An estimated 60 protestors blocked the entrance to the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Aberporth on Monday morning as part of a ‘global day of action’.
The protestors blockaded two entrances to the Parcllyn site, home to technology company QinetiQ, which they claim supplies drones to Israel.
The protestors from across Powys, Ceredigion and wider Cymru arrived before 7am to ‘prevent work and shut down the site’.
The protestors shouted the controversial ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ chant, which the Campaign Against Antisemitism has said is ‘deeply offensive and threatening’, claiming ‘it is a call for the annihilation of half the world’s Jews, who live in Israel.’
The site was ‘shut down’ just after 8am with one source alleging employees were told to ‘go home’.
The 15 April action coincided with global action across New York, Detroit, London, Lisbon and Paris, targetting industries supporting Israel in the Isreal-Hamas war.
A protestor said: “Approximately 40,000 Palestinians have been murdered in just over half a year of relentless, genocidal violence.
“It is time for Welsh industry, Welsh government, and our civic population, to end our complicity in these war crimes.”
MOD Aberporth and Parc Aberporth have been the target of peace movements for decades, with the latter becoming host to another blockade protest by Ceredigion Palestine Solidarity on 18 March.
The groups call for an end to Welsh and British governments ‘complicity in the genocidal business operated from Aberporth’, asking Welsh government to stop the lease of Aberporth land.
They also called for workers at the site to join them in ‘condemning and disrupting the industry’ which develops unarmed aircraft systems, which they claim are exported to Israel and used by Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in the war against Hamas.
Defence contractor company Elbit Systems is also known to test weapons systems at nearby Parc Aberporth used by Israel during assaults on civilians and aid workers in Palestine.
MOD said: “We take the safety of our staff incredibly seriously. Protests this morning at MOD Aberporth have now ended and the site has fully reopened.”