PALESTINE Action cut off electricity at the Leonardo factory in Edinburgh, condemning the arms manufacturer for their ties to Israel.
This is amid significant student protests in Glasgow and Edinburgh where students are on hunger strike and multiple university buildings have been shut down and occupied.
Leonardo, which has a factory on Crewe Road North in north-west Edinburgh, is one of the biggest defence suppliers in the UK.
Their electricity was cut off by activists yesterday, in an attempt to disrupt their production of “laser targeting systems for Israel’s F-35 fighter jets”.
Palestine Action posted yesterday saying: “Breaking: Palestine Action Scotland destroyed the electricity supply to Leonardo’s Edinburgh weapons factory, disrupting the production of laser targeting systems for Israel’s F-35 fighter jets.”
This post received over 2,000 likes and 70 comments, with many praising them as “heroes”.
Both Glasgow and Edinburgh have seen action from pro-Palestinian groups in the past few days in reaction to Israel breaching the ceasefire with Hamas earlier this week, as they resumed air strikes and ground invasions with reports of hundreds killed.
Students have also been asking the University of Glasgow and the University of Edinburgh to divest from companies that are reportedly complicit in Israel’s actions in the conflict.
The Leonardo plant is said to make the laser targeting systems for Israeli jets, which are used extensively by the Israeli military.
Last year, the British Government suspended arms export licenses for offensive weapons used by Israel, but F-35 parts are exempt from this ban.
A judicial review will be made into this decision later this year, which was made due to fears that US confidence in the UK could be undermined, according to defence secretary John Healey.
Leonardo has been the target of Palestine Action in the past, as they blockaded the building just four months ago, cut off its internet earlier last year, dismantled vital equipment in November 2023 and occupied the factory roof eleven months before that.
A spokesperson for Palestine Action said today: “With Israel changing tactics again, from inflicting a slow genocide on the population of Gaza, through starvation, to bombing the civilian population in the middle of the night, while they sleep in tents and shelters, we must escalate our campaign against the murderous arms makers.
“Keir Starmer’s silence has been paid for, but Palestine Action will do everything we can to stop the slaughter.
“With every hour the weapons factories are shut down, Palestinian lives are saved.”