Vandalism campaign destroys and devastates British businesses with links to Israel

“From the inside, weapons components are being dismantled and supplies for Elbit are being completely destroyed,” Palestine Action said, claiming they discovered suppliers to the company during a raid in Kent on June 17. “Unless they cut their ties with Elbit, we will shut down every single one of them.”

Palestine Action has targeted financial institutions for alleged investments or ties to Elbit.

Activists smashed windows and sprayed paint at JP Morgan’s offices in Edinburgh on Wednesday.

A Scottish police spokesman said The Jerusalem Post that “significant damage to the building was found” and that the investigation was still at an early stage.

Palestine Action claimed on Instagram that the investment bank had been targeted in Italy, Portugal and Manchester over the past two weeks.

On Monday, Palestine Action announced that the organization had smashed the windows of JP Morgan’s offices near St. Peter’s Square in Manchester.

“Expel JP Morgan,” read graffiti seen in photos released by the group.

At the same time, activists are said to have also attacked the Barclays branch in Altrincham, again smashing windows and spraying red paint.

“Barclays holds shares in Israel’s largest arms company, Elbit Systems – which supplies the Zionist military and develops weapons during the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Palestine Action said on social media on Monday. “The economic disruption makes trading in Elbit an unattractive investment as it brings with it the added risk of Palestine Action!”

The group claimed to have attacked 20 Barclays branches in England and Scotland two weeks earlier.

A branch in Chatham, which Palestine Action said had just reopened after previous attacks, was attacked again on Monday. The group damaged the site using their usual modus operandi. North Kent Police said red paint was also poured on cash machines. Police are investigating the incident and are appealing for witness statements and relevant video footage from private security guards.

The group has also directly targeted Elbit. On Monday, “shareholders” allegedly placed a car filled with cement on a Bristol site and laid it on top of it to prevent access. All seven activists involved have reportedly been released from Patchway police station.

On June 17, activists released footage of their break-in at Elbit’s Kent premises. They claimed to have cut through three fences to gain access to the site. Inside, they destroyed machinery and caused over £1 million in damage, according to an Instagram post on June 18. After 36 hours, police reportedly released the seven activists, but they are still being investigated, Palestine Action said.

According to the May 21 report by the British government’s independent adviser on political violence and unrest, Lord John Woodcock, to the House of Commons on coercive threats to democracy, Elbit recorded 170 attacks on 37 companies from July 2020 to November 2023 as part of Palestine Action.

Elbit UK is described in the report as being frustrated with the response from the UK’s police and law enforcement agencies, with the company claiming there has been no special training or knowledge sharing between branches to get the problem under control.

“I agree with Elbit UK’s assessment that Palestine Action’s four-year criminal campaign has had a damaging impact on the UK defence sector,” Woodcock wrote.

Baron Walney said that since the Hamas attacks on October 7, Palestine had vandalised the BBC headquarters, the statue of Arthur Balfour in Parliament, Balfour’s painting in Trinity College and the Ministry of Defence.

Woodcock recommended that the government impose sanctions to prevent the group from raising funds and holding meetings because it is one of the “most aggressively engaged in law-breaking and business-disrupting” anti-Israel radical organizations.

The group continues recruitment and training for its vandalism campaign, announcing ‘Direct Action’ training days in Manchester on Saturday, Leicester on Sunday and London next Sunday.

“If our government continues to enable genocide in Gaza, it is the responsibility of ordinary people to take direct action,” Palestine Action said. “Ready to overthrow the Zionist war machine? Join one of the next training days.”