Global Day of Action Against Elbit Systems: A Report Back on Houston Actionists Blockade of BNY Mellon

Report back on action in Houston, Texas against Elbit Systems, a major weapons manufacturer for the state of Israel.

Shortly after sunrise on Thursday, December 7th, protestors descended upon the BNY Mellon office in Houston to protest BNY’s active investment in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians. More than a dozen actionists linked arms and stood with banners to block off the three primary entrances to the San Felipe Place building: the employee garage, the front pedestrian entrance, and a coffee shop entrance. The actionists, along with dozens of protesters picketing on the sidewalk, successfully blocked off these entrances for over an hour.

This action joins a national effort to #ShutElbitDown. Following two actions in Atlanta and New York, and coinciding with actions taken by comrades in Tarrant County, San Francisco, and Illinois.

BNY Mellon, a bank and investment firm that brags of handling “over $45.7 trillion in assets,” is a major funder of Israelis primary weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems and is the sole manager of the Friends of the “IDF” fund. Elbit manufactures cluster munitions, internationally-banned white phosphorus, and weaponized drones that the IDF have used to martyr over 20,000 Palestinians since October 7. BNY now owns nearly 68,000 shares of Elbit Systems Ltd. valued at $13 million [Fintel BNY Mellon]. Business as usual for BNY Mellon means death and destruction for Palestinians! As organizers wrote, “BNY Mellon’s continued investment represents the company’s brutal disregard for Palestinian life, as it profits off of the deaths of thousands of innocent people.”

Friends of the “IDF” (FIDF) is a welfare organization for “IDF” fascists, which provides them with direct monetary aid and supplies, on top of the $10 million a day the US government supplies to fund Israel’s ethnic cleansing. The FIDF allows the American bourgeoisie to make direct, tax-exempt donations for Zionist war criminals to mass murder Palestinians. In one month alone, FIDF sent $60 million to the Israeli occupying forces.

The arrival of protestors took employees, security, and the Houston Police pigs by complete surprise. BNY Mellon shares the office space on San Felipe with other companies, largely other investment firms as well as Houston’s infamous Kinder Foundation. Actionists blocking the main garage prevented employees from parking to get to work – at one point leading to a line of disrupted cars around the block. The majority of employees simply drove away upon arriving. Agitated employees added to the chaos, leaving their cars abandoned in the street to yell at or confront protesters and cry to police. One man attempted to rip away a “BNY FUNDS GENOCIDE” banner from actionists blocking the parking garage entrance. Protestors responded quickly, standing between him and the blockaders to prevent further threat.

Other employees at the coffee shop and front door entrances tried to physically push past blockaders. Several employees used a police escort to enter the building and were met with a chorus of “SHAME” and “QUIT YOUR JOB.”

The most violent retaliation happened when a employee drove his Dodge Ram 1500 extremely close to actionists blocking the garage in an attempt to intimidate the protesters and threaten violence. Brave comrades blocking the garage did not move a muscle. Protestors rushed over to strengthen the blockade. The genocidaire then left his vehicle, also contributing to the pile up of cars outside of the building, to argue with police officers on scene. He pointed his finger in a pigs face demanding they arrest everybody, crying, “they’re lying! This is bullshit!” His homicidal actions and maniacal responses show exactly why blocking Zionism is necessary: those enabling and materially benefiting from the Israeli occupation will continue business as usual committing a genocide until they are physically prevented from doing so.

During the course of the blockade, one building employee locked the door to the coffee shop entrance, shutting down that entrance completely. The building also shut the gate to the garage, effectively shutting down the employee garage and signaling the action’s success. Meanwhile supporters offsite bombarded the offices of BNY Mellon and the office building’s landlord over the phone, demanding that BNY end its investment in Elbit Systems and terminate its role as the manager of the FIDF Donor Advised Fund.

Protesters, actionists, and their supporters continued to stall the threat of arrest and prevent employees from entering as this chaos unfolded. This autonomous group gathered without police identifying any specific organization, coordinator, or blocker. During this time the cops continued to pile up, shut down the block, and surround the area with caution tape. Following more than an hour of blocking, police pulled out zipties and gave a final warning of arrests. Shortly after, blockers in unison seamlessly blended into the crowd of protesters leaving the police confused as to who had been trespassing on private property and who had just attended as a protester.

They then exited the site as quickly as they appeared. According to inside sources, the building sent out a message to employees encouraging them to stay home and avoid the office. Notably, not a single actionist was arrested, nor did anyone speak to police officers on site. They showed incredible unity by working in lockstep, trusting and supporting each other, regardless of their roles in the action. Their voices were many but they spoke as one: FREE PALESTINE.

“We can no longer wait for our political leaders to grow a conscience as we watch entire families trapped under rubble and hospitals bombed live on television,” organizers wrote in their press release. “The urgency of this moment calls for Texans to take direct action now against genocide profiteers operating in our backyards. We do not believe war profiteers should be able to operate in our community in peace. It is up to the people, not the politicians, to directly impede the processes that facilitate war and devastation.”