Ignore Genocide To Make A Living, Or Block Weapons Before They're Used To Kill Palestinians?

I should be feeling good about a Stop Arming Genocide campaign action that blocked General Dynamics' bomb factory in Saco, Maine yesterday. It was technically successful -- below is a photo I took of workers walking in after a long delay because they could not access the facility's parking. Numerous delivery trucks were turned away throughout the day, and no deliveries of the weapons Israel uses to bomb civilians were delivered on Friday, June 7.

I'm not feeling good, though, because almost immediately we learned that U.S. soldiers using a fake humanitarian aid truck from the Pentagon's Trojan pier helped massacre hundreds of civilians in Nuseirat refugee camp. Ostensibly to get Israeli hostages out, but this could have been accomplished months ago by releasing Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Four Israeli hostages were taken back in the operation and appeared well-fed and in good health, unlike Palestinian prisoners who are being tortured to death. The latest sadistic detail involves sodomy with a red hot iron post; if that doesn't remind you of South Africa and what it took to bring that apartheid regime down, I don't know what will.

I should be feeling good because none of our group were injured or arrested yesterday, though two did receive tickets for minor violations. The Saco Police Force, previously described as "timid" by a protester who's been there before, declined to even attempt breaking into the lock down devices we were using. Possibly because each device presented unique challenges? Incredibly, the police allowed all the devices to be retained by our group and, except for one that met with a minor accident on the way home, they are ready for action next time we decide to throw a spanner in the works of the war machine.

I should also be feeling good because of the solidarity, tight information security, and generally cooperative nature of the work of so many autonomous individuals waging this campaign. A recorded livestream from Healthcare Workers for Palestine conveys the authentic flavor and scope of yesterday's action. 

Sure, I can rent equipment, but it takes a couple of people with special skills to back a large truck and trailer safely into a driveway. I am blessed to know these people and to know that they respond when there is a need.

How I feel doesn't matter much anyway. When the police called the rental company and told them a lie about how I was using their equipment in Saco, the rental desk clerk scolded me and said I was not allowed to protest. I refrained from saying something snarky about his grasp of the 1st amendment -- he had one of those sovereign citizen type beards, so I'm not sure he believed in the constitution anyway. But another employee privately said, "Good girl!" as I departed after returning all the equipment unharmed.

How to keep a job AND your conscience is increasingly hard. InkStick Media's Taylor Barnes talked to employees at other bomb factories to find how some of them are negotiating this. Teacher Nick Fuller Googins wrote about his successful effort to pass a divestment resolution at his union's representative assembly, "We are not powerless in the face of Gaza horror."  A college professor who joined us yesterday wrote about how the need to throw himself onto the gears of the war machine was more compelling with each passing day. (His op-ed should be in the paper soon and I'll share it when it is.)

We did get some corporate news coverage of our action.

Protesters block entrances to General Dynamics in Saco, impact nearby school WMTW

Pro-Palestine protesters gather outside General Dynamics in Saco WGME

Just don't believe everything you read. For example: duck tape, really? Also, who is actually impacting the K-2 Young School across the street -- the occasional non-violent protester, or the genocide profiteers who work there every single day?

We developed a flyer for the school community pointing out that in order to keep their children safe they should run General Dynamics out of town. 

I'll guarantee you there are adults working in Saco who don't want to help arm genocide. As for the teenagers, during their drive time to a nearby high school we heard far more whoops, hollers, and honks of support than we had heard during early morning. Bruce Gagnon did the math and estimated we reached 7,000+ people in 6 hours.

The kids are all right, but some of their parents think you have to ignore genocide staring you  in the face in order to make a living. How'd that work out for the German people under the Nazi regime?