LADSON, SC - Over seventy five community members joined to protest Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems at their Ladson facility on Thursday, opposing the company’s production of weapons and use of Charleston County tax breaks.
The company opened its Ladson production facility in summer 2023 with a package of tax breaks from Charleston County Council likely amounting to $10Ms over twenty years – tax revenue that would otherwise be funding Charleston County School District. The picket was organized by the Elbit Out of SC coalition, whose membership includes Free Palestine Charleston, Charleston Democratic Socialists of America, Lowcountry Action Committee, and Lowcountry Rising for Palestine.
In this facility Elbit produces howitzer cannons for the Israeli military, which is currently engaged in an assault on Gaza that has been deemed to be a “plausible violation of the Genocide Convention” by the International Court of Justice. Similar weapons have been used to launch white phosphorus in Palestine, also a violation of international law.
Small business owner Martin Levisen said, "We're here at the Elbit Systems weapons factory to recognize hard working Americans by saying, ‘We don't work to pay for bombing hospitals, assassinating children and starving people to death!"
Another Charleston County Resident, Rain W., said “Our money belongs in our community, our money should serve us, and most importantly, our money should not be used to commit genocide, which is the business of Elbit Systems.”
The Elbit Out of SC coalition has been protesting weekly outside Elbit’s Ladson facility since October 2024. The decision to coordinate a larger picket was organized in honor of International Workers Day. Just in the past 24 hours, Israeli bombs have killed at least 29 Palestinians, many of them children, at a refugee camp. More than 52,418 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry. Elbit Systems provides more than 85% of the Israeli military’s land-based equipment and drones.