We got the following press release from Donna Nevel and Dorothy Zellner of Jews Say No!
NEW YORK PROTEST TARGETS GE’S WAR-PROFITEERING FROM GAZA ASSAULT
Tomorrow morning, Tuesday, November 27th, at 8:30 a.m., at the corner of 49th St and Fifth Avenue, concerned New Yorkers will gather for a protest march at the GE Building, 30 Rockefeller Center, calling for divestment from war-profiteer General Electric. General Electric provides the Israeli military with the engines for the F-16s and Apache helicopters used in the recent aerial bombardments of Gaza.
Riham Barghouti from Adalah-NY, one of the groups endorsing the action, explains: “Our protest against General Electric is a direct response to the call by Palestinian civil society to redouble our boycott, divestment and sanctions efforts in response to Israel’s latest attack on Gaza. GE, and a number of other United States companies, are complicit in Israeli violations of international law and Palestinian human rights and as such must be held accountable by people of conscience.”
General Electric is also in the portfolio of pension-fund provider TIAA-CREF, which the growing national We Divest campaign is calling on to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s occupation.
Rebecca Vilkomerson, the director of Jewish Voice for Peace, another of the protest’s endorsers, says about her organization’s participation, “As Jews, we want companies like GE to stop profiting from attacks like the one on Gaza in the past week. We want retirement funds like TIAA-CREF to stop investing in companies that make money by enabling Israel to indiscriminately kill large numbers of civilians in Gaza and to maintain the siege of Gaza, which continues even now after the ceasefire is still in place.”
Israel still controls the air space, commerce, and water and electricity supplies in Gaza, as well as outlets to the Mediterranean Sea. This siege of Gaza is condemned by a majority of the world’s nations. Notwithstandingthat the U.S. is obliged to uphold principles of international law, it contributes $3 billion from our tax money every year to support the Israeli military and to perpetuate the unlawful siege of Gaza.
The latest Israeli assault on Gaza left at least 162 Palestinians dead and 1000 injured, and six Israelis dead and dozens injured. Gaza’s infrastructure was extensively damaged.
The marchers are demanding divestment from GE until it stops selling war matériel to the Israeli military.
There will be visuals.
Endorsed by: Jewish Voice for Peace, Adalah-NY, Jews Say No!, NYU Students for Justice in Palestine, Granny Peace Brigade, Women In Black Union Square, Peace Action of New York State
GE doesn’t pay US taxes. And this sounds like they still get US contracts, some of which are subcontracted by Uncle Sam to Israel.
In New York City, JVP cannot find any deeper connection with Israel than GE, as if “war profiteering” drives US policy toward Israel.
“General Electric provides the Israeli military with the engines for the F-16s and Apache helicopters used in the recent aerial bombardments of Gaza.”
I think GE just provides the engines to General Dynamics, who build the F-16. Why not march on the mining company that mined the aluminum and titanium also used to build the aircraft?
Will we see any of these protests reported anyhwere but MW?
Is GE on the BDS list?