A protest was held at Collins Aerospace in Kilkeel on Tuesday 24th February due to news emerging the factory is undertaking production of seats for Israel's national airline El Al. The protest was held early in the morning outside the factory gates.
Reporting by The Ditch has revealed a variety of scandals involving El Al relevant to Ireland since October 2023. Violating law they have repeatedly carried Lockheed Martin parts & munitions for F-35 jets, alongside 2,800 kilogrammes of guns through Irish skies to Israel. The Ditch also reported that in February 2024 Collins themselves sold and transported detonating fuses for use by the Israeli military, provided by an American branch of the same company active in Kilkeel.
The El Al airline operates effectively as a monopoly in Israel. Whilst the firm has largely been privatised, the Israeli government still holds a 5% special state share which it uses to dictate El Al's operations.
IPSC Newry joint-chair & People Before Profit Newry & Armagh representative Marc Mac Seáin states: "We find it disgraceful any firm in Ireland would do business with Israel, a widely acknowledged genocidal apartheid state. We call on Collins to drop production of seats for El Al, and should they refuse we would ask the workers to organise a boycott of that work. Unite represents workers on site, and as part of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has committed to support any workers boycotting production for Israel through their workplace.
"El Al forms a critical backbone to Israel's transport infrastructure which they use to perpetuate both genocide & apartheid. Internationally we must boycott, divest & sanction all Israeli institutions as a way to bring down their Settler-Colony, with South Africa as a historical analogue.
"Despite Trump's bluster for a new international Board of Peace, his Gaza-Rivera plan and false 'ceasefire' there is no peace or security for the Palestinians. Gaza is still regularly bombed, and settlements in the West Bank expand every day. Trump not only backs Israel, but has kidnapped the President of Venezuela, threatens a devastating invasion of Iran and is currently strangling Cuba with even harsher sanctions. Never-mind his attempts to bully a variety of his competitors through sanctions, or his threats to seize Greenland. We can't normalise any of this behaviour and urge people to stand in solidarity how and where they can such as demanding an end to production for Israel in Kilkeel."
