One person who showed up later was from Saco and said she had seen social media posts grousing that elementary school kids were being kept indoors for morning recess because of our presence in view of their playground. One person who showed up later came in response to my emailing the press release for our action at the same time it began (pasted in below).
Others came because they have a history of risking arrest to oppose GD's war shipyard in Bath, including an elder recovering from shoulder surgery. But most of the protesters were connected to the Maine Coalition for Palestine, including six members of one amazing family!
Energy remained high through 9am (see video above) even though we had convened in the parking lot of a nearby business before 6am. The business owner, Saco Sports & Fitness, called the police on us and officers were waiting when we arrived at the bomb factory. Since they had already blockaded the second entrance to the factory's driveway with two cruisers, we scrapped our camping strategy and instead blocked Route 112 with a big STOP ARMING GENOCIDE banner created by the Coalition for this ongoing campaign.
Police ordered us out of the roadway several times but made no moves to arrest anyone, and once they had blockaded the highway at both ends of the factory entrance, we moved to the entrance itself. The police retreated to observe, ignoring several people who were at times actually on GD "private" property.
Photo credit: Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights on Twitter
How private is a bomb factory entirely funded by U.S. taxpayers? Oh, of course, the profits are private but the risk is public. Because isn't that how capitalism works?
We did get some reporters on the scene: WMTW Channel 8 out of Portland was first and ran a video report several times throughout the day quoting me (a limited version is available here). WGME was next and their report featured an interview with Yusuf Ebrahim, a resident physician at a local hospital and member of Healthcare Workers for Palestine, who said: "This factory is a subsidiary of Ordinance and Tactical Systems and it's a manufacturing plant for components of the 500-pound MK-82 bomb. They've been dropped on hospitals, bakeries, schools, places of worship." WGME's report in particular offered context of the overall campaign which included a shut down of the street in front of GD's Bath Iron Works shipyard last month at a rally that drew 200 people on a Friday afternoon.
Common Dreams also ran an article based on our press release, and WERU Community Radio recorded a short interview with me which ran today on Amy Browne's Around Town (available at their archive soon). The Maine Wire -- sometimes described as "one guy with a website" -- ran a critical piece claiming to side with blue collar workers, but they couldn't even get the name of their union right (probably because they are actually far right wing and anti-organized labor.)
If I missed some media coverage would you let me know in the comments?
Below, the press release that went out one minute before our action started. There are references linked at the end to research offering evidence of the connection between GD and the carpet bombing of Gaza.
I hope you'll consider joining us next time if you're distraught over U.S. support for Israel's genocide in Palestine.
------
For Immediate Release
PRESS CONTACT:
Sam Pfeifle
207-749-0298
sam@westgraycreative.com
Maine Coalition for Palestine action at bomb factory in
Saco to demand STOP ARMING GENOCIDE
The statewide Maine Coalition for
Palestine will be joined by students, peace groups, and concerned citizens in
Saco on Wednesday January 3 starting at 6am. They will hold a camp-out to
demand that General Dynamics stop arming Israel’s genocide in Gaza. To date,
more than 29,000 people have died, including 11,422 children, in carpet
bombings plus sniper fire in civilian residential areas, hospitals, and
schools.
Organizer Lisa Savage of Solon said, “Genocide in
Gaza is currently supported by General Dynamics. It
supplies Israel with the artillery ammunition and bombs used to kill and maim
civilians and children in Gaza – which is illegal collective punishment.”
According to research by the
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), General Dynamics is the only company
in the U.S. that makes the metal bodies of the MK-80 bomb series, the primary
weapon type that Israel uses to bomb Gaza.
Yusuf Ebrahim, an Iraqi-American
resident physician at Maine Medical Center, said, "Since October, more
than 5,000 of the 500-lb Mk-82 bombs -- some made in Saco -- have been given to
Israel by the U.S.. These munitions play a particularly direct role in the
ongoing criminal genocide of Palestinians by the IDF, targeting densely
populated areas such as the Jabalia Refugee Camp. Why do we tolerate this
massive bomb factory here in Maine, exploiting the toils of local workers to
aid with the intentional mass murder and displacement of innocent children and
families in Palestine? Meanwhile, many local community members suffer from
hunger and housing insecurity and cannot afford medical care."
GD is also the only company in the U.S. that makes 155mm
caliber artillery shells, which have been used extensively to bomb Gazans. The
international aid organization Oxfam has described use of these munitions as “virtually assured to be
indiscriminate, unlawful, and devastating to civilians in Gaza.”
GD Chief Financial Officer Jason Aiken told investors on
a call October 25, “I think if you look at the incremental demand potential
coming out of [the attacks on Gaza], the biggest one to highlight and that
really sticks out is probably on the artillery side.”
Protesters against GD involvement
in supporting Israel will gather in Saco at General Dynamics Weapons Systems at
291 North Street. They will hold a camp-out protest in honor of the 2 million
people displaced by bombings in Gaza, where tent cities have sprung up in the
rubble. Supporters are urged to mask for COVID and to bring camp chairs,
sleeping bags, tents, and homemade signs and banners or use those provided by
the coalition.
Organizations in the Maine
Coalition for Palestine include Healthcare Workers for Palestine, Maine Voices
for Palestinian Rights, Students for Justice in Palestine from various college
campuses in the state, the Maine Party for Socialism & Liberation, Portland
CONFRONT, and the Maine Natural Guard. Members of the coalition will be
available for interviews prior to and during the camp-out.
##
References:
Death
Toll from Gaza Genocide Exceeds 29,000: Euro-Med Monitor, teleSUR,
December 29, 2023
"Shrouded in Secrecy": The Companies Profiting from Israel’s 2023 Attack on Gaza, American Friends Service Committee article in Global Research, December 26, 2023
US sends ‘bunker buster’ bombs to Israel for war on Gaza, report says, Aljazeera, December 2, 2023
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