Hundreds call for arms embargo in protests at factories complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza

On 17 June, hundreds of people attended protests outside arms factories complicit in the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza. They went to Sheffield, Rochester, and Havant to call for an immediate arms embargo. This comes as one poll suggests over half of people in Britain back such an embargo.

As the Palestine Solidarity Campaign explained:

Britain is an active participant in Israel’s genocide in Palestine, including through its arms trade and military collaboration with Israel. One example is Britain’s contribution to Israel’s F-35 fighter jets, used to drop 2,000lb bombs on the Gaza Strip.

It added that:

Research by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has identified that crucial components for F-35 fighter jets used by Israel to bomb Gaza are manufactured at dozens of sites in Britain.

The protest sites, it said, are “involved in the F-35 fighter jet supply chain”.

Today several hundreds of people took action outside arms factories in Sheffield, Rochester and Havant to demand Britain #StopArmingIsrael 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/A1VEim3R9Q

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) June 17, 2025

Happening now at BAE Systems in Rochester pic.twitter.com/fnhEUy4b6l

— Andrew Feinstein (@andrewfeinstein) June 17, 2025

1. We are the people
2. We won’t be silent
3. Arms embargo NOW, NOW, NOW!
At Lockheed Martin, Havant, Hampshire UK, suppliers of Israel’s F-35 bombers pic.twitter.com/HpPvMMYPUC

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) June 17, 2025

💥💥 The entrance to the @LockheedMartin arms factory in suburban Havant near Portsmouth is now surrounded and the factory shut down.
A heads up that #LockheedMartin can no longer escape their complicity in genocide. #StopArmingIsrael 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/eqrhrnAnP1

— Brighton PSC (@BrightonPSC) June 17, 2025

💥💥 Big demo to Lockheed Martin factory in Havant now on the move!#StopArmingIsrael pic.twitter.com/jycYtLkEEf

— Brighton PSC (@BrightonPSC) June 17, 2025

Genocide, ethnic cleansing, and regional war. We need to stand up to Israel!

Warmongers would love to turn Israel’s unprovoked war on Iran into Iraq 2.0. And Donald Trump and other politicians are already admitting US involvement. German chancellor Friedrich Merz even said openly that Israel is doing most of the West’s “dirty work” for it in Iran.

So our politicians are unlikely to stand up and stop Israel. But even in the US, over half of the 2024 Trump voters oppose the US joining Israel’s war on Iran, as do 60% of all voters. A poll in Britain also shows the same opposition to backing Israel’s crimes. Another shows open support for an arms embargo:

🚨 NEW Polling shows British public strongly backs sanctions on Israel

A new poll conducted by @OpiniumResearch for PSC shows broad public support for an arms trade ban, sanctions on Israeli ministers, supermarkets to boycott Israeli goods and Israel to be expelled from the UN. pic.twitter.com/DLqGeHCFsd

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) June 15, 2025

But we can’t just wish for change. We need to make it happen. And to do that, we don’t just need committed activists. We also need to get out there and mobilise as many people from the quiet anti-genocide majority as possible. Because the more people there are demanding change, the harder it is for our political elites to ignore us.

Featured image via the Canary