Palestine Action activists this week took apart the offices of Edwards, Aldridge-based accountants working for Israel’s largest weapons firm Elbit Systems.

Activists smashed the windows of the offices based at 34 High Street, Aldridge, Walsall, and doused the site in blood-red paint to represent Elbit’s blood money, which Edwards are paid to count. The site was marked with the messages “Accounting for Apartheid” and “Shut Elbit Down”

Palestine Action have stated:

“Companies working with Elbit are automatically complicit in the crimes of Israel. You are complit in the murder of Palestinians if you are counting the cheques, leasing the factories, providing the deliveries or anything else in exchange for Elbit’s blood money. Edwards and any other firm working with Elbit should expect Palestine Action”.

Edwards are the listed auditors of all of Elbit’s British subsidiaries, delivering accountancy services for the drone-making UAV Engines (Shenstone) and UAV Tactical Systems (Leicester), the targetting and surveillance manufacturers Instro Precision (Kent), and tank-part supplying Elite KL (Tamworth). Edwards were also the auditors of Elbit subsidiary Ferranti Technologies in Oldham, before that was forced to close – sold at a £6m loss – after sustained direct action by Palestine Action.

All of these firms have made exports of military equipment to Israel, selling weapons of war to the Israeli occupation forces, bolstering apartheid and facilitating the murder of Palestinians. This is the trade which Edwards help to sustain, and the company has been disrupted for their facilitation of Elbit’s criminality.