Elbit Cambridge to close following months of pro-Palestine protests
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While there are several Elbit jobs advertised on LinkedIn, there are none available in Cambridge.
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Palestine solidarity activists shut down the Elbit Systems office in Cambridge Massachusetts in October 2023. (X photo)
The Cambridge headquarters of KMC Systems, a subsidiary of Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems, is mostly vacant with "99.9 percent" of staff working from home, according to police.
Other signs indicate that the company is leaving the city.
For months, pro-Palestine demonstrations have targeted the building that housed KMC. Despite workers going remote, protesters turn up every Wednesday, Cambridge Police Superintendent of Operations Pauline Wells told Cambridge Day on Thursday.
It is worth noting that Elbit Systems is known for supplying the Israeli occupation forces with drones, munitions, combat vehicles, missiles, and various other types of weaponry. According to the British newspaper Morning Star, "The majority of their arms are marketed as 'battle-tested,' meaning they have been deployed in bombardments against the Palestinian people."
According to BDS Boston, “We will continue organizing until Elbit Systems leaves Cambridge," warning real estate companies that Elbit is a "difficult tenant" as disruptive protests will follow wherever the firm goes.
This Monday, some 25 to 30 people got there, yelling chants like "Elbit is not welcome here" and "Palestine will be free." Police have stated that their policy is to stop traffic and safeguard persons participating in peaceful protests.
Other building tenants, including Reed Hilderbrand landscape architects, HMFH Architects, and Workbar coworking space, have allegedly informed demonstrators that the Cambridge Elbit facility is no longer in use and that the firm is seeking a new location.
KMC's website currently lists employment vacancies for Merrimack, New Hampshire. While several Elbit jobs are advertised on LinkedIn, none is available in Cambridge.
Israel's largest arms company, Elbit Systems, has been forced to permanently vacate its site in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, by Palestine Action US and BDS Boston.
— Lowkey (@Lowkey0nline) August 20, 2024
This is the first success of its kind in the United States.
Back in March, Palestine Action compelled Elbit Systems, "Israel’s" largest arms company, to permanently close yet another weapons factory in the UK, despite facing arrests, raids, and imprisonment.
The group announced that its efforts have led to the permanent closure of Elbit Systems' Elite KL factory in Tamworth, Staffordshire, marking the third Elbit Systems site in the UK to be forced to shutter permanently by Palestine Action.
BREAKING: Palestine Action permanently shut Elbit down in Tamworth!
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) March 28, 2024
After sustained direct action, the Israeli weapons maker was forced to sell due to increased security costs which cut their profits by 75%.
The new owners wrote to Palestine Action to confirm the factory is no… pic.twitter.com/MCwlknGtUr
French insurance giant AXA cuts ties with major Israeli banks: BDS
In another win for the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement (BDS) in Europe, French insurance giant AXA has reportedly divested from all major Israeli banks.
The move comes as part of ongoing efforts by BDS to pressure companies complicit in supporting the Israeli occupation's settler-colonial regime, as announced in a new report published on Wednesday by the corporate accountability organization Eko.
Israeli banks are considered the backbone of the Israeli colonial project, providing substantial direct support for the expansion and maintenance of illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
The global campaign against AXA targeted the company's investments in these banks and in Elbit Systems, a leading Israeli defense contractor implicated in various human rights violations against Palestinians.
Under pressure from the campaign, AXA had previously partially divested from Elbit in December 2018 and March 2019. By the end of 2022, it had also withdrawn its investments from two Israeli banks, Mizrahi-Tefahot and First International Bank of Israel.
Eko, which is part of the broad coalition pushing AXA to cease its complicity in Israeli crimes against Palestinians, commissioned independent research by Profundo, revealing that as of September 2023, AXA still held over $20 million in shares in three Israeli banks: Hapoalim, Discount, and Leumi. However, by June 24, 2024, amid escalating global pressure, AXA had divested from these banks as well.
The report confirms that AXA has no longer invested in Mizrahi-Tefahot or First International Bank of Israel since at least the end of 2022, and it has now sold its remaining investments in the other Israeli banks, with only a few shares left in Bank Leumi.
