Tucson, AZ – On August 20, members of the Tucson Anti-War Committee (TAWC) hosted a call-in event to tell war profiteer Howmet Aerospace that companies that profit from endless wars and genocide are not welcome in their community.

However, when TAWC members started calling, they discovered Howmet Aerospace shut down their phone lines, not even allowing voicemail messages.

As part of a national campaign, the TAWC led teach-ins on Howmet. They also flyered the community with educational information, protested outside the Howmet facility, and hosted regular call-in days. In June, TAWC members and supporters filled Howmet’s Tucson voicemail with 130 messages. They demanding that Howmet quit arming war and genocide and cut their contract with Lockheed Martin.

In response, Howmet completely shut down their phone lines for the August 20 call-in event. Howmet had the phones back up and running the next day, so TAWC members pivoted. The new tactic by TAWC is to send emails demanding Howmet stop building parts for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jet and expressing outrage that tax dollars help Howmet profit off of war and genocide while people struggle to afford groceries and rent. 

Howmet primarily produces wheels and engines for commercial trucks and planes. However, 17% of their revenue comes from building specialty parts for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 jets. Like all U.S. weapons, these lethal fighter jets are used to commit war crimes across the world in places like Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen and more.

They were also used in support of the murder of more than 200 fishermen off the Caribbean coast. Each jet can carry up to 18,000 pounds of bombs. These bombs strike civilian infrastructure like homes, schools and hospitals. 

Howmet shows that they prioritize profits, purposely ignore the concerns of the people. The Tucson Anti-War Committee will continue to bring the fight straight to the weapons manufacturers like Howmet.

#TucsonAZ #AZ #AntiWarMovement #TAWC #WeaponsIndustry #Palestine

Minneapolis, MN – On July 16, over 100 people packed the city council chambers and overflow room to oppose the 75-day pilot program contract proposal with Skydio, a drone manufacturing company that has ties to ICE and the Israeli Defense Force. The contract would allow Skydio drones to act as “first responders” to surveil emergency scenes prior to police arriving.

After weeks of organizing by the Free Palestine Coalition against this proposal, which included protests, a call-in campaign, and a petition, the Minneapolis city council rejected the motion in a 6-6 vote.

Sana Wazwaz, a leader with American Muslims for Palestine-MN stated, “The vote against Skydio is a testament to the relentless and boundless drive of our city to set historic precedents in the fight for Palestine. Once again, Minneapolis has set an example for cities across the country – first through our passage of the strongest ceasefire resolution in the U.S., and secondly, through our uprising against operation metro surge. Our people will be known as those who will fight militarization to the end – a city which shows that no BDS win is ‘too radical” for us to achieve.’”

Maeve Aikin, a member of the Minnesota Anti War Committee stated, “City council’s rejection of this contract is a win for our already over-surveilled and overpoliced communities in Minneapolis and a win for the BDS movement writ large. In the imperial core, it is our moral responsibility to reject partnerships with companies like Skydio that materially benefit from Israeli apartheid and genocide as part of the wider strategy of economic isolation. As with Palantir products developed in Gaza and implemented in the Twin Cities during Operation Metro Surge, the IOF’s surveillance technologies will always come home because Israel exists as a military outpost of the United States.”

Jae Yates, an organizer with the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J), related the opposition toward the proposed Skydio contract with Minneapolis residents protecting their neighbors during Operation Metro Surge, stating, “If the majority of the people of Minneapolis, who bravely stood up to ICE's terrorism of our immigrant neighbors this winter, had our way, there would be no debate about whether to give money to a company profiting off of a genocide so that cops can misuse their surveillance technology.”

Abir Ismail, a Minneapolis public school educator and member of Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, pointed to Skydio’s history of providing drone technology and data to both Israel and ICE, stating “These drones can monitor and record all our data. They are used by ICE and the Israeli military. Homeland Security itself has stated that our police, the FBI, ICE and Israeli soldiers undergo shared training. The connection is unbroken.”

After the vote on the pilot program, the council also considered a motion to remove the Skydio proposal from future agendas, which failed 6-6, and therefore will be eligible for future consideration.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Sydio #WeaponsIndustry #AI #Surveillance #MNAWC