Activists Block Entrances to St. Charles Boeing Plant

They say the bombs Israel is using on Gaza are manufactured at the plant in St. Charles

Nov 6, 2023 at 10:41 am

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An activist holds a sign containing the names of slain Palestinian children outside of Boeing on Monday.

COURTESY PHOTO

An activist holds a sign containing the names of slain Palestinian children outside of Boeing's St. Charles plant on Monday.

More than 75 activists have locked arms and blocked entrances to a Boeing plant in St. Charles, where activists say the aircraft company manufactures bombs used in the Israel-Hamas war.

The protest began early Monday morning when workers would have normally arrived at work to Boeing Building 598, located on Highway 94 just north of 370. There, according to a release from one of the groups involved in the protest, Boeing manufactures small diameter bombs, or SDBs, and joint attack munition, or JDAMs. Both weapons have been reportedly used by Israel against Gaza — with an expedited delivery by Boeing.

The activists have a short list of demands: They want Congress and President Biden to call for an immediate ceasefire, as well as all arms sales to Israel to cease. On the ground in St. Charles, they're holding signs and yelling rally chants, such as "Boeing Boeing what you say? How many kids have you killed today?"

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COURTESY PHOTO

More than 75 activists are reportedly holding the line at the Boeing plant in St. Charles.

"We are joining millions of people across the United States and around the world in demanding an end to Israel's brutal assault on Gaza and its decades-long occupation of Palestine," Ellie Tang, a member of the youth anti-war group Dissenters, said in a prepared statement. "We urge Congress and Biden to hear the calls of millions of us living in this country, and push for a ceasefire. Until Congress blocks the bombs, we will."

The blockade comes almost exactly a month after Hamas' initial attack on Israel caused violence in the besieged enclave of Gaza to a boiling point. Israeli authorities said the attack on October 7 killed more than 1,400 people, most of whom were civilians.

Since then, Israeli bombardment of the Gaza strip has caused the Palestinian death toll to surpass 10,000 as of Monday morning, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health. That figure reportedly includes 4,100 children.

President Biden has said the U.S. "stands with Israel," a statement in tune with the U.S.'s 75-year history of allyship with the country.

The activists in St. Louis aren't willing to sit back and wait for that tune to change.

"As taxpayers, we all have blood on our hands," artist and activist Su Mac said in a statement. "Congress must act before they are etched into history books as complicit in a genocide the country called on them to stop."

The blockade was organized by Dissenters, St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, Black Men Build St. Louis, the Boeing Arms Genocide campaign and Resist St. Louis.

As of 10:30 a.m., activists are still continuing the blockade, which they say blocks all entrances to the manufacturing plant.