CAYUGA—A group of pro-Palestine protestors set up outside Cayuga-based business Battlefield International (BI) on the morning of Thursday, August 13, 2026.
The group was protesting BI shipping components to Elbit Systems Ltd., an Israel-based weapons manufacturer that supplies the Israeli military.
The group notified BI owner Steve Fenton of their concerns in a letter, calling on him to immediately cease all sales and shipments to all Israeli arms manufacturers.
“Cayuga and Hamilton residents will not sit idly by while businesses in our communities sell technological components used by the Israeli genocide machine,” read the letter, which identified Elbit as Israel’s biggest arms manufacturer.
The letter alleged the sales of components constitutes a “direct contravention of domestic trade law and international humanitarian law” and could be “enabling the slaughter and starvation of innocent men, women, and children in Gaza.”
Those signing the letter included Rabbi David Mivasair; Kevin MacKay, a Mohawk College professor and Director of Canadian Academics for a Just Foreign Policy; and other professors and alumni from McMaster and Queens universities. It was endorsed by several groups, including Arms Embargo Now, the Palestinian Association of Hamilton, and OPSEU/SEFPO Region 2 Provincial Human Rights Committee.
Mivasair and MacKay attended the protest with around two dozen supporters. The group parked at the Cayuga Courthouse before walking to BI’s Munsee Street production facility, setting up on both sides of the road.
“Even though the Liberal government under Trudeau passed something that they call an arms embargo, it had loopholes, and it hasn’t stopped Canadian weapons component manufacturers from continuing to supply the components to Israeli weapons manufacturers,” said Mivasair. “Our campaign, which is called Arms Embargo Now, has decided if the government’s not doing it, we people need to directly make it stop.”
Several Palestinian-Canadians were present at the protest. They spoke with The Press under condition of anonymity due to a fear for their safety.
—Haldimand Press photo by Mike Renzella.
“One of the reasons we came here is because Canada is supposed to be a peaceful country, a country that believes in international law,” said one attendee. “Effectively speaking, (the Canadian government) are, in a way, supporting the genocide. They’re implicit in it because they allow a manufacturer company like this to exist and to send these component pieces to (Israel).”
Another attendee spoke to the “tremendous grief, sadness, and anger” they feel watching coverage of the ongoing conflict: “They are killing a whole generation. They are killing Palestinians, Lebanon now and Syria, they’re expanding…. It’s all because of those shipping companies; they supply Elbit, and Elbit is killing us.”
Online, some Haldimand residents defended Fenton and the positive impact his business has made locally.
“Thank you for being patient and kind towards this group of protesters…. I personally appreciate the business you have created in Haldimand County,” posted Mayor Shelley Ann Bentley. “I look forward to seeing your company grow, and I thank you and your family for not selling out to big corporations. This too shall pass, stay positive!”
Mivasair acknowledged job creation through local businesses, but added, “People do all kinds of things to make money, and some of them are just plain wrong. And if the person can stop doing that, they should…. I would like to see this company use its facilities and skills of its workers … to do something that’s life-enhancing rather than life-ending.”
Following a request for comment, Fenton directed The Press to a social media post outlining his position.
“I approach this topic from the perspective of being a flawed yet practicing Christian, and as someone who has read everything I could get my hands on surrounding the demented Hamas horror‑show slaughter on October 7 through to today,” wrote Fenton.
“Regarding the accusation that we were selling to Israel: we are guilty as charged,” he continued, noting the sales equate to approximately 1% of BI’s annual revenue. “Battlefield shipped one package that left our company in July 2026 destined for Elbit. That package was somehow uncovered by the group protesting. I will now do whatever I can to enable our Canadian government to find out who is working at the courier or customs areas that broke confidentiality rules.”
A document shared by the protestors listed a series of components shipped to Elbit by BI, which can be used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Fenton said the parts shipped, which he identified as fluid connectors, are designated COTS (commercial off the shelf) and are not controlled under the US International Traffic in Arms Regulation policy nor the Canadian government’s Dual Use policy.
He noted BI services several other industries, including nuclear, space, and motorsports, but called defence the company’s main focus presently.
While BI does not currently have any shipments scheduled for Israel, Fenton said, “We certainly may in the future. We will continue to follow Canadian trade laws and will make all required adjustments each time our trade laws change. This year and the next few after will include a significant number of orders sent to companies building tanks, UAVs, and other defense products.”
Fenton said he respects the protestors “for acting on what they believe,” but questioned if the protest was “truly the best use of your efforts.”
Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by Canada since 2002. Fenton said that following the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, Israel was left with two options: “Demand Hamas return the Israeli civilians taken hostage and lay down their arms (this first option was the preferred one), or fight until every Hamas member was killed.”
Fenton called the war “a complex issue,” iterating Isreal’s need to defend itself and adding, “All of us should be able to agree that death and injury caused through war should be ended as soon as possible.”
In contrast, MacKay highlighted the organizations who have classified Israel’s actions in Gaza and the surrounding area as a genocide, including Amnesty International, the International Court of Justice, and the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry.
“We’re supposed to not sell arms to a country that’s conducting a genocide,” said MacKay, noting this includes individual components. “Our government has been very kind of wishy-washy about that, and they haven’t actually stopped all of the ways in which Canadian corporations are still sustaining the horrible slaughter that’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank.”
He said the protest, one of over a dozen held in unison at similar manufacturers across Canada, was an attempt to “get our government to follow the law.”
He continued, “We’re not necessarily opposed to everything that Battlefield does, or we’re not necessarily opposed to the workers there, but we think that what they produce should not be going to support genocide.”
