As protests against Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza have unfolded in recent months, some groups have taken action against arms manufacturers whose weapons and munitions are being used against Palestinians. In the UK, Palestine Action has been relentless in its use of blockades to shut down facilities run by Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest private arms supplier. On Monday, the organization launched its first campaign in Belgium with actions targeting Elbit and Thales, another company the group says is manufacturing weapons for Israel. In the United States, groups like Dissenters, Palestine Action US, and Resist and Abolish the Military Industrial Complex (RAM INC) have staged blockades and other disruptions targeting companies like Raytheon, Boeing, Woodward and Elbit in an effort to undermine Israel’s war-making. Recently, RAM INC has created a new resource map of facilities that RAM INC members say are actively producing weapons for Israel. The map was released on social media alongside a call to action imploring people of conscience to “SHUT DOWN these facilities that are arming Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”
I spoke with Nadia*, a member of RAM INC who helped create the map, about the research that went into the project and why their collective felt it was necessary to create this resource. “Much of the U.S. military aid to Israel is intentionally shrouded in secrecy,” Nadia said. They explained that while some US military aid to Israel comes in the form of direct shipments of weapons from U.S. stockpiles, some military aid is extended through grants, which Israel uses to purchase weapons from U.S. corporations. “Of course, there are many ways to identify the weapons and military equipment used by Israel and who makes them,” they said. “There are fragments of bombs that have been recovered with identifying information, lists of weapons given to Israel that then can be traced........