Today, as part of an international call to stand with Palestine and take action against the arms industry supplying Israel, people across five cities in England rallied outside the respective offices of Fisher German to urge the property managers to evict Israeli-owned Elbit Systems and all its subsidiaries from Fisher German properties. The offices in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and Newcastle were protested by groups comprised of ordinary people, trade unionists, healthcare workers, activists and students. In Newcastle, demonstrators were able to get inside and crash the Fisher German offices. In all other cities, the respective offices were shut down for the day, with employees told to stay home. Erin, one of the campaigners who took part in the action in Manchester, said:

“Over 14,000 people have been killed in Gaza in the last several weeks, with many more also being killed and driven from their homes in the West Bank. British companies such as Fisher German might be based thousands of miles away from Palestine, but they play a genuine role in supporting Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. Whilst Fisher German continues making profit out of genocide, we will not stop.”

Fisher German is the landlord of UAV Engines, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems in Shenstone, Staffordshire. Elbit is Israel’s largest arms company, producing 85% of the Israeli military’s drones and 85% of its land-based military equipment. UAV Engines is responsible for producing the engines for Elbit’s Hermes 450 drone, which is said to be the ‘backbone’ of Israel’s military drone fleet, used extensively in past wars on Gaza and is undoubtedly in use in the current Israeli assault. Elbit markets the Hermes 450 as ‘battle tested‘ on the captive people of Gaza, a population of mainly children.

Over 14,800 people have been killed by the Israeli military since 7th October, including 6,150 children, in what a former senior UN official has described as a “textbook case of genocide“. The Israeli assault on Gaza has targeted schools, hospitals, churches, mosques, and homes, with 60% of the housing stock in the Gaza Strip now destroyed and 1.8 million people displaced. The Fisher German protests today are among many that have taken place over the country in recent weeks as activists draw links between British companies’ profits and the ongoing Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.