that the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV) — which manages £34.2 billion on behalf of 32 London local authorities — has over £7 billion ($9 billion) invested in firms “enabling Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights.”
The fund represents the deferred wages of around 700,000 Londoners.
According to the report, LCIV’s investments include almost £1 billion ($1.4 billion) in arms manufacturers, such as £10 million ($13 million) in Israeli weapons producer Elbit Systems and £228 million ($305 million) in British firm BAE Systems.
The report also highlights £5.2 billion ($7 billion) in technology companies accused of facilitating Israel’s surveillance and control of Palestinians, including over £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) in Microsoft.
For the first time, the report reveals the names of elected councilors who sit on LCIV’s Shareholder Committee — information the organization has refused to make public despite multiple Freedom of Information requests.
LCIV, which quietly sold £6.7 million ($9 million) in Israeli government bonds in 2024, has faced growing protests and says it is reviewing its investments in 12 unnamed companies.
However, the fund has refused to disclose the names of those companies, even to the councilors representing the local authorities whose pension funds it manages.
READ: London demo urges government to drop ban on Palestine Action
The report also criticizes LCIV for deleting a July 2024 statement on Gaza from its website, later replacing it in July 2025 with a post claiming to be “neutral” on the issue.
Campaigners say this stance “belies its claims to be a responsible investor,” noting that LCIV took “swift action” over the Russian invasion of Ukraine but not in response to Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Shake The CIV is calling on LCIV to “immediately, completely, and permanently divest from all companies complicit in Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.”
Cllr Liam Shrivastava, a member of Lewisham Council’s Pension Committee, said in a statement: “At stake here are not only the lives of millions of human beings but also local authorities’ right to make democratic decisions about financial matters. In the 1980s, many London councils made history by cutting financial ties with apartheid South Africa and recently, many have divested from fossil fuels. Genocide is the crime of crimes — we have to do whatever we can to stop it.”
Five boroughs — Waltham Forest, Islington, Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Lewisham — have announced plans to divest following local campaigns.
However, their pension funds remain invested through LCIV portfolios, and campaigners say progress has been slow.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed over 67,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children.
The relentless bombardment has left Gaza largely uninhabitable, leading to widespread starvation and diseases.
READ: Scottish leader welcomes Gaza ceasefire deal, urges all sides to honor plan
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. “Elbit Out!” Activists launch campaign to expel arms company from Romania
Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Palestine solidarity protest in Romania, 2025. Source: Solidaritate Romania-Palestina/Facebook Palestine solidarity groups in Romania and beyond are launching a campaign to end ties with Israeli arms company Elbit Systems.
A coalition of Romanian and international groups standing in solidarity with Palestine has launched the “Elbit Out!” campaign, aiming to expel Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems from Romania. Elbit is one of Israel’s largest arms manufacturers and is present in Romania with three companies, the organizers explain. “There, it manufactures components for weapons that have been tested on Palestinians and are partly still used in Gaza today.”
According to statements of Israeli officials, Elbit facilities in Brașov and Bacău, along with a production site in Măgurele outside Bucharest, made Romania the company’s third-largest manufacturing hub in 2021 – behind only Israel and the United States. The arms producer’s presence has been a constant for years, with early 2010s reports already highlighting its peculiar position in Romania.
“The continuation of these cooperative relations between Romania and the Israeli state violates Romania’s international legal obligations and the fundamental principles of human rights,” campaigners warn. “Through the arms trade, Romania is an active partner in genocide, in maintaining the apartheid regime, and in the systematic oppression of the Palestinian civilian population.”
Watch: Victory at Oldham: How Palestine Action shut down arms manufacturer Elbit
While the campaign is demanding Romanian authorities end ties with Elbit, it also stresses that complicity in Israel’s war crimes extends further. One issue is the scale of military exports from Romania to Israel. Activists point out that in the past two years alone, these have amounted to dozens of millions of euros. Such transfers have been another steady feature of the bilateral relationship. In 2012, Israel was Romania’s third-largest arms client. “While other export destinations decreased in volume, as all European arms export decreased due to the economic crisis, Israel continued to be a good customer of the Romanian arms industry,” Wendela de Vries from the Dutch campaign Stop Arms Trade noted in LeftEast in 2014. “It continued buying components for air-to-air missiles, military ground vehicles, and testing equipment for military planes.”
At the same time, Romania has consistently purchased Israeli military technology, much of it tested on Palestinians living under occupation. This cooperation has included technology exchange for drones and air defense systems, involving not only Elbit but also Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Most recently, over €2 billion was awarded to Rafael in a contract for an air defense system to be deployed in Romania. The deal will draw funding from Romania’s strained public budget, but is also likely to benefit from the European Union’s recent armament programs, according to early reports.
Read more: Million-strong general strike blocks Italy for Palestine
As a result of this background, the campaign will also focus on halting all military imports and exports between Romania and Israel, as well as terminating bilateral military agreements. After a public inauguration on October 5, with the participation of representatives from BDS Campaign Europe and Law for Palestine, it will include field work with trade unions, legal petitions, and engaged advocacy. It is expected to culminate with a conference focusing on solidarity with Palestine and internationalism, organized as a counterpoint to the Black Sea Defense, Aerospace and Security International Exhibition in Bucharest in mid-May 2026.
The initiative is coordinated by Palestine Solidarity Cluj-Napoca in cooperation with Solidaritate România-Palestina, Moldova pentru Palestina, Absorbante pentru Toate, Blocul Tineretului Muncitoresc, Căși Sociale ACUM!, Colectiva Urzica, Fundraisers for Falastin RO, Grupul de Acțiune Socialistă, Partidul SENS, and Platforma L.E.F.T. It has also secured endorsements from the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Campaign, Stop ReArm Europe, and the International People’s Assembly (IPA), showing that the push to end European complicity in Israel’s crimes is growing stronger by the day.
Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. 
Vote Labour for Genocide. Human rights group launches appeal over Israel arms exports
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/human-rights-group-launches-appeal-over-israel-arms-exports
A F35 aircraft prepares to land at RAF Marham, NorfolkAPALESTINIAN human rights group announced today that it is appealing against a High Court ruling on Britain’s arms exports to Israel.
Al-Haq has been engaged in a long legal battle against the Department for Business and Trade, challenging the export of parts for lethal F-35 jets.
In July, the High Court rejected the challenge and ruled that it was for Parliament and not the court to decide whether the decision to continue the exports breached Britain’s international legal obligations.
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A hearing will now be held at the Court of Appeal on October 9.
Al-Haq director Shawan Jabarin said: “If the UK courts are unwilling to hold the government accountable for arming Israel during the deadliest phase of its genocide to date, who will?
“The court’s findings set a dangerous precedent and risk undermining the legal mechanisms designed to ensure government accountability.”
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Private Eye magazine has reported that Israel’s largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, is close to winning a £2 billion contract that would make it a “strategic partner” of the Ministry of Defence.
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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/human-rights-group-launches-appeal-over-israel-arms-exports
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA 
UK Labour Party government ministers Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves explain that they are partners complicit in Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK has provided Israel with arms, military and air force support. They explain that they don’t do gas chambers but do do forced marches, starvation, destroy hospitals, mass-murders of journalists and healthcare workers. Vote Labour for Genocide.
CLAMPDOWN: People take part in a demonstration at Parliament Square
A F35 aircraft prepares to land at RAF Marham, Norfolk
