Activists protest General Dynamics in Pittsfield over defense contracts and the Israel-Hamas war

Editor's Note: This story has been updated at 11:06 a.m. to clarify the quote given by Sahar Zellou to correctly reflect her stance with the citizens of Israel. 

PITTSFIELD — If you make weapons for war, these activists would like to have a word. 

At a rally Thursday evening across the street from General Dynamics Mission Systems organized by Berkshire Communists, roughly 100 people said it was time for “jobs and education, not war and occupation.” 

That was one of a number of chants at the group's “Call for Anti-Imperialist Action” demonstration in which it protested the escalating war in Israel, particularly Israel’s bombing of Gaza following attacks by Hamas — and the taking of an estimated minimum of 200 hostages — that left Israel and the world reeling.

Activists aimed their wrath at the second largest employer in the Berkshires and its business of developing technology to support the U.S. Navy, which the demonstrators say are used to harm and oppress people — including Palestinians.

It’s part of a larger movement to attempt to disrupt weapon firms they say are also tainting communities where they are located. Last week, some of the same activists had splattered red paint and blockaded the entrance to defense firm Elbit Systems of America’s Cambridge location. Elbit is headquartered in Israel.

“We started with Elbit because they’re in our backyard and because U.K. Palestine action has been successful,” James “Fergie” Chambers, event organizer and a founder of Berkshire Communists told demonstrators. Chambers was referring to actions that wreaked havoc at an Elbit firm in the United Kingdom, and the announcement that an affiliated U.S. group, Palestine Action U.S., had just been established.

Chambers has caught the attention of national news outlets in part for his anti-cop activism and because he is heir to the Cox Media Group fortune. He also owns a compound in Alford with a training center called "The Berkshire People's Gym."

Chambers told those assembled that when thinking in terms of “partisanship with a global struggle, that takes whatever means it must take. And again, this means escalation.”

General Dynamics spokesperson Tom Crosson did not respond to questions about how the company views its role in the Israel-Hamas war, or other defense specifics, but said the company supports “the ability for citizens to assemble lawfully and peacefully to exercise their first amendment rights.”

Something other than General Dynamics, said demonstrators, could grace this former General Electric Co. plant. 

“We need teachers, we need social workers, we need therapists, we need early childhood educators,” said Kamaar Taliaferro, who attended the rally. “We don’t need to drop bombs on the oppressed. That’s a choice. You can choose differently.”

The country's leaders are also keeping the status quo, with the weapons industry’s “tentacles” curling deep into the halls of power in Washington, said Henry Rose, a retiree who is volunteering for Cornel West’s presidential campaign.

“What places have we made better by sending our weapons?” Rose said, citing Afghanistan and various countries in the Middle East where American-made weapons are used. “Are we making these places better or are we intensifying conflicts and making the world more dangerous?”

A handful of police officers monitored the rally and also helped clear one lane of roadway to allow an organizers’ truck bed to be used as a speaking platform.

Two people with “I stand with Israel” signs staged a counter-protest across the street, and at one point shouted: “Free the hostages.”

Several people told The Eagle that they are sensitive to the suffering of innocents no matter who.

“I am here to ultimately stand with the Palestinians and the genocide and the repression and them being held hostage in an open air prison,” said Sahar Zellou, who also helped organize a candlelight vigil for Palestine that night. “But in regards to Israel I stand with the innocent civilians that have been killed as well.”

Jada Haas, of Alford, wore a shirt that said “Never Again For Anyone,” a reference to the Holocaust. The front of her shirt said “Jews for Free Palestine.”

“It is our responsibility to stand up against these things everywhere whenever they occur,” Haas told demonstrators. She noted that if the U.S. really cared about Jews “we would have health care here — we would have meaningful work that didn’t rest on exploitation here.”

“We say no more to weapons that come from our neighborhood,” said organizer Paige Belanger, of Pittsfield.

And Regi Wingo, of Great Barrington, said that “the global struggle is our struggle, for oppressed people anywhere.”