Large turnout at Geneva Conventions protest causes production to go silent at Castledawson factory

On the 76th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions around 100 protesters joined the "No more F-35s!" protest outside Moyola Precision Engineering.

The event, which took place last night (Tuesday, August 12) in Castledawson, was organised by the Mid Ulster Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (Mid Ulster IPSC) and Derry IPSC.

Speakers included Saoirse O’Neill and Marlene Bovill Ní Bhrolcháin from the Mid Ulster IPSC, Stephen Devlin father of Jordan Devlin of the Filton 24, and Goretti Horgan of the Raytheon 9, Roan Ellis-O'Neill from ActNow and Annie Ward from the Bloody Sunday March Committee, who ended the protest with an incredibly moving poem. 

"Israel has been using F-35 fighter jets to carpet bomb a population imprisoned in an area almost five times smaller than Mid Ulster, yet with 15x the population. Today is the 76th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, international treaties that contain 'red lines', the most important rules limiting the barbarity of war. But today, as we speak, every single one of these 'red lines' are being crossed in Gaza," Saoirse O'Neill, MUIPSC spokesperson said at the protest.

"15% of every single F-35 comes from the UK. That includes key components manufactured right here! Our public money is being used to fund this. Through InvestNI nearly £20 million has been handed to four companies in the North that supply parts for the F-35 program. Moyola Precision Engineering received over £5.6 million from Invest NI over the years—including as recently as last year.

"This is not an accident. Moyola is ITAR-compliant. That means nothing leaves this factory without the knowledge and approval of the US government. It also means these parts are intended for use in weapons systems like the F-35. What I have seen is Invest NI claim they’re not funding arms to Israel, because they define “arms” only as finished weapons. But they should know that international law doesn’t work like that. If you supply a component knowing it’s going to be used in a weapon - especially one involved in a conflict where war crimes are alleged - you are complicit. And under international humanitarian law, that matters." 

Goretti Horgan of the Raytheon 9 and Derry IPSC said: “All of these companies are being funded by us, and Stormont is responsible for that. So if you're angry, wondering what you can do, go to your local politician's office with some placards, and ask them what they are doing! While sick and disabled people, and children have their services cut down, our taxpayer money is going to factories creating genocide parts killing the children of Palestine."

Speaking after the rally, MUIPSC spokesperson Pádraig MacNiocaill said: "Following numerous protests, including one in July which caused the factory to also close for several hours, Moyola Precision Engineering removed references to F-35 part manufacture from their website in the past week. This is a shocking attempt to hide what Moyola is producing, and is a sign that the pressure is working. Today, once again we heard the sound of machinery go silent for several hours, and until Moyola announce that they no longer produce parts that could go to F-35s, that's the way it should be. We do not want parts for warplanes bombing children made in Mid Ulster. The weight of the anti-genocide movement and international law will remain on Moyola until they fully divest."