When the votes were counted, the board of directors reported that 5% of their stockholders voted in favor of the resolution. The directors had stated that 88% of the stockholders had cast votes.

According to the AWC, most people have no idea that Boeing is a major weapons contractor. “If the public knew how many weapons were being provided to the Israeli military for its wars on Gaza, opposition to the weapons sales would grow,” said Kait McIntyre of AWC.

Israel recently completed their largest arms deal with the U.S., to purchase almost $2 billion in ordnance. Boeing manufactures most of the components of these bombs and missiles, including the guidance systems that turn regular bombs into ‘smart bombs.’ A report by Amnesty International – UK showed that the bombings which caused the most casualties in Gaza came from Boeing’s laser guided, one-ton bombs, the MK-84/GBU-31. Israel is purchasing 10,000 of these smart bomb kits.

AWC has been active in solidarity with Palestine since it started in 2012. In 2014, three members of AWC, McIntyre, Newland Smith and Joe Iosbaker were among those arrested at Boeing Headquarters in Chicago during Operation Protective Edge.

“Boeing also makes the Apache helicopters and F-15 fighter jets used by the Israeli air force. We were arrested demanding an end to all weapons sales to Israel,” said McIntyre.

In the past several years, members of the AWC purchased shares in the Boeing Company in order to bring a resolution before the stockholders. They joined together with the Interfaith Council on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). Sister Gwen Farry of ICCR and the 8th Day Center for Justice spoke in favor of the resolution during the company meeting.

At the May 2 board meeting, AWC was also joined by a group of indigenous Lumad activists from the Philippines. In their traditional lands on the island of Mindanao, the Lumad people have also been victimized by the U.S. ‘war on terror.’ Boeing produces drones called Scan Eagles which have been used in targeted assassinations there.

When the AWC resolution was first submitted to Boeing, the board of directors refused to accept it. According to Richard Berg, who submitted the resolution, “The Boeing board refused to submit our resolution to the stockholders, saying it interfered with the regular business of the company.”

On Feb. 5 the Securities and Exchange Commission overruled the directors. McIntyre explained that the Boeing board continued to oppose the resolution. “Boeing then said this sale is controversial to a small number of individual shareholders. This is more evidence of the growing impact of the movement to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel.”

The company has a threshold for shareholder activism. To continue to press an issue, a resolution must achieve 3% of the votes. Newland Smith said, “With 5%, we can continue to press this issue next year. By then, we hope to reach the next threshold, which is 6%.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #BoeingCorporation #AntiWarCommitteeChicago

On Feb. 5, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) overruled the directors. Berg explained, “Our resolution simply asked for more information about weapons sales to Israel.”

AWC’s Kait McIntyre explained that the Boeing board continues to oppose the resolution. “Boeing now says shareholders don’t care about the issue of weapons sales to Israel. We think it is irrefutable that shareholders care about the value of their stock, which will plummet if they keep selling weapons to Israel in the face of global condemnation.”

McIntyre cited the 2015 UN report that Foreign Direct Investment in Israel dropped by almost 50% in 2014 after the war launched on the people of Gaza.

Israel recently completed their largest arms deal with the U.S., to purchase almost $2 billion in ordnance. Boeing manufactures the largest components of the bombs and missiles, including the guidance systems that turn regular bombs into ‘smart bombs.’ A report by Amnesty International showed that the bombings which caused the most casualties in Gaza came from Boeing’s laser guided, one-ton bombs, the MK-84/GBU-31.

AWC also cites the growing impact of the movement to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel to show the potential impact to Boeing’s financial standing. In Chicago, the student government at the University of Illinois at Chicago passed a BDS resolution from Students for Justice in Palestine that added Boeing to a list of companies they want the school to divest from because of weapons sales to Israel.

McIntyre also pointed to the impact on brands such as SodaStream, a target of BDS protest for operating a factory in illegal settlements in the West Bank. The company admitted that their share price tumbled in 2015 in significant part because they had to move to a new plant in southern Israel.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #BoeingCorporation #AntiWarCommitteeChicago

No Weapons Sales to Israel! Stop Boeing from Selling Smart Bombs to the IDF!

In November 2014, Boeing was awarded an $83 million contract by the Israel Air Force for providing 3000 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs). JDAMs are kits that convert unguided bombs into “smart” guided weapons. Just months earlier, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge, killing over 2000 Palestinians, including 513 children. By producing these JDAMs and other weapons for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Boeing is fortifying Israel’s actions and contributing to the occupation of Palestine. Therefore, we charge that Boeing has the blood of thousands of Palestinians on its hands.

Furthermore, Boeing’s Defense, Space, and Security department, which made the deal with Israel, is located in St. Louis, MO, about 15 miles away from Ferguson, MO. When Ferguson community members were under siege by police terror in the wake of the murder of 18 year-old Michael Brown by Officer Darren Wilson, the people in Gaza expressed solidarity and support. Boeing’s new deal violates this special bond and puts money towards war that could be going toward education and eliminating the school to prison pipeline that disproportionately impacts Black and other oppressed nationality youth.

We condemn Boeing’s business dealings with the IDF, from selling weapons to collaborating with Israeli armament companies. There is a growing movement calling for an arms embargo on Israel, echoing the call from civil society organizations in Palestine. We are adding our voices and demanding the US government implement a military embargo on Israel and force Boeing to sever its ties.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarCommittee #Israel #BoeingCorporation #ChicagoAntiWar

Chicago, IL – Anti-war activist Kait McIntyre appeared in Cook County Judicial Circuit court on the morning of Aug. 1. McIntyre was one of five activists arrested in a civil disobedience protest action July 16 to oppose Boeing Company providing weapons to Israel for the siege on Gaza. She proudly pled guilty to trespassing at Boeing headquarters. “Hospitals, homes for the disabled and playgrounds are being bombed and more and more children die. As a citizen of Chicago, which has one of the largest Palestinian communities in the U.S., there comes a time where you cannot ignore your conscience and you know more drastic actions have to be taken.”

As part of the Antiwar Committee-Chicago (AWC), McIntyre is a leader of a two-year campaign against Boeing for their role as the second largest arms manufacturer in the U.S.. She even ran for Boeing's board of stock holders earlier this year as a way to bring the message to Boeing that we need to end wars, not build a new generation of deadly weapons.

She is now required to pay a fine and is prohibited from contacting the company or setting foot on their premises. With this sentence, she is being threatened with disqualification as a candidate for the board this year. For her, the connection is clear: “Boeing is only interested in profit; they would rather silence people than stop the killings in Gaza.”

Protests around the country against Boeing have grown ever since Israel’s assault on Gaza began a month ago. Recently, the AWC held a die-in at City Hall to demand Boeing be dropped from sponsoring the Air and Water Show, Aug. 16 and 17.

Rather than being dismayed by the verdict, McIntyre took this as a positive sign that Boeing is now paying attention. “It is up to us not only to sustain this pressure, but also to increase it.” She urged people who oppose Israel’s attack on Gaza to join protests against Boeing at the Air and Water Show.

The four other activists involved in the civil disobedience action have their trial date on Aug. 12 at 2:30 p.m. at 2452 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago. They are calling on supporters to come with them to court.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Gaza #Palestine #BoeingCorporation #AntiWarCommitteeChicago #KaitMcIntyre

Chicago, IL – A die-in was held inside Chicago City Hall, July 30, to demand Boeing Company be dropped as a sponsor for the summer Air and Water Show next month. 40 protesters dropped to the floor, holding signs with the names of the dead in Gaza from Israel’s three week long war.

Chicago-based Boeing is being targeted around the country for its role in the slaughter of Palestinian civilians, because Boeing F15 fighter jets and Apache attack helicopters are responsible for many of the 1300 dead.

The protest was called by the Anti-War Committee-Chicago, and joined by a dozen other groups, including Jews for Justice in Palestine and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Gaza #Palestine #BoeingCorporation #AntiWarCommitteeChicago #MiddleEast

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.

Anti-War Committee – Chicago statement

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 186 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!

More information at the Anti-War Committee – Chicago website.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Gaza #Palestine #civilDisobedience #BoeingCorporation #AntiWarCommitteeChicago #MiddleEast

Chicago, IL – The Boeing Company annual stockholders’ meeting took place at the Field Museum, April 28, and 25 activists protested, both inside and outside. Braving a cold downpour, they first gathered on the steps of the museum for a press conference in opposition to Boeing’s plan to build the next combat drone for the Pentagon. Then several of the protesters that had purchased stock in Boeing for this purpose went to make statements to the board of directors

Before going in Kait McIntyre from the Chicago Anti-War Committee (AWC) explained that she was presenting herself as a candidate for the board, because, “Time and time again AWC has addressed Boeing, in the media, outside their board meetings and at their headquarters. Boeing has either responded with ‘no comment’ or they bring out their guard dogs and call the Chicago police department. This time, we decided to nominate someone for the board in order to address them directly: me.”

She continued, “Boeing has already used a bureaucratic technicality to say I am ineligible but we all know the real reason they find me unqualified: Because I stand up to and defy the masters of war, not take and fill their orders.”

The AWC activists were joined inside by faith-based activists, including Sister Gwen Farry of the 8th Day Center for Justice. Meanwhile, other 8th Day activists, Sisters Dorothy Pagosa and Kathleen Desautels, spoke at the press conference. Speaking to the group on the steps, Pagosa addressed herself to the Boeing stockholders. “Your profits are not sustainable because it’s blood money used to destroy, rather than to build up the human community.”

Also at the press conference were Michael James, a long time peace activist in Chicago, and a veteran of the Vietnam War-era Students for a Democratic Society. Standing alongside James was another SDSer, Bernardine Dohrn. James said, “On the planet, there are few places with as diverse a population as Chicago. What we do rings out.” He added, “We don’t want anyone based in our home bringing destruction on the world.”

Brian Terrell of Voices for Creative Non-Violence, who had spent six months in prison in 2013 for protesting drone war at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, added his voice to the press conference as well. “We have not been simply protesting drones as they are now, horrific as they are. We also protest the next levels of development that logically follow. The Phantom Ray drone that Boeing is bidding to build would be a drone with the speed and killing capacity of a fighter plane and be another large step toward totally autonomous robotic warfare,” said Terrell

Once inside, Newland Smith of AWC rose to tell the meeting, “Drone strikes as conducted by our government, according to the Geneva conventions, are illegal and immoral and inflict terror on civilian populations.” Smith, McIntyre, and Richard Berg all succeeded in making their voices heard at the meeting.

When the delegation returned from speaking to the stockholders, AWC’s Berg told the waiting group, “Our statements caused a stir in there because there were protesters outside.” Berg urged the group to continue its efforts, “We are building the movement against war, and that’s what scares Boeing the most.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #AntiwarCommittee #USImperialism #BoeingCorporation #drones #stockholder

Fight Back!: You’re running for the Board of Directors of the Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) on an anti-war platform. Your main goal is to stop them from building a new combat drone for the Pentagon. What’s that about?

Kait McIntyre: Currently, Boeing is competing with other weapons manufacturers to win the Navy UCLASS combat drone contract. It is a larger drone that flies faster and farther, carries a greater payload of bombs and missiles, and can be launched and landed on an aircraft carrier. I oppose this because the U.S.’s use of drone warfare – targeted killing and attacks in countries where we have not declared war – violates international law. Furthermore, U.S. drones have led to the death of many innocent civilians, including children, and I stand in solidarity with those around the world whose lives have been lost and or devastated by drone warfare. While the Phantom Ray is Boeing’s first combat drone prototype, they have been and continue to make surveillance drones that are used to bully and help carry out assassinations overseas. I oppose this as well. We need to end wars, not build a new generation of deadly weapons.

Fight Back!: What do you hope to accomplish through your candidacy and the anti-drone war campaign against Boeing?

McIntyre: If we can help stop them from winning this contract, it will be a blow to the war machine. The Antiwar Committee Chicago’s Midwest Action Against Drones, one of the largest anti-drone marches in 2013, brought together 200 people representing six different states to rally around the demand that Boeing cease its pursuit of this Navy contract and end production and development of the Phantom Ray. What we hope to do with this campaign is to offer a model for other cities with weapons manufacturers to oppose U.S. drone warfare by focusing on a local target. In Chicago, where we have suffered austerity measures such as public school and mental health clinic closings while Boeing receives millions in tax breaks, we felt it was important to highlight how, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “the bombs in Vietnam explode at home.”

Fight Back!: You include an environmental plank in your platform. What is the environmental record of Boeing?

McIntyre: To start with, depleted uranium (DU). Tens of thousands of pounds of micro particles of radioactive and highly toxic waste contaminate the Middle East, Central Asia and the Balkans from the use of DU by the U.S. military. Boeing added to this problem by providing to Israel the depleted uranium bombs that were dropped on Gaza in 2008 and 2012. The Palestinians who did not die as a result of these attacks will likely see the same sharp increases in birth defect rates as the people of Iraq. Israel has used Boeing bombs to poison the earth in Gaza for millions of years.

Fight Back!: Your campaign video says you want an end to corporate warfare. Explain that.

McIntyre: In January, Boeing forced workers in Washington state to accept historic concessions to keep their jobs, starting with elimination of their defined benefit pension. When current CEO James McNerney talked about cutting jobs across the country, he said he knew he was “beginning to sound like Darth Vader.” But, for the workers who lose their jobs, the consequences are in the here and now, not in a galaxy far away. Furthermore, after McNerney cut thousands of machinists’ pensions, he spent $7.2 million dollars on a home in Miami. This type of behavior is unacceptable. Boeing paid no federal income tax in 2013 and has used loopholes to dodge paying taxes in previous years. With Boeing’s enormous profits, it is morally reprehensible that they do not give back to the communities where they operate.

View Kait McIntyre's campaign video

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #BoeingCorporation #KaitMcIntyre

Chicago, IL – 200 people marched against Boeing Company on Sept 28. Many participants and organizers from that march met for a conference the following day to share skills, experiences and knowledge that will help strengthen the movement against drone warfare.

50 of the protesters came from other states around the Midwest, from groups like the Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones & End the Wars, the Minnesota-based groups Anti-War Committee, Women Against Military Madness and the Brainerd Area Coalition for Peace as well as others from Michigan, Indiana and Missouri. The Anti-War Committee-Chicago (AWC) had called for the march and the groups were joined by the ANSWER Coalition, the Syrian American Forum, U.S. Palestinian Community Network and other Chicago organizations.

The Boeing headquarters was the destination for the marchers. Boeing has been targeted by the AWC because they are vying for a Pentagon contract to build a new combat drone. Boeing is the second largest arms manufacturer in the U.S.

Combat drones have become controversial in the past two years in part because the Obama administration has sent drones to assassinate American citizens in Yemen. According to Medea Benjamin, founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, the majority of drone victims in Pakistan are not 'high level Al Qaeda' leaders but civilians, including many children. Benjamin, who has organized delegations to Pakistan and Yemen, was the keynote speaker at the conference and protest.

Thousands of people watched and dozens took videos as the march, complete with a band, puppets and several banners, went through a park and a shopping district on its way to Boeing headquarters. Upon reaching its destination, the group placed child-sized coffins on Boeing's property. Kait McIntyre, an organizer with Anti-War Committee-Chicago, explained, “The child-sized coffins we placed at Boeing's doorstep represent over 178 children that have been killed as a result of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen and the countless more whose blood will be on Boeing's hands if it wins this military drone contract.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #USImperialism #BoeingCorporation #drones #Pakistan #Yemen

Chicago, IL – Sarah Simmons, a member of the Anti-War Committee – Chicago, speaks in front of the Field Museum where Boeing Company held its annual stockholders meeting, April 29. “As a Boeing stockholder, I want to tell the Board of Directors and fellow shareholders to stop manufacturing drones now. As we mourn the victims in Boston, we also mourn those faceless and nameless victims of the U.S. government, who have fallen in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #USImperialism #BoeingCorporation

Newland Smith, stockholder and anti-war activist, cited Senator Lindsey Graham of the Armed Services Committee, on the number of casualties from killer drones. Graham recently stated, “We've killed 4700.” According to Smith, “This is the estimated number of casualties in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, but including drone strikes in Afghanistan and Iraq would result in a much higher number.”

Smith and Sarah Simmons, also a stockholder, said that the Anti-War Committee will be at the Boeing meeting to expose the loss of life resulting from drones. “What the Obama administration says isn’t true; most of the drone strikes aren’t against proven, high level Al Qaeda leaders,” explained Simmons. “In Pakistan as many as 881 were civilians, including 176 children. Almost all the rest are ‘alleged combatants.’”

Boeing is competing with the other top arms manufacturers for the growing budget for unmanned aircraft for the military. This year, the Navy is asking for designs for a new combat drone. Boeing is expected to propose its “Phantom Ray.”

AWC has taken a number of measures to oppose the drone wars, including submitting a statement to an April 23 hearing held by Senator Richard Durbin on the topic.

In addition to the deaths caused by their products, Boeing received over $60 million in tax breaks to move to Chicago. Simmons, the mother of Chicago Public School children, spoke from her experience. “Our schools are crumbling, and we’re giving tax breaks to a company with $25 billion in defense contracts.” Smith added, “With their record profits last year, McNerny was given a 20% raise, to $27.5 million. Clearly war is profitable for Boeing.”

Smith put it plainly. “It’s time to end the drone wars, not prepare to build another generation of more deadly weapons.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #AntiWarCommittee #USImperialism #BoeingCorporation #drones

Chicago, IL – Elizabeth Parisian of the group Stand Up, Chicago, stood outside the Boeing Company's world headquarters in Chicago. 30 protesters attempted to deliver a letter to Boeing CEO W. James McNerney Jr. Boeing is part of a ‘coalition’ of politicians and big corporations that wants to shrink the federal budget by cutting services to poor and working people. But McNerney received more in pay last year than Boeing paid in federal taxes. Boeing is one of the largest U.S. contractors. Most of their contracts are for weapons, such as fighter jets, attack helicopters and spy drones.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #BoeingCorporation #WJamesMcNerneyJr

Chicago, IL – As the first winter storm of the season arrived here, Dec. 20, 20 hearty souls stood outside the Boeing Company headquarters by the Chicago River, carrying signs opposing war.

“Hands off Syria!” “Hands off Iran!” and “Who is the terrorist? Boeing is the terrorist!” they chanted as rain poured down.

Boeing responded to the anti-war protest with a show of force by security guards, guard dogs and Chicago Police.

Shivering in the cold, Kait McIntyre of the Anti-War Committee of Chicago was not backing down from the weather or the cops. “Boeing makes fighter jets and attack helicopters. They make uranium depleted bombs for example, that were dropped on Gaza in 2008, causing an increase in birth defects. And in addition, Boeing makes spy drones for the U.S. to use over Iran.” She concluded, “We have to speak out against the growing threat of war against Syria and Iran and to demand that money go to funding human needs at home, not wars that profit companies like Boeing.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Iran #AntiWarCommittee #USImperialism #BoeingCorporation

Chicago, IL – A spy drone made in the U.S. by Boeing Corporation was captured by Iran after violating their air space. Called a Scan Eagle, it was displayed on Iranian television as evidence that the U.S. government is making moves toward war with Iran.

Joe Iosbaker of the Anti War Committee of Chicago expressed opposition to the U.S. intervening in Iran. “The U.S. government points fingers at Iran as a country that wants a war. But the Iranians don’t have spy drones 12 miles off Long Island, New York.”

The Chicago-based Boeing Corporation is the second largest weapons manufacturer in the U.S. and has a growing role in the drone industry. The Scan Eagle is mainly used for surveillance, but they are also deployed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, used for targeting for bombings and for assassinations.

The Anti War Committee is organizing opposition to Boeing’s part in the drone wars that the U.S. is waging in Pakistan and other countries, including Iran, as well as Boeing’s sales of weapons to Israel.

A statement from the anti-war activists notes, “Boeing Corporation receives tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks from the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago and they use that money to make drones and other war machines. We want these dollars spent at home to address vital needs like jobs, education and health care.”

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Iran #AntiWarCommittee #USImperialism #BoeingCorporation #drones

Chicago, IL – Protesters here marched to the headquarters of Boeing Corporation on Oct. 7 to mark the 11th anniversary of the war on Afghanistan. Over 100 people joined the protest to demand that the U.S. end the war now.

Malik Mujahid of the Muslim Peace Coalition spoke of the senseless bloodshed in Afghanistan, and about how the war is spreading across the border into his homeland, Pakistan. “Is the U.S. strategy winning?” he asked, which brought forth a chorus of “No!” from the crowd gathered in the plaza in front of the Tribune Tower, offices of the Chicago Tribune. The coalition chose this location for the start of the protest to criticize the mainstream media for ignoring the Afghan War in this election season.

Hatem Abudayyeh, one of the 23 Midwest activists facing grand jury investigation, reminded the protesters that the Palestinian community and its supporters are being threatened with repression “To justify and build support for a failed U.S. foreign policy and to build support for unlimited U.S. aid to Israel, our government needs to put a local face on the enemy abroad, and today that face is Palestinian and Arab and Muslim. And they're attempting to even criminalize the broader anti-war movement as well.”

Xian Barrett, a member of the bargaining committee of the Chicago Teachers Union, told of their recent strike. “We need money for our schools, not for war,” he explained. The need in the Chicago Public Schools is desperate, so much so that when the teachers were forced to walk the picket lines last month, “The children and their parents said, ‘Thank you for standing up for us.’”

Drone warfare: new U.S. military favorite

Members of Occupy Chicago organized a die-in with mock drones in the square. More than dozen people fell to the ground, portraying the casualties in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. The action prepared people for the one and a half mile march to the headquarters of Boeing Corporation. The march raised chants like, “Boeing – shame on you! Children die because of you.”

As Pat Hunt of Chicago Area Peace Action would explain later, “We are here because Boeing is the second largest weapons manufacturer in the country, and while they don’t build the drones that are best known, their spy drones help the killing.” Hunt was referring to the General Atomics Reaper and Predator drones. Boeing’s subsidiary, Insitu, does make drones that deliver bombs, but they are not that popular with the U.S. military.

Obama headquarters, then Boeing

The marchers first stopped at the national headquarters of President Obama’s re-election campaign. In the anti-war movement, there is indignation toward Obama for continuing and intensifying the war in Afghanistan, launching the war on Libya, and threatening and intervening in Syria and Iran. In addition, while George W. Bush used drone strikes only 52 times in eight years, Obama has ordered 294. Some estimates place the total number of drone strikes even higher.

Chants intensified as they approached the Prudential Building where the campaign is housed, “Hey, Obama, We say no. The war in Afghanistan has got to go!” Kait McIntyre of Students for a Democratic Society delivered a statement of the march demands, including an end to the war in Afghanistan; No new wars, whether Syria, Iran, or the undeclared drone wars in Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia; Money for jobs, education and health care, not for war; and an end to FBI repression of anti-war activists.

The spirited march chanted all the way to the Chicago River on the west side of the Loop, Chicago’s downtown. Facing the large Boeing sign, Said Khan of the Pakistan Federation of America, read a message of support to the Pakistani and US marchers in Pakistan who were attempting to march to North Waziristan, the province that has been the target of most of the 300 or more drone strikes in Pakistan.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Afghanistan #HatemAbudayyeh #AfghanistanWar #OccupyChicago #BoeingCorporation #MuslimPeaceCoalition #PeaceAction #drones