75 organisations representing a cross section of the community – including human rights groups, religious organisations, unions, healthcare workers, campaign groups, and a well-known music band, have united to urge the police to investigate Elbit Systems UK for war crimes. This comes after the police ignored letters from more than 1,000 concerned citizens making the same demand.
Background
On 24th August 2025, the Resistance Kitchen released a research piece exposing Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, and its role in the genocide in Gaza, alongside launching a letter-writing campaign.
Elbit Systems, responsible for 85% of the weapons used by Israel, operates 16 manufacturing sites in the UK that have been supplying Israel arms during the genocide.
The campaign called on UK citizens to contact the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service, who oversees the War Crimes Investigation Unit of SO15, and the Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Police Service, where Elbit’s largest UK facility is based, urging them to open criminal investigations into Elbit Systems UK for supplying arms linked to genocide, war crimes, and serious breaches of international and UK law.
This appeal struck a chord with the British public, and within six weeks, over 1,000 individuals sent letters to both police forces.
Shockingly, none of these letters received any response, and two months later, neither police force has taken any action.
Community Responds
After the police failed to act despite this overwhelming public outcry, the community united to back a follow-up letter calling for immediate accountability and action.
Within a short period, 75 diverse community organisations representing a wide cross section of society endorsed the letter. These included religious groups – Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Hindu organisations; trade unions; human rights defenders ; healthcare workers; refugee support groups; civil rights advocates; student organisations; women’s groups; campaigners; Black Lives Matter; CND; prisoner support groups; artists; and even a renowned music band.
Community Letter
The letter from 75 community groups reads:
Chief Constable Sarah Crew
Avon and Somerset Police Headquarters
Commissioner Mark Rowley
Metropolitan Police Service Headquarters
Ref: Immediate and Formal Criminal Investigation Required into Elbit Systems UK
Dear Chief Constable Crew and Commissioner Rowley,
I write on behalf of the undersigned community organisations and the wider public, representing more than 1000 individuals who have repeatedly written to your offices demanding urgent police action. Despite this overwhelming public outcry and the submission of extensive credible evidence, these letters have been systematically ignored. This follow-up letter demands immediate accountability and action.
Chief Constable Crew has acknowledged receiving our initial letter dated 23 August 2025. However, Commissioner Rowley, who oversees the War Crimes Investigation Unit of SO15 as the Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner, has not even acknowledged it. More importantly, neither of your offices has taken any meaningful investigative steps or kept the public informed on such a grave matter.
There is incontrovertible evidence linking Elbit Systems UK and its subsidiaries – including those operating at the Horizon Advanced Manufacturing hub in Filton – to the supply of arms and military technology implicated in genocide, war crimes, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law. This includes documented cargo records, export licences, and credible testimonies connecting UK-made drone technology directly to lethal military operations causing disproportionate civilian casualties, including children and aid workers.
Under the overriding duty imposed by the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (Section 23) and reinforced by the Human Rights Act 1998, your forces are legally bound to initiate a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation where suspicion of serious criminal conduct exists. Your failure to act not only breaches these statutory and human rights obligations but also gravely undermines public confidence in the police to uphold justice and the rule of law.
We hereby demand, without further delay:
- The immediate launch of a formal, comprehensive criminal investigation into Elbit Systems UK’s complicity in alleged grave international crimes.
- Suspension of all related exports and operations at Elbit Systems UK pending the investigation’s outcome.
- Transparent, regular public updates on the progress and findings of the investigation.
- A formal written confirmation from Commissioner Rowley acknowledging receipt of this letter and previous correspondence, accompanied by explicit assurances of substantive action.
Should your offices continue this deliberate disregard for the rule of law and the voices of thousands of concerned citizens, you will expose yourselves to legal challenge, severe public condemnation, and a profound erosion of legitimacy.
The time to act is now. The scale of alleged crimes and the weight of public demand leave no room for further delay or evasion of your fundamental duty.
Yours sincerely
Abbas Ali
Resistance Kitchen
www.resistancekitchen.uk
Signed:
- Resistance Kitchen
- Islamic Human Rights Commission
- CAGE International
- Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol)
- Defend Our Juries
- Croydon Trades Union Council
- Red Letter Christians
- Black Lives Matter Coalition UK
- Healthworkers and Allies for Palestine
- Free The Filton 24
- Inminds Human Rights Group
- International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN)
- Hindus for Human Rights UK
- Bristol Palestine Alliance
- CND Cymru
- Sutton and Croydon Green Party
- Friends of Al-Aqsa
- Palestinian Youth Movement Britain
- Lambeth UNISON Black Workers Group
- Massive Attack
- Peaceful Borders
- ABSoc For Justice
- Active Muslims Leicester
- Activist Independent Movement
- Alhulbayt Islamic Mission
- Ahlulbayt Sisters Association
- Anti Zionist Movement
- Association of Student Activism for Palestine
- BDS Belfast
- Black Lives Matter Croydon
- Bromley PSC
- Caerdydd Students for Palestine
- Cambridge PSC
- Cambridge Stop the War
- Community Camp for Palestine
- Convivencia Alliance
- Croydon for Palestine
- Croydon PSC
- Crystal Palace Friends of Palestine
- Documenting Oppression Against Muslims (DOAM)
- Dudley PSC
- Elbit Out of Leicester
- Goldsmiths For Palestine
- Greater Manchester Community For Palestine
- Greenwich Palestine Alliance
- Haringey CND
- Hoque Community
- Human Rights Sentinel
- Imperial College London Friends of Palestine
- Jewish Network for Palestine
- Lambeth Green Party
- Leicester Action for Palestine
- Leicester Massive
- Leicestershire Council of Mosques (LCOM)
- London Collective for Palestine
- London Healthworkers for Palestine
- Merton Friends of Palestine
- Middlesex Palestine Solidarity Society
- Muslim Greens
- Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK
- Muslim Women’s Association of Edinburgh
- Palestine Pulse
- Pilgrimage for Palestine
- Prayers for Gaza
- Prisoners 4 Palestine
- Riverway to the Sea
- Socialist Party Croydon
- Spinwatch
- The Asr Initiative
- Trident Ploughshares
- UCL Action for Palestine
- UCL Stands For Justice
- UCL Students for Justice in Palestine
- United Tech And Allied Workers Union
- Youth Demand
- Franck Magennis, Barrister
- Juliet Stevenson, British actress
- Mick Napier, Scottish PSC Spokesperson
- Tara Reynor O’Grady, Human Rights Sentinel, from the Alma – Global Sumud Flotilla
Delivering The Letter
The letter, along with evidence, was personally delivered to both police forces inside a child’s coffin, symbolising the thousands of Palestinian children killed in Gaza using weapons supplied by Elbit Systems. The evidence was arranged to form the body of the shrouded baby. The coffin’s plaque read “In loving memory of Hind Rajab & the tens of thousands of murdered children & babies in Gaza”.
An huge 8-foot banner depicted a Palestinian mother mourning her killed child, set against the backdrop of the devastated Gaza landscape. The banner bore the statement “We Demand Criminal Investigation Into Elbit Systems UK,” along with the names (masked) of over 1000 individuals whose letters to the police went unanswered. Below this, a second statement read, “This Genocide Isn’t Possible Without Elbit,” accompanied by the logos of 75 community organisations, providing the backdrop for speeches outside the police stations.
Bristol - Avon & Sommerset Police Force
On Monday, October 20th, Welsh nurse Leigh Evans, who witnessed first-hand the devastation Elbit weapons cause in Gaza, joined Professor David Miller, an expert on Israeli government interference in the UK; local activist Matt Ó Branáin; and Emma Kamio, mother of Filton 24 detainee Leona Kamio, to deliver the letter to Avon and Somerset Police Service in Bristol, where Elbit’s largest UK facility is located.
Leigh Evans passionately described his experiences as a paramedic in Gaza and the West Bank, emphasising the deliberate targeting of Palestinian civilians, especially children, with Elbit weapons.
Professor Miller highlighted the campaign’s importance, noting that despite state support for Israel’s genocide, sustained pressure can prompt police to act correctly, citing the recent ban on violent Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv fans connected to the IDF from an Aston Villa football match.
Emma Kamio read the community letter on the police station steps. Her daughter Leona has been imprisoned for 15 months, awaiting trial for damaging drones, weapons, and quadcopters housed at Elbit’s nearby Filton site, all intended for use in Gaza.
After speeches, when they attempted to deliver the letter, police locked the station doors. After persistence, an officer appeared through a side entrance to accept the coffin.
(Bristol photographs courtesy Robert Browne)
London - Metropolitan Police Service
“There is substantial evidence of Elbit’s role in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. This company is a key part of Israel’s apartheid regime and operates in Britain, apparently violating numerous international and domestic laws. The British state, including its highest levels, is complicit in the mass murder of Palestinians. British police must end their complacency and take effective action against those responsible for this genocide.”
“The police have a legal duty to investigate Elbit Systems, which openly claims a central role in Israeli military operations in Gaza. It is deeply disturbing that a genocidal company operates freely in this country, while my daughter’s freedom has been taken for opposing the use of weapons against Palestinian civilians. I am delivering evidence to the police and demand urgent investigations and accountability for these war crimes.”
New £2 Billion Contract Must Be Cancelled
Since launching the campaign it has been revealed (Aug 2025) that the government is poised to sign a new contract with Elbit Systems worth an estimated £1.9bn to £2.5bn “which would entrench Elbit Systems at the core of the UK’s defense infrastructure for a full 15 year period” as a “strategic partner” of Britain’s Ministry of Defence. Elbit Systems, which has been named in the July 2025 United Nations report as central to Israel’s plausibly genocidal conduct, would be given responsibility to train 60,000 British soldiers a year! Already since 2023, Elbit is running MoD’s Project Vulcan £57m contract for training tank crews.
Clearly we must continue exerting pressure to ensure this contract doesn’t go ahead and the existing contract cancelled.
Next Phase - National Rollout
We anticipate that the next stage of this campaign will see local groups delivering the community letter – calling for a criminal investigation into Elbit Systems UK – to their local police stations. Together, we will build strong grassroots pressure on the police to take action.
In the days ahead, we will provide the necessary materials and guidance to support this effort, including instructions on making the coffin, banner, and more. Please stay tuned for updates.
Other Interesting Posts:
Police Ignore Over 1000 Letters Demanding Criminal Investigation Into Elbit Systems UK
Help Send 1000 Letters – Demand Criminal Investigation Into Elbit Systems UK
Demand Criminal Investigation Into Elbit Systems UK
Boycott Israeli Dates Campaign – #Filton18 Day 186
123 Days Of Unjust Imprisonment – #Filton10
Fatema Zainab Still Denied Mail – #Filton10 Day 116
Protest Outside HMP Bronzefield in solidarity with the #Filton10
“Let my best teacher see my painting” – 6 year old writes to HMP Bronzefield
#Filton10 Unjustly Imprisoned For 74 Days – Sign The Petition
Unjustly Imprisoned For Two Months – #Filton10 Day 60
#Filton10 – Day 46
Children send paintings to their “best” teacher #Filton10