Videos and images are available for free, with no credit needed: https://bit.ly/iOassociates
iO Associates, the only recruitment company for Elbit Systems UK, removed all of the 22 jobs that it was recruiting for Elbit from its online platforms [1]. Subsequently, Elbit Systems UK also removed all of their job vacancies from its website [2]. This happened soon after an occupation by activists who stormed inside iO’s offices in Manchester on Friday 1st September 2023, to demand the company stop recruiting for Elbit Systems UK.
The action happened the day after iO Associates’ announced the opening of their new offices in the Express Building Manchester City Centre [3]. The group carried flags and a banner, which read ‘IO Associates recruiting for Elbit Murderers’. During the action, the iO Associates director, Ross Markall [4], assaulted several members of the group, including a 14 year old daughter of a journalist and smashed her phone [5].
iO Associates have offices in Bristol, Reading, Newcastle, London and now Manchester. They are the sole recruiters for Elbit Systems UK, the UK arm of Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer. Elbit Systems manufacture 85% of Israel’s military drone fleet [6], not only arming the Israeli military with these drones and developing the technology, but also operating the drones alongside the military, directly assisting them in their attacks. They also supply the Israeli military with land-based equipment, bullets, components for tanks, rocket launchers and more. The majority of their weaponry is marketed as “battle-tested” after they’ve been developed on the captive population of Gaza [7].
After a 5 year local campaign, and an intense period of direct action, Elbit Systems were forced to shut down their Oldham weapons factory [8]. Now, activists in the region have set their target on iO Associates. This follows numerous actions taken by Palestine Action against companies who work alongside the Israeli weapons manufacturer.
iO associates have yet to formally announce they are breaking ties with Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer and they are still listed on Elbit’s job application form page [9]. Many groups around the country are primed to take action if they continue to be complicit in Israel’s murderous crimes and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population.
Commenting on the action, Manchester Palestine Action said:
“While we are pleased all the job vacancies for for Elbit Systems UK have been taken down, we won’t stop until iO Associates have formally announced they are cutting ties. We in Manchester will not allow arms profiteers on our streets, least of all for Israel’s worst weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems. We have a history of fighting injustice in all its forms, including the horrors of the arms trade and Apartheid regimes like Israel – just as we fought against the South African Apartheid regime.
Israel continues to massacre Palestinians, steal more land and imprison people for defending their homes from ethnic cleansing. We won’t stop until all of Elbit’s recruiters are kicked out of the city and Elbit is forced out of Britain for good.”
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Videos and images are available for free, with no credit needed: https://bit.ly/iOassociates
If you would like any further information on Palestine action, please contact info@palestineaction.org
Palestine Action is a direct-action network of groups and individuals formed with the mandate of taking action against the sites of Elbit Systems and other companies complicit in Israeli apartheid, calling for all such sites to be shut down.
[1] https://www.ioassociates.co.uk/jobs?sort_type=&query=elbit&selected_locations=&submit=Search
[2] https://www.elbitsystems-uk.com/careers
[3] https://www.ioassociates.co.uk/blog/2023/08/io-associates-expands-to-manchester
[4] https://uk.linkedin.com/in/rossmarkall
[6] https://corporatewatch.org/elbit-systems-company-profile-2/
[7] http://www.whoprofits.org/company/elbit-systems/
[8] https://www.palestineaction.org/victory-in-oldham/
[9] https://www.elbitsystems-uk.com/careers/application-form