Palestine Action has targeted a major weapons factory run by Teledyne, that supplies parts for F-35 jets. These are, of course, the same aircraft the UK refused to stop exporting parts for to Israel. And, they’re the same jets the genocidal state is currently using to bomb Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen – and potentially soon Iran. Palestine Action: shutting down Teledyne’s F-35 ops
Activists from Palestine Action climbed onto the roof of an American owned weapons factory, Teledyne CML Composites, in Wirral, on Tuesday 2 October. From the rooftop, they cut holes into the roof and sprayed blood red paint into the factory:
In solidarity with the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Yemeni people subjected to Israel’s daily massacres, activists have once again successfully shut down the site known to supply crucial parts for the murderous F-35 fighter jet programme.
As Palestine Action said on X, the group contaminated Teledyne’s clean room. This will “will cause severe disruption to the production of Israel’s F-35 fighter jet components”: Teledyne: complicit in genocide
Teledyne CML’s parent company, Teledyne Technologies, is the single-largest exporter of weaponry from Britain to Israel, while ‘CML Composites’ specialises in ‘Aircraft Structural Components’ for the F-35 fighter jet programme.
The ties between Teledyne CML and Israel’s genocide in Gaza run deep, with the Wirral factory also acting as a supplier to numerous other ‘Tier 1’ F-35 partners – including BAE Systems, Marand, and Magellan. To BAE Systems alone, Teledyne CML provides at least ten different “Special processes” for their F-35 programme contributions.
By maintaining approval for F-35 component export licenses for end-use in Israel, the British government remains an activist participant in Israel’s genocidal, criminal attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.
The F-35 fighter jet has been responsible for the delivery of thousands of 2,000lb and 4,000lb bombs on targets including tented refugee encampments in Gaza, and healthcare workers in Lebanon. Today’s action serves to demonstrate that, while the British state might be comfortable in facilitating these acts – Palestine Action cannot permit them. Not the first time Palestine Action has acted
This action is not the first time that Palestine Action have struck at the Bromborough site, driving a van through the factory gates in July 2024, before drenching the premises in red paint as a symbol of the Palestinian bloodshed it facilitates.
Its sister site, Teledyne Defence and Space, Shipley, was targeted by an occupation in April 2024, preventing the manufacture of military electronics bound for Israel. Earlier this month, a jury at Bradford Crown Court refused to convict the activists, who stood accused of ‘criminal damage’ for their action.
I know this is a UK story (and fantastic org) but the basic idea is why I wish that we still had a presence in US jails and prisons. Or why I don't care about VPNs. Given our ideological commitments and the general direction in which the ruling class is taking the world , it is absolutely inevitable that many of us will end up in jail or dead.
Peace has to either be made with that or with running away, but a choice has to be made at some point. My choice will depend on whether we are organized or just lambs for the slaughter.
If we were organized in prison's (and obviously, comfortable with all that implies ) it would significantly reduce the suffering associated with the long sentences which we will one day get , unless we leave this country.
And short of any such efforts or giving us a fighting chance, in some way , then I am leaving this country (job or no job , language fluency or not) in the next ten years and recommend that you do the same, especially if you are from a noticably marginalized community.