Palestine Action has a new company in its sights over Israel’s genocide in Gaza

Palestine Action Scotland targeted the offices of military parts manufacturer Parker Hannifin at its Glasgow production facility overnight on Monday 13 January, damaging the building and covering it in red paint, which it said was ‘symbolic of the Palestinian blood on the hands of the company’.

The building on Seaford Road South, which Parker Hannifin describes as a ‘state-of-the-art production facility’ for its Parker Prädifa technology division, had multiple windows smashed during the nighttime action.

Its walls and signage, as well as the interior of the building, were sprayed with red paint:

Palestine Action: targeting Leonardo’s supply chain

A Palestine Action Scotland spokesperson said the activists who carried out the direct action did so because Parker Hannifin is a supplier to Leonardo and other major weapons companies that make military products used by Israel’s forces in its attacks on Gaza.

Leonardo has extensive ties to the Israeli state and makes parts for Apache helicopters and targeting systems for F-35 fighter jets, which have been used by Israel to drop 2000lb bombs on Gaza, destroying homes and civilian infrastructure, and killing tens of thousands of civilians. Leonardo’s site in Edinburgh has been targeted and shut down by activists multiple times since Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza intensified in October 2023.

Parker Hannifin itself has been involved in the design, development, testing and production of the F-35. Its fuel systems and components are used for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. It provides systems for military helicopters and drones to companies including Leonardo Helicopters. Its products are designed to meet specialist military-ready specifications for use in missiles, ordnance and aircraft, as well as use in flight control systems, jet engines and landing gear.

The action was the first time that activists in Scotland have targeted Parker Hannifin for its links to the destruction of Gaza, which is described as genocide in a case brought to the International Court of Justice by South Africa and 11 other countries. An investigation by Amnesty International has concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

‘Sickened’

Palestine Action Scotland’s spokesperson said:

We are sickened that the continuing genocide is made possible by companies based in Scotland that are happy to profit by designing, making and selling products that result in the mass murder of Palestinian people in Gaza.

Every company that chooses to be part of the supply chain to Israel’s military, including Parker Hannifin, shares responsibility for and profits from the shredding of children’s bodies in Gaza, and we will not rest until they cut all their connections to that chain of brutality.

By carrying out this action, we intervened directly to disrupt the flow of technology that enables the ongoing genocide. Parker Hannifin has blood on its hands and will remain a target until it cuts its ties to complicit companies including Leonardo and stops supplying essential parts and materials without which apartheid Israel’s weapons could not cause the horrors being committed every day against the Palestinian people.

In taking this action, we have been inspired by and acted in solidarity with our friends and comrades in Gaza and throughout all of Palestine, from river to sea. We look forward to celebrating the liberation of Palestine with you in the near future.

Featured image via Palestine Action Scotland