Pro-Palestine demonstrators protest arms sales to Israel at US contractor headquarters

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - A coalition of pro-Palestinian protesters took to the headquarters of American defense contractors Boeing and Lockheed Martin on Monday to demand an immediate end to sales of military hardware to Israel.

"Boeing, Boeing, we see you, and all of the war crimes that you do," the demonstrators chanted outside of Boeing's in the Crystal City neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. "We will free Palestine within our lifetime."

After protesting in front of Boeing's offices, the crowd walked roughly 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) to the nearby Lockheed Martin building to stage another demonstration.

The acts of protest come amid Israel's war on the besieged Gaza Strip, which began in October following a cross-border attack led by Hamas that killed roughly 1,200 people.

More than 33,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and nearly 76,400 others injured. Much of Gaza has been flattened by Israeli attacks, and Tel Aviv has continued to restrict aid flowing into the coastal enclave leading to dramatic shortages of daily necessities.

About 85% of Gaza's population is now internally displaced, and about two-thirds of its infrastructure is now in tatters.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.