A group of protesters, led by Workers for a Free Palestine, have blocked the entrance to an aerospace factory in Lancashire, calling for an end to the production of fighter jets that they claim are being used in the conflict between Israel and Gaza. The Lancashire facility, owned by BAE Systems, is responsible for manufacturing military aircraft components, including the F-35 fighter jet parts. The same group of protesters has previously demonstrated outside BAE Systems factories in Glasgow, Wimborne, and Brighton.
The BAE Systems factory in Samlesbury, Lancashire, is staffed by around 3,000 employees. The manufacturing site is subject to the “tightest regulation” and complies fully with all applicable defence export controls, according to a BAE Systems spokesperson. The factory also, they added, supplies components and fuselage to Air Force programmes worldwide and aircraft military programmes for governments around the world, including the allied nations of Israel and Palestine.
The protesters, approximately 200 in number, gathered outside the factory carrying Palestinian flags, and placards with messages such as: “Stop Arming Israel”. Cameron Stocks, who travelled from Manchester to join the protest, said the demonstrators wanted companies like BAE Systems to stop all “weapons, defence and supplies trading” with Israel immediately.
BAE Systems, meanwhile, said it was “horrified by the situation in Israel and Gaza” and respected the right to peaceful protest. A spokesperson added, however, that the company had to comply with the strictest controls over defence export licenses, which are subject to constant assessment.
The protesters are calling on BAE Systems and other companies to break ties with Israel, cease trading of all weapons, defence, and supplies and push for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
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