An eclectic two dozen protesters shut down the main entrance to General Dynamics’ bomb factory in Saco, Maine yesterday before dawn and continued into the morning.
Photo credit: Tanvi
The disruption was scheduled by organizers to coincide with the start time of workers’ first shift, but incidentally coincided with the arrival of school students of all ages, their parents, and several bus drivers — including one who honked while the kids on the bus cheered.
Photo credit: Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights on Twitter
One person who showed up later was from Saco and said she had seen social media posts grousing that elementary school kids were being kept indoors for morning recess because of our presence in view of their playground. One person who showed up later came in response to my emailing the press release for our action at the same time it began (pasted in below).
Others came because they have a history of risking arrest to oppose GD’s war shipyard in Bath, including an elder recovering from shoulder surgery. But most of the protesters were connected to the Maine Coalition for Palestine, including six members of one amazing family!
Energy remained high through 9am (see video above) even though we had convened in the parking lot of a nearby business before 6am. The business owner, Saco Sports & Fitness, called the police on us and officers were waiting when we arrived at the bomb factory. Since they had already blockaded the second entrance to the factory’s driveway with two cruisers, we scrapped our camping strategy and instead blocked Route 112 with a big STOP ARMING GENOCIDE banner created by the Coalition for this ongoing campaign.
Police ordered us out of the roadway several times but made no moves to arrest anyone, and once they had blockaded the highway at both ends of the factory entrance, we moved to the entrance itself. The police retreated to observe, ignoring several people who were at times actually on GD “private” property.
Photo credit: Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights on Twitter
How private is a bomb factory entirely funded by U.S. taxpayers? Oh, of course, the profits are private but the risk is public. Because isn’t that how capitalism works?
We did get some reporters on the scene: WMTW Channel 8 out of Portland was first and ran a video report several times throughout the day quoting me (a limited version is available here). WGME was next and their report featured an interview with Yusuf Ebrahim, a resident physician at a local hospital and member of Healthcare Workers for Palestine, who said: “This factory is a subsidiary of Ordinance and Tactical Systems and it’s a manufacturing plant for components of the 500-pound MK-82 bomb. They’ve been dropped on hospitals, bakeries, schools, places of worship.” WGME’s report in particular offered context of the overall campaign which included a shut down of the street in front of GD’s Bath Iron Works shipyard last month at a rally that drew 200 people on a Friday afternoon.
Common Dreams also ran an article based on our press release, and WERU Community Radio recorded a short interview with me which ran today on Amy Browne’s Around Town (available at their archive soon). The Maine Wire — sometimes described as “one guy with a website” — ran a critical piece claiming to side with blue collar workers, but they couldn’t even get the name of their union right (probably because they are actually far right wing and anti-organized labor.)
Below, the press release that went out one minute before our action started. There are references linked at the end to research offering evidence of the connection between GD and the carpet bombing of Gaza.
Consider joining us next time if you’re distraught over U.S. support for Israel’s genocide in Palestine!
Maine Coalition for Palestine action at bomb factory in Saco to demand STOP ARMING GENOCIDE
The statewide Maine Coalition for Palestine will be joined by students, peace groups, and concerned citizens in Saco on Wednesday January 3 starting at 6am. They will hold a camp-out to demand that General Dynamics stop arming Israel’s genocide in Gaza. To date, more than 29,000 people have died, including 11,422 children, in carpet bombings plus sniper fire in civilian residential areas, hospitals, and schools.
Organizer Lisa Savage of Solon said, “Genocide in Gaza is currently supported by General Dynamics. It supplies Israel with the artillery ammunition and bombs used to kill and maim civilians and children in Gaza – which is illegal collective punishment.”
According to research by the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), General Dynamics is the only company in the U.S. that makes the metal bodies of the MK-80 bomb series, the primary weapon type that Israel uses to bomb Gaza.
Yusuf Ebrahim, an Iraqi-American resident physician at Maine Medical Center, said, “Since October, more than 5,000 of the 500-lb Mk-82 bombs — some made in Saco — have been given to Israel by the U.S.. These munitions play a particularly direct role in the ongoing criminal genocide of Palestinians by the IDF, targeting densely populated areas such as the Jabalia Refugee Camp. Why do we tolerate this massive bomb factory here in Maine, exploiting the toils of local workers to aid with the intentional mass murder and displacement of innocent children and families in Palestine? Meanwhile, many local community members suffer from hunger and housing insecurity and cannot afford medical care.”
GD is also the only company in the U.S. that makes 155mm caliber artillery shells, which have been used extensively to bomb Gazans. The international aid organization Oxfam has described use of these munitions as “virtually assured to be indiscriminate, unlawful, and devastating to civilians in Gaza.”
GD Chief Financial Officer Jason Aiken told investors on a call October 25, “I think if you look at the incremental demand potential coming out of [the attacks on Gaza], the biggest one to highlight and that really sticks out is probably on the artillery side.”
Protesters against GD involvement in supporting Israel will gather in Saco at General Dynamics Weapons Systems at 291 North Street. They will hold a camp-out protest in honor of the 2 million people displaced by bombings in Gaza, where tent cities have sprung up in the rubble. Supporters are urged to mask for COVID and to bring camp chairs, sleeping bags, tents, and homemade signs and banners or use those provided by the coalition.
Organizations in the Maine Coalition for Palestine include Healthcare Workers for Palestine, Maine Voices for Palestinian Rights, Students for Justice in Palestine from various college campuses in the state, the Maine Party for Socialism & Liberation, Portland CONFRONT, and the Maine Natural Guard. Members of the coalition will be available for interviews prior to and during the camp-out.
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References:
Death Toll from Gaza Genocide Exceeds 29,000: Euro-Med Monitor, teleSUR, December 29, 2023
“Shrouded in Secrecy”: The Companies Profiting from Israel’s 2023 Attack on Gaza, American Friends Service Committee article in Global Research, December 26, 2023
US sends ‘bunker buster’ bombs to Israel for war on Gaza, report says, Aljazeera, December 2, 2023
Lisa Savage obtained an undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, in May 1977. She received a graduate degree from the University of Southern Maine, Portland/Gorham, in May 1997. Her professional experience includes working as a teacher in Maine public schools for 25 years. She earned a National Board Professional Teacher Certification and was a member of the Maine Education Association. Savage worked as a small business owner/operator from 1988 to 1995 when she enrolled in graduate school to become a teacher. In 2020 she ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Maine.