Ladson, SC – The Elbit Out of South Carolina (EOSC), a coalition of local grassroots groups, held a press conference on Tuesday, March 24, outside Elmec, Inc.’s office to announce Elmec as a new campaign target alongside their current target, Israeli based weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. Elmec, a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, is an international defense company specializing in aerospace manufacturing.

Elbit Systems is a privately owned Israeli weapons contractor that provides 80% of Israel’s ground equipment and 85% of its drones. Its Ladson based “Ground Combat Vehicle Assembly and Integration Center of Excellence” was constructed with several tax incentives granted by Charleston County, including a Set Aside Grant and a Fee In Lieu of Taxation (FILOT) agreement.

The press conference highlighted Elmec’s relationship to Elbit, the company’s role in profiting from war and genocide, and the material cost of their presence to community members in the Lowcountry.

The event began with a satirical speech from a stand-in Elmec executive to welcome the crowd to company’s grand opening, who said, “At the end of the day, do we really want Charleston focusing its investments on the needs of working people, spending money at Saint Andrews School of Math and Science or C.E. Williams or Burke, wasting its funds on handouts to working-class nobodies, instead of expanding business opportunities in mass surveillance and hospital destruction for the titans of industry?”

The press conference featured speakers from EOSC’s coalition organizations, Free Palestine Charleston, Charleston Democratic Socialists of America, Lowcountry Action Committee, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization Charleston District.

Autumn Waddell of Free Palestine Charleston stated, “Right here in Charleston we have the opportunity to make a real difference. Elmec and Elbit are our access to international politics. We decided to stand up and fight for the parents in Charleston County who want to send their kids to good, well-funded schools, and for the parents in Gaza who want to know their children will come from school at the end of each day.”

Chris Tittle of Tri-County Tenants Union remarked on the connections between tenants in America and tenants in Palestine, stating, “From Charleston to Palestine, tenants are exploited by the arms and AI economy. Elbit and Elmec use the same AI systems in their weapons that corporate landlords like Cushman and Wakefield use to artificially and illegally inflate the rent. And local politicians are happy to call this ‘economic development,’ we call it economic warfare on the working class.”

The press conference was followed by a mock ribbon cutting ceremony for Elmec, and a car caravan from the Elmec facility to the nearby Elbit Systems facility, which culminated in a picket. Elbit Out of SC and community members have picketed Elbit Systems weekly since October of 2024 and worked to raise public awareness of the weapons manufacturer since spring 2024.

“It was important to end the press conference with our weekly picket at Elbit because it not only shows how physically close these two facilities are, but it gives people an opportunity to do more than talk about the issues affecting workers in Charleston and Palestine and actually take action against war crimes and genocide in Palestine,” said Alfred Peeler, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization Charleston District.

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