Cops try to disrupt a Palestine Action meeting – just as the group target Elbit director’s business

Palestine Action targeted the new London premises of an Elbit Director’s consultancy firm, Eagle Strategic Consulting Limited, on Tuesday 14 January. However, at the same time in Bristol cops were ‘visiting’ the venue where a group meeting is being held in Bristol. Coincidence?

Palestine Action: smashing the genocide enablers

Palestine Action activists shattered the windows and sprayed the company’s new London address in red paint to symbolise the company’s continued complicity in Palestinian bloodshed:

BREAKING: Palestine Action target the new London address of an Elbit director's weapons consultancy firm.

Eagle Strategic is owned by Richard Applegate, the former chairman and current 'Head of Strategy & New Business' for the British division of Israel's biggest arms firm. pic.twitter.com/0zpdx4Jdu0

— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) January 14, 2025

Eagle Strategic acts as a consultancy firm for weapons manufacturers and is wholly owned by Richard Applegate, the former Chairman and current ‘head of strategy and new business’ for Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems UK. This is the second time his lobbying company have been targeted by the direct action network, with Palestine Action shattering windows and spray painting the building of the Dorset premises in March 2024.

Applegate has a long history of lobbying for the Israeli arms company, previously boasting about pulling off a covert political lobbying campaign which secured a £500m from the MOD, by ensuring his “fingerprints weren’t over any of it”. He was caught by journalists admitting that he had applied pressure by “infecting” the system at “every level”.

According to Israeli media, Elbit provides up to 80% of the Israeli military’s land based military equipment and 85% of its military drones. It supplies vast numbers of munitions and missiles – including the ‘Iron Sting’ recently developed and deployed for the first time in the 2023-2024 Genocide in Gaza, along with wide categories of surveillance technologies, targeting systems, and innumerate other armaments.

Cops trying to disrupt legitimate assembly

Meanwhile, as Palestine Action posted, cops visited the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft; a venue that is hosting a meeting of the group:

BREAKING: The police visited the venue of a scheduled Palestine Action talk and attempted to question the venue on their affiliation to our direct action group.

As ever, we refuse to be intimidated and look forward to the event tonight organised by Bristol Transformed.

— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) January 14, 2025

Called “Smashing the genocide-industrial complex“, the meeting will look at what activists can learn “about effective direct action from the courageous efforts of Palestine Action?”. No wonder the cops weren’t happy.

The venue and the group refused to be intimidated, however, and the meeting is due to go ahead as planned.

A Palestine Action spokesperson said:

We remain committed to targeting all firms and associations which enable Israel’s weapons trade to continue fuelling genocide. There is no space for war criminals on our streets and those responsible for mass murder must be held accountable. Applegate can’t hide behind his consulting firm and changing its premise doesn’t change a thing. We’ve hit Eagle Strategic before, we’ll hit them again and we’ll keep taking action until we’ve shut down Elbit Systems for good.

Featured image via screengrab