FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 7, 2024
BREAKING: Protesters Arrested For Blocking Entrance To General Dynamics In Garland Demanding An Immediate And Permanent Ceasefire
GARLAND, Texas – More than a dozen protesters are beginning to be arrested after blocking the major entrance of General Dynamics, for nearly 5 hours, demanding an immediate ceasefire and an end to the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel.
General Dynamics' Garland plant is a major manufacturer of MK-80 bombs, including the metal bodies for the MK-80 bomb series. These bombs are frequently used by Israel in its military operations, particularly in Gaza. The action today aims to emphasize that the Garland plant's production directly contributes to the genocide in Gaza, where over 30,000 lives have been lost due to the ongoing genocide.
The Garland plant also builds BLU-109 bombs, like the one dropped on Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza in October, killing more than 100 people. Over $35 billion in United States taxpayer’s money went to Garland for these bombs in 2023. General Dynamics directly profits off war by manufacturing weapons, bombs, and shells.
“Our community’s family members, our people in Gaza are the ones being murdered by Israel with the bombs being made right here in this facility and we are here today to make it harder for them to commit a genocide,” says one of the protesters at the action today, “Today’s action isn’t only about this specific General Dynamics plant which is where the weapons being used to kill Palestinians are being manufactured, but it’s also about interrupting the military industrial complex which is responsible for death and destruction around the world.”
This morning’s action is one of many that have been held in Dallas which has seen 5 months of consistent mobilizations calling for an end to the genocide of Palestinians. As the genocide in Gaza now reaches over 150 days, and the death toll of Gazans killed by Israel is over 30,000, people from across DFW are reiterating several key demands: 1) an immediate ceasefire, 2) lift the siege on Gaza, 3) release all Palestinian prisoners taken hostage by Israel, 4) an end to the 75-year colonization and occupation of Palestine, and 5) an end to U.S. complicity in Zionism and the funding of Israel.
The U.S. government currently fund’s Israel’s occupation of Palestine to the tune of $3.8 billion dollars per year. In Dallas alone, the amount of tax-payer dollars that goes to Israeli weapons is nearly $19 million according to research by the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights.
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