Leaders in Newcastle have pledged to meet activists demanding a shutdown of an Israeli-owned arms factory in Newcastle, as city politicians called for an end to the UK’s “complicity” in the war in Gaza.
The Armstrong Works site on Scotswood Road has been the subject of repeated protests for months, with pro-Palestine campaigners demanding answers over the destination of the weapons being made at the West End plant.
Factory owner Pearson Engineering is a subsidiary of Israeli defense technology company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Israeli state is listed on Companies House as having a controlling stake in the Armstrong Works firm.
Newcastle City Council faced criticism last month for denying members of the People Against Rafael group the chance to present a petition signed by more than 5,000 people, which called on the authority to enquire further about the equipment produced at the factory.
While the council has repeatedly said it has no power to restrict or terminate the use of the site, a senior cllr has now offered to meet with the protesters.
It came as the Labour-council passed a motion urging the UK Government to suspend all arms sales to Israel, as well as calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages including Israelis held by Hamas, unrestricted access for humanitarian aid, and an end to the occupation of Palestinian territory.
More than 5,700 Palestinians have been killed since the outbreak of the conflict in October 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry.
Irim Ali, the local authority’s cabinet member for communities, told a council meeting on Wednesday night that the war has resulted in “untold suffering” and that the world had watched on “too frequently in complicity”.
She said that local authorities and communities have “an important voice and role to play” in calling for “an end to the UK’s complicity” and “make it clear that silence is not neutrality, and neutrality in the face of oppression is itself a form of complicity”.
Cllr Ali commented: “Let us not be remembered as bystanders, let us be remembered as those who spoke out, who took a stand, and demanded that the UK lives up to its highest ideals.”
She said afterwards that she was “happy to accept the invitation to meet with representatives of People Against Rafael Group alongside fellow cllrs.”
Cllr Ali added: “I understand the strength of feeling that exists within our communities regarding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and I’m committed to ensuring the voices of all our residents are heard.”
People Against Rafael’s Don MacDonald said the promise of a meeting was a “step forward”.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “It is good that we have this now and they are prepared to meet with us, but we would like to see action being taken from that. The council needs to be taking this up with the national Government, who do have the power to act.”
Pearson Engineering previously said in November 2023 that the Israeli Defence Forces did not use any of its equipment, while the council said last month that it had been “categorically told” that no weapons produced in Newcastle had been provided to any nation involved in the Gaza conflict.
A Pearson Engineering representative told the LDRS: “Pearson Engineering is a provider of equipment to move mines, explosives, and other ordnance out of the path of vehicles in conflict environments. Other products we design are used around the world to overcome natural and deliberately placed obstacles such as rivers and rubble. These products have been used in conflict zones and recently deployed by Ukraine. We are a UK-registered company, and all our exports are wholly licensed and regulated by the UK Government.”
During Wednesday’s council debate, Labour cllr Hayder Qureshi called the war in Gaza a “humanitarian catastrophe of staggering proportions” and that Newcastle’s values of compassion “compel us to speak out and not be silent while the suffering continues”.
The Green Party’s Nick Hartley said that British and US government policy is “implicated in the genocide that has happened and is happening in Gaza”, adding that he hoped that the council would be able to “shed light on what is going on on Scotswood Road”.
The Lib Dems, Newcastle’s main opposition party, abstained on the Gaza motion. Their leader, Colin Ferguson, said the Lib Dems believe the Government should immediately suspend arms exports to Israel but that Labour’s motion differed in “nuance” to his party’s position.
