Pro Palestine demo outside defence systems company

On Saturday a group of pro Palestine protesters gathered outside the Leonardo factory at Crewe Road North.

Leonardo manufacture surveillance radars and laser targeting systems, which it has been claimed are used by Israeli military.

In the last month, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel confirmed that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in a new report. And in the last week the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made a speech at the UN in New York amid protests involving hundreds of people.

Also in the last month a threat of strike action by Leonardo staff has been made by thousands of workers at sites in Edinburgh, Yeovil, Newcastle, Luton and Basildon over a pay offer of 3.2 per cent. The Unite union say this is a real terms pay cut

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members are highly skilled and work on critical defence and aerospace systems yet are being short-changed by a company making billions.

“Leonardo needs to do the right thing, come back to the negotiating table and make an improved offer our members can accept.”

Pro Palestine Demonstration at Leonardo Factory Edinburgh