Textron HQ targeted by protesters for a second week
"We're here to shut down Textron for Palestine.”
Around 200 people, mostly students from Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design, marched from College Hill to 40 Westminster Stree where Textron, Inc. has its world headquarters. Textron is one of the largest weapons manufacturers in the world, and the protesters were there to challenge the company's complicity in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and the company's profiteering from war in general.
Ahead of a student walkout organized by the Brown University Palestine Solidarity Caucus, protesters hung a sign outside Sayle Hall that read, "Brown Invests in the Palestinians Genocide."
Arriving in downtown Providence and chanting outside Textron, protesters held signs, including large banners upon which the names of the over 11,000 people who have been killed in Palestine last week. That death toll number was probably an undercount and has risen since then.
You can watch video of the event here:
This was the second week in a row that protesters found themselves outside Textron, and it comes on the heels of several actions around the state by groups opposed to Israel's response to a surprise Hamas attack that killed around 1,400 Israelis, injured thousands more, and resulted in over 200 people being taken as hostages. [See here, here, here, here, here, and here.]
Protesters came with three demands:
Cancel all state and school partnerships with war profiteers like Textron. No taxes or tuition for war!;
Call on Rhode Island congressional delegation to end the siege in Gaza and call for a ceasefire now; and,
Withdraw all United States aid to Israel. End the occupation.
“We are here today because the world stands with Palestine and we have been called to be here. Today, there's an international call for action to shut it down for Palestine, a global day of protest called by students in occupied Palestine,” said Pamela, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. “Today, students are walking out of classes like the RISD and Brown University students who are here. People are doing sit-ins, marches, rallies, and businesses have shut down today - like the Small Format Café here in Providence - all for Palestine. We cannot have business as usual while there is an ongoing genocide, no business as usual during the genocide.
“The Montgomery Bus Boycott shook the economy of the South to its core and led to a major setback for Jim Crow apartheid. Today we can do the same. No more money for companies like Starbucks, Puma, HP, McDonald's, Domino's, and Pizza Hutt, until a ceasefire is called and the siege is lifted over Gaza. Companies like Starbucks are even suing their union for taking a stand with Palestine and against genocide.
“So today we are gathered here in front of Textron, another company that profits off of genocide, a company that profits by aiding the occupation of Palestinians. We're here to shut down Textron for Palestine.”
Farah, who co-emceed the event, is a Rhode Island College Student, Palestinian-American, and a "fighter in the community." She explained the phrase "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free."
“Western media has been trying to spin this statement into an anti-Semitic chant, a chant which they claim called for the eradication of the Jewish people,” said Farah. “One thing we must set straight right now is the insinuation that this is a religious conflict. This has nothing to do with religion. Before 1948, Palestinian Muslims, Christians, and Jews co-existed peacefully - and even in some cases now Palestinians from different religions coexist peacefully with peaceful Israeli settlers. Some of my family members work alongside peaceful Israeli settlers.
“The other thing that must be set straight is "from the river to the sea" does not correlate with eradicating Jewish settlers. Rather, it's a call for freedom and liberation. It's a statement that brings hope for the peaceful coexistence between people of all religions. Just as it was before 1948, it is a chant that calls for the occupation to end. It calls for the end of an apartheid state. It calls for the end of the settler colonial state of Israel and it calls for the total freedom and liberation of all who live in Palestine, regardless of their religion.”
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