Campaigners Tell James Cropper PLC To "Make Beautiful Paper, Not Israel's F35s"
Campaigners from across Cumbria and North Lancashire gathered outside the Paper Foundation's open day in Burneside on Saturday (13 July 2024).
They called on visitors to tell James Cropper PLC to "Make Beautiful Paper, Not Israel's F35s". Their action follows six months of campaigning by groups including South Lakeland and Lancaster District CND, Carlisle Palestine Solidarity Group, Lancaster Palestine Solidarity, North Cumbria CND, Ambleside Palestine Vigil and North Lancashire Green Party to highlight the fact that Cropper's subsidiary, Technical Fibre Products (TFP) makes materials used by Lockheed Martin to build the F35 war plane which has been used on a very large scale by Israel in its devastating attacks on Gaza.
The campaigners gathered at Burneside railway station where speakers highlighted the plight of civilians in Gaza, including the deaths of at least 14,500 children, the displacement of 1.7 million people and impending famine on a massive scale. They emphasised that Israel's squadrons of F35s carry GBU-31 bombs, each of which can cause death and injury over an area equivalent to 58 football pitches. They noted that the Cable News Network (CNN) reports that, in just the first month of its attacks, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) had dropped more than 500 of these 2,000lb bombs on Gaza.
From the station, the peace campaigners moved to the entrance of Ellergreen Park where they displayed placards and handed leaflets to visitors to the Paper Foundation's open day. Their leaflets carried the headline messages, "Tell James Cropper PLC to Make Beautiful Paper, Not Israel's F35s" and "Ask Croppers, How is it possible to hold to Quaker tenets whilst profiting from weapons sales?"
Spokesperson, Philip Gilligan said, "James Cropper PLC say that their purpose is 'To be recognised as creators of world-leading solutions that contribute to making our planet a better place'. This seems a very bizarre claim from a company which continues to make materials used in the production of F35 warplanes that are described by their manufacturer, Lockheed Martin, as “the most lethal” fighter jet in the world. Israel’s actions in Gaza have been judged by the International Court of Justice as plausible war crimes amounting to genocide and their F35s have played a central role in these actions. More than 38,000 people have been killed in Israel’s attacks, including 14,500 children and, now, the entire population of Gaza is facing a devastating famine. It is clear that supplying components for F35s does not make our planet a better place.
"James Cropper PLC has long employed workers with unique and valuable skills who can produce many essential, useful and very beautiful products. Croppers do not need to make components for weapons. We want them to make beautiful paper, not materials used for Israel's F35s. We have been campaigning for many months in the hope that they will eventually respond positively to our calls, and will finally stop asking employees to make materials which will be used to make F35s, most especially the 25 new F35s which have been ordered by Israel but not yet delivered. We are here today, because, to date, James Cropper PLC has still made no relevant response to our queries.”
