Weapons industry

Workers At Defense Contractors Navigate Dissent Over Gaza War

June 11, 2024 Taylor Barnes, Inkstick. Strategize! Israel, Palestine, Political Speech, Unions, Weapons industry, Worker Rights and Jobs

When an engineer started a new job last year at Northrop Grumman, America’s third-largest defense contractor, their training included vague guidance about political speech in the workplace. In a section of the online training regarding etiquette, the company instructed employees to not discuss politics at work in order to prevent a “hostile work environment.” The online training went on to present a fictional scenario that the engineer shared with Inkstick: “Jane is involved in a political action group outside of work. She sometimes brings up the goals of the group and current events associated with it at work. Sometimes she asks her colleagues if they want to be involved, which makes some colleagues feel pressured or uneasy around her.”

Cops Already Targeting Activists Planning To ‘Stop The Arms Fair’ At DSEI

September 5, 2023 Steve Topple, The Canary. Resist! DSEI, Police, United Kingdom (UK), Weapons industry

Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) is one of the world’s largest arms fairs. It’s taking place at the ExCeL Centre in London between 12 and 15 September. The biannual event is always met with resistance from campaign groups and activists, who are then equally met by heavy-handed treatment by the cops. Already, it looks like this year will be no different – as police targeted activists before anything had even begun. As the Canary previously reported, DSEI takes place every two years. Thousands of arms dealers and defence and security suppliers gather at the ExCeL centre to court repressive regimes.

Profiting Off Of Death And Suffering Is The American Way

March 4, 2023 David Starr, Covert Action Magazine. Educate! Joe Biden, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism, Weapons industry

The United States’ imperial foreign policy has been evident since day one, but especially starting with the Gilded Age and the arrogant doctrine of Manifest Destiny of the mid-19th century. The imperial “cause” continued through the decades leading up to today. And today, the U.S. arms industry and the U.S. Congress have a reciprocal relationship. Because of this relationship, many members of Congress have grown rich off of war and death. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has presented the latest opportunity for profiteering off of war. The arms industry is certainly making big bucks, with policies that fuel the conflict with the selling of an array of weaponry.

Palestine Action’s ‘Elbit Eight’ Prepare For Landmark Court Case

September 8, 2022 Palestine Action. Resist! Elbit, Israel, Palestine, United Kingdom (UK), Weapons industry

On October 10th, eight Palestine Action activists (including cofounders Huda Ammori and Richard Barnard) dubbed the ‘#ElbitEight’ will be facing trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court. The trial is expected to last five weeks and includes charges of burglary, criminal damage and blackmail, pertaining to actions spanning the first six months of Palestine Action. In this timeframe the accused activists helped to spark Palestine Action, the direct action network that has successfully shut down both a factory and headquarters belonging to Israel’s largest arms company, Elbit Systems. Palestine Action have dubbed it their “biggest legal battle to #ShutElbitDown to date, offering up the chance to expose Elbit in the courts and prove that #ElbitIsGuilty”.

Reject Raytheon Asheville Shuts Down Pratt & Whitney Plant

April 27, 2022 Ken Jones, The Nuke Register. Resist! Anti-War, Protests, Wars and Militarism, Weapons industry

It was an Earth Day to remember. On a beautiful sunny spring day, our local citizen coalition Reject Raytheon in Asheville, North Carolina pulled off a three-part demonstration for the protection of the earth and earthlings and against the U.S. military-industrial complex. We rallied, we paraded, and we took direct action. The event on Friday, April 22, began at 10 a.m. in the Bent Creek River Park, on the banks of the French Broad River. The park sits exactly next to the new bridge being built for the 1.2 million square foot Pratt & Whitney plant and in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Parkway bridge over the river. Across the river from the park is a dirt road, called Old River Road, that provides access to the many trucks coming and going from the plant every day. On this morning, it was busy, full of power and commerce.

National Coalition Calls On Biden To Halt Weapons Sales To Israel

June 9, 2021 Timothy McHugh, Friends Committee on National Legislation. Resist! Israel, Palestine, Wars and Militarism, Weapons industry

Washington, DC – The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) joined more than 100 national organizations in signing a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to block the delivery of $735 million in weapons to Israel. Faith based groups such as Churches for Middle East Peace, American Muslims for Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace Action joined with more secular groups like Defense of Children International – Palestine, Justice Democrats, Indivisible, Sunrise Movement, and DAWN on the letter. In early May, the Israeli government used U.S.-manufactured weapons in a devastating assault on Gaza, killing over 220 Palestinians, including at least 67 children. Israeli airstrikes displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed schools, refugee camps, international media outlets, hospitals, and Gaza’s only COVID-19 testing lab.

Activist Confronts Defense Industry CEO For Company’s Role In War Crimes

May 7, 2021 Ben Armbruster, Responsible Statecraft. Resist! General Dynamics, Wars and Militarism, Weapons industry, Yemen

An anti-war activist confronted General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic on Wednesday during the company’s shareholders’ meeting, accusing the defense industry giant of profiting off war crimes and arming repressive, undemocratic regimes without “moral reflection.” “I appreciate the care you’ve taken to keep us safe during COVID,” CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin told General Dynamics’ board, which included Novakovic and former Defense Secretary James Mattis. “But,” she added, “I wonder about the care that this company takes to keep people safe from the bombs and the other weapons that you produce that kill innocent people around the world.” Benjamin then listed off a handful of instances in which General Dynamics’ products were involved in gross human rights abuses and civilian deaths during war, including a marketplace bombing in Yemen in 2016 that killed nearly 100 civilians, including 25 children, and former President Trump’s child separation policy at the U.S. southern border.

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