Bloomington, MN – On September 14, 80 activists marched on the Bloomington General Dynamics facility to highlight the company's role in facilitating Israel's relentless attacks against occupied Palestine.

This event, organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, began with a rally at the intersection of Penn Avenue and 88th Street at the corner of the Penn Lake Library. Following 45 minutes of lively speeches and chants, demonstrators marched to the front of General Dynamics’ “Mission Systems” facility.

Michael Runyon, founder of Students for Palestine Normandale, explained why community members were calling attention to General Dynamics.

“[When] Israel began their genocide of Gaza, the CFO of General Dynamics told investors that the thing that stands out is the artillery side,” Runyon said. “In other words, if you want to make money, we can do it by killing men, women, and children. They are on track now to produce 100,000 artillery shells per month.”

Over the past eleven months, Israel has targeted Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure using a variety of arms made by General Dynamics, from the 155 mm artillery shells Runyon referenced in his speech to 2000 lb bunker buster bombs; from tanks to cybersecurity systems; from robotic combat vehicles to sophisticated guns.

General Dynamics, the world's fifth-largest weapons manufacturer, generates an estimated $38.5 billion in revenue per year. The corporation has spent decades furnishing the state of Israel with a range of munitions and equipment, but public scrutiny has increased since Israel's well-documented campaign of ethnic cleansing and genocide commenced last October.

Sarah Martin, a longtime member of Women Against Military Madness, pointed out the complicity of the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) in enabling Israel’s many war crimes. “We Minnesotans don’t want over three billion dollars of our money flowing to death and destruction,” Martin said. “We need to divest, and we need to divest now!”

Martin was referring to an ongoing divestment campaign spearheaded by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), which aims to pressure the SBI to divest an estimated $4.3 billion of public money from entities that are actively or passively linked to Israel’s economy.

Neil Radford, a rank-and-file union member of MFT59 and a member of Minnesota Workers United, pointed out that over $30 million dollars of Minnesotan pensioners’ money gets siphoned toward General Dynamics alone.

Radford stated, “When Americans are willing to forgo any sense of morality in what their labor creates, or our collective responsibility to each other as human beings; when they see war as inevitable and an opportunity for investment and upward mobility; they will end up working for a company like General Dynamics and continuing a path to a hopeless future.”

Event emcee Naveen Borojerdi closed out the program with several robust chants and the cry, “We’ll be back!” to whoops and cheers from the assembled crowd. Attendees were encouraged to stay up-to-date on the AWC's continuing SBI divestment campaign by visiting divestmn.com.

#BloomingtonMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #WeaponsIndustry #GeneralDynamics #MPAC #WAMM #MWU #AWC

Bloomington, MN – On March 16, protesters held a march to the Bloomington facility of weapons manufacturer General Dynamics, to demand that the Minnesota State Board of Investment divests public funds from General Dynamics for its weapons trade with apartheid Israel. Israel has relied heavily on General Dynamics’ weapons for decades, including during its ongoing genocide against Gaza over the last five months.

The protest of 400 people started near the Penn-Lake Library with a rally followed by a march to General Dynamics building in Bloomington. General Dynamics is the world’s fifth largest weapons manufacturer, with an annual revenue of $38.5 billion. General Dynamics manufactures and sells military weapons and equipment – including armored fighting and robotic combat vehicles, tanks, artillery systems, aircraft guns and cybersecurity systems – and is currently the only company that produces the 155mm artillery shells that have been used by Israel in Gaza. These weapons have repeatedly been fired against Palestinian civilians, resulting in numerous casualties as well as mass destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, and water and electric systems.

Students for Palestine Normandale, Bloomington Students for Palestine, and the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition organized the protest.

Michael Runyon, the founder of Students for Palestine Normandale, explained the reasoning behind the protest to the crowd, “This location is called a ‘Mission Systems’ location. They develop the technology behind the killing machines. They brag that they are the ‘brains behind the brawn.’ What that means is they are the brains behind the genocide.”

Audrey, a ninth-grader at Kennedy High School in Bloomington and a member of Bloomington Students for Palestine spoke to the crowd before marching, “More children have been killed in Gaza in the past four months than have been killed worldwide in the past four years of wars. How can Biden ask us to vote for him when he’s responsible for this mass murder? How can General Dynamics sit here pretending to be just a tech company when they're responsible for the deaths of so many children? Walz was at the Democratic fundraiser last night. How can he ask for money and have a fancy dinner when he doesn't divest from this genocide?”

She continued, “It’s important that students speak out about this because this is a youth issue. If you were born in Palestine in 2006, you’ve already lived through five Israeli assaults. Kids in Gaza aren’t thinking about going to college, they’re thinking about surviving the next week. Hoping to not starve to death. Hoping to not be bombed. Hoping that their families will survive.”

According to its most recent asset listings, the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) has invested over $31 million of the public pension funds it manages in General Dynamics. The MN Anti-War Committee is leading a campaign to get the SBI to divest its over $3 billion worth of investments from Israeli companies and weapons manufacturers.

Liz McLister, a member of the AWC, also spoke to the crowd, “What brings us to this particular site today? The SBI has funneled almost $37 million of Minnesotan taxpayer money into General Dynamics shares and securities.”

McLister continued, “Long before Israel's current gloves-off campaign, General Dynamics' weapons and equipment were terrorizing, maiming and killing Gazans. Shame! This company has spent years seeding death and destruction in occupied Palestine; along the U.S.-Mexico border; and elsewhere around the globe.”

The march went to General Dynamics’ “Mission Systems” facility on Queen Avenue to draw attention to their role in the rising death toll in Gaza.

#BloomingtonMN #GeneralDynamics #AntiWarCommittee #Palestine #StudentsforPalestineNormandale, #BloomingtonStudentsforPalestine #MinnesotaPeaceActionCoalition

Garland, TX – On March 7,  a pro-Palestine demonstration at the General Dynamics Ordnance plant in Garland, Texas stopped production for about six hours. General Dynamics produces several classes of bombs currently being used to kill Palestinians.

Some protesters used their cars to block entrances at the plant. Shortly after the protesters' arrival, workers began to arrive at the plant but were unable to enter. An 18-wheeler loaded with bomb parts was forced to wait outside the facility for the duration of the demonstration.

“We’re here protesting because of the profiteering of General Dynamics off the genocide in Gaza. This facility creates so many of the MK-80s and BLU-109 bombs that are used to destroy homes and centers and mosques and churches in Gaza. They commit massacres against Palestinians every day and we’ve seen that happening for the last 150 days,” said Niveen Abdulwahed from Palestinian Youth Movement.

The General Dynamics Ordnance plant is the only facility in the United States that produces the MK-80, and that is the bomb dropped most often on Gaza. This facility also produces the BLU-180, a bunker buster bomb that penetrates through several feet of concrete and underground before exploding. It was a BLU-180 that was dropped on Jabalia refugee camp, utterly destroying an apartment block and killing over 100 people.

Demonstrators chanted ‘‘This factory kills kids! Not one more!” One banner stretching across a street demanded “Stop arming Israel.”

After those blocking the entrances were arrested, the cars blocking the entrances were towed away and impounded.

#GarlandTX #FreePalestine #PYM #DAWA #GeneralDynamics #BDS #Feature