An Austrian Elbit Systems subsidiary’s factory was defaced on Monday in the debut action by a new chapter of a United Kingdom-based activist group responsible for vandalism attacks across Europe and North America.
Austrian Police confirmed that “several unknown individuals” had spray-painted a Vienna building and damaged a solar panel in the early hours of the morning.
The new Austrian branch of Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the attack against ESL Advanced Information Technology (ESLAIT). Palestine Action Austria posted a video to Instagram on Monday in which the vandals smashed the solar panels with a hammer, poured unidentified liquids into pipes, and disconnected wires and antennas.
As a subsidiary of an Israeli defense firm, the anti-Israel group said that ESLAIT was involved in a supposed “ongoing genocide.”
“It is up to all of us to hinder, if not end, state and corporate complicity,” said PAA. “Not tomorrow, but today and now. And it’s not enough to just shout or plead with them, you have to attack them where it hurts: money.”
In a separate post the same day, the group announced its creation, saying that its purpose was to promote civil disobedience and take “direct action” against companies and institutions associated with Israel.
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“Austria and its companies are not bystanders to this genocide. They are part of the suppliers and profiteers,” PAA said Monday. “For many years, activist groups from across the country have tried to expose state and corporate collusion with Israel’s actions in Palestine, only to be met with silence. We are tired of being ignored. Hopelessness, paralysis, or worse, silence, are not acceptable responses to this outrage. Direct action in all shapes and sizes, anywhere, anytime – this is the only valuable response and the only way forward.”
PAA called on locals to join the organization, listing an email for prospective applicants.
Palestine Action group has been branching out
The new chapter characterized the parent group as a grassroots “transnational collective.” Palestine Action has branches in Europe and the US but originated in the UK, where it engages in weekly acts of vandalism against banks and factories that have financial or production ties to Israel or its defense industry.
Palestine action on Tuesday claimed to have shut down an Elbit Bristol facility by blocking off an access road for two days. In a Monday predawn raid, the activists claimed to have infiltrated a Milton Keyne business and “smashed and destroyed machinery.”
“Anyone who remains a partner of the Israeli weapons maker has done a serious moral and financial miscalculation as Palestine Action will break every link of Elbit’s supply chain, which involves targeting Elbit’s suppliers and, of course, shutting Elbit down,” a Palestine Action spokesperson said in a statement on Instagram.