At 5:00 p.m. today, a group of activists from the Anti-War
Committee – Chicago (AWC), the 8th Day Center for Justice, the
American Friends Service Committee, the Episcopalian Peace Fellowship, and Jews
for Justice in Palestine, entered the Boeing Company building and refused to
leave. They went there to deliver a message: they oppose the Boeing Company
providing weapons for the Israeli siege of Gaza. The action was initiated by
Jewish Voices for Peace, as one of a number of actions happening around the
country in response to the vicious assault by Israel.
AWC – Chicago issued the following statement about their
participation the action. AWC has gone after Boeing for almost two years for
their role as the second largest arms manufacturer. Kait McIntyre, one of the
protesters, is a candidate for Boeing’s board of stock holders. Also among the
AWC protesters are Joe Iosbaker, Newland Smith, and Bonnie Coyle.
The Anti-War
Committee - Chicago condemns Boeing Company for manufacturing weapons for
targeted deaths of civilians in the Israeli siege of Gaza
In our campaign against Boeing we have routinely exposed
their company as a key element of the U.S. war machine, which profits off the
sale of weapons for U.S. wars and U.S. allies. Boeing reaps billions from the
sale of weapons for use in the Israeli
attacks on Gaza as part of its eight year old siege of Gaza. Boeing has
provided the Israeli air force with several hundred F15 and F16 fighter
planes and thousands of tail kits designed to make dumb bombs into “smart bombs,”
improving accuracy. More recently Boeing designed a laser seeker to
add to the nose of a bomb equipped with their tail kit, giving the ability to
engage moving targets.
In addition Boeing has provided at least 60 of the Apache
attack helicopters to Israel, as well as their payloads of “pinpoint accurate”
Hellfire Missiles.
In observing the precision of Boeing’s products, we learn
something about Israel’s bombing and missile strikes on Gaza. As these weapons are so precise, then the
deaths of civilian men, women and children - the vast majority of the 200
killed by Israel - are premeditated. The Israeli pilots know who is in their
gun sights. They launch their weapons with full knowledge.
This means that the Israeli pilots are no different than the
criminal settlers who burned Mohammed Abu Khdeir alive. They are killing in
cold blood. They are killing civilians – men, children, women, and old people.
They bomb food stores, hospitals, and even a center for the disabled.
The men who killed Mohammed Abu Khdeir have the sounds of
their victim in their minds, but Israeli pilots have killed hundreds since
Israel’s operation “Protective Edge” began, and thousands more throughout the
history of the occupation.
Finally, Chicago is home to one of the largest Palestinian
communities in the U.S. Chicago is also
home to the Boeing Company, whose stock price soars from the slaughter of
countless Palestinians. This is a slap in the face we cannot abide.
End the siege of Gaza now! End U.S. aid to Israel! Free
Palestine!
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