Austria: Pro-Palestine Blockade and Rally Against BRP-Rotax in Gunskirchen
Featured image: activists climbed to the roof of the Rotax factory and displayed a banner.
On Friday, August 22, 2025, a brief blockade and a rally titled “Rotax: The Heart of Israel’s Extermination Campaign in Gaza” took place in front of the ROTAX company in Gunskirchen (Wels Land, Upper Austria), reported Die Rote Fahne (Austria). A large police contingent was present. There was already a rally in this location where Die Rote Fahne was present and reported on it:
The activists stated that Rotax “is the main manufacturer for the central components of Israel’s drone campaign in the Gaza Strip”, therefore being a very important collaborator for the genocide against the people of Palestine. The activists demanded halting the supply of the components for the Israeli military industry, whether directly or through third parties. They blocked the entrance of the factory and climbed to the roof and displayed banners.
Rotax claimed years ago that their engines “are designed, produced, and certified exclusively for civilian use”. But the activists denounced that at the same time, the “Managing Director Thomas Uhr regularly participates in Israeli symposia organized by Elbit, IAI, and MAFAT – with official presentations by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Elbit, IAI, and Rotax itself. There, deployments of Rotax 914 engines by the IDF were also presented – in the presence of Mr. Uhr.” BRP-Rotax still denies its involvement with genocide.
The demonstration and the blockade caused a lot of reactions and local and regional politicians arrived to the scene alongside the police. In a livestream on Instagram, the mayor was briefly asked whether he knew what was being produced here and for whom. There was support and positive feedback from the local community, demonstrating that the people is against genocide and do not believe the lies by BRP-Rotax.
The source of all the pictures is Die Rote Fahne (Austria). The full report and more pictures can be seen here.
