Taking on Israel's arms industry: MEMO in Conversation with Ronnie Barkan

Middle East Monitor Conversations

CAPTION: On Nakba Day in 2022, 7 activists stormed the site of Israel's largest weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems in an effort to disrupt its operations and highlight the atrocities its 'field tested' weapons have caused against Palestinians. Two of the activists were Israeli and they spoke to MEMO to discuss why they continue to protest.
Elbit Systems is Israel's premier arms and military technology company, which claims that its drones are the backbone of the Israeli occupation forces. With 18,000 employees and sites across the world, its weaponry boasts being field tested i.e. used on Palestinians in the West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip. Israeli military officials and politicians serve on its board and sell weapons worldwide. On 15 May 2022, a group of activists with Palestine Action UK, stormed the Elbit Systems site in Bristol, aiming to disrupt its operations while highlighting what the company does. The direct action protest led to the seven activists being arrested, charged and convicted in the British court. Two of the seven were Israeli dissidents with a track record of Palestinian rights activism. In the first of a two-part episode we speak to Ronnie Barkan, one of the two activists.

Barkan is co-founder of Boycott from Within and member of Palestine Action. Most recently Barkan was harassed by the German secret police following his Munich talk at Professor-Huber-Platz, where he connected the legacy of the White Rose who opposed Nazism with direct action in opposition to Zionism. He is also considering taking on the UK legal system in international forums for violating his rights by forcing him to pay a fine to an arms company involved with Israel's genocide.