Last Thursday morning, a thousand people across Britain made their way to a series of arms factories – in Bournemouth, Brighton, Lancashire and Glasgow – and blockaded them so that nothing could go in or out. They were protesting under the banner of a new network called Workers for a Free Palestine, which has responded to a call from Palestinian trade unions to stop arming Israel – and by extension stop the bombardment and invasion of Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces.
These actions have two goals. First, to immediately halt the flow of military goods and components in the Israeli military’s supply chain. But second, to reveal Britain’s contribution to Israel’s assault on Gaza. Many Britons are still unaware of the fact that weapons that are used to murder Palestinians are manufactured in anonymous, nondescript sites in towns and cities across the country.
