Police were heavy handed with protesters at an October 21 action outside Heat Treatment Australia (HTA) to protest weapons parts to Israel.
The protesters called for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and that Labor stop helping arm Israel.
At least two protesters were arrested on dubious grounds, such as standing on a driveway without being given a chance to move on. Police also made “safety checks” on activists’ cars — another act of harassment.
HTA treats all F-35 jet components made in Australia, which makes the company complicit in Israel’s genocide.
F-35 jets have been used extensively in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed.
“The F-35 Genocide Jets are crucial to Israel’s assault on Gaza,” Wage Peace said. “Every component manufactured in Australia for F-35s needs to be heat treated for use.”
HTA has a “direct link” in the genocide, according to the group.
Dozens of protesters joined the morning action.
Declassified Australia has revealed that “at least 68 shipments of F-35 fighter jet parts have been flown on commercial passenger planes to Israel from Australia as recently as last month”.
Protestors also protested inside Marand Precision Engineering in North Geelong on the same day. Marand has set up shop at the site of the old Ford Factory.
The Independent Peaceful Australia Network Geelong and Vic Southwest demanded Marand exit the F-35 supply chain. They walked on to the factory floor holding banners saying: “Marand: Stop Arming Genocide” and “War Weapons Out of Geelong”.
They said Marand is breaking international law by making parts for the F-35 jets Israel uses to bomb Gaza. The F-35s are made by Lockheed Martin, which continues to sell them to Israel.
Peace activists also protested at Boeing in Kaurna Yerta/Adelaide that day. The ports of Melbourne and Sydney have been targeted and, in Muloobinba/Newcastle, activists picketed Hoffman engineering, another F-35 supplier.
“We want peace with justice for everyone the world over,” Geelong IPAN co-convener Jaimie Jeffrey said. “We don’t want military weapons being manufactured in our town or anywhere. Geelong had an opportunity to pivot its manufacturing to renewables and storage after Ford and Alcoa closed. Instead, encouraged by all three levels of government, military weapons manufacturing took off here.
“Weapons manufacturing is a growing industry with more planned at Avalon making the Geelong economy increasingly dependent on war. Companies like Marand need to produce socially useful goods, like they did during COVID-19, when Marand started manufacturing respirators and machinery to make masks.”
