Image: Hastings PSC
‘Disgusted’ parents demand East Sussex schools cut ties with arms company General Dynamics
Outraged parents and carers are demanding that General Dynamics get out of schools after discovering the arms company had recently visited a host of local schools and colleges. Hastings & Rye Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Katy Colley reports.
Freebie given to local students, flagged by parents outraged by General Dynamics’ presence in their children’s school. Photo: Hastings PSC
One mum, who preferred not to be named, wrote to the head teacher after her child had been given a free, friendly-looking ‘squishy’ toy from weapons company General Dynamics at a careers fair stand.
‘I couldn’t believe they were there!’ she said. ‘I just had no idea that they would allow an arms manufacturer to attend a careers fair. They are manufacturing the bombs that have been supplied to Israel and used in Gaza, killing thousands of children. It’s appalling.’
Several local schools have had visits from the arms company this academic year, including Rye College, Bexhill College, Robertsbridge Community College and Hastings Academy, among others.
Meanwhile, Claverham Community College proudly advertises General Dynamics as a link company to the school, having ‘good working relationships’ with them and promoting work experience and careers with the company.
Joy Sheen, the Careers East Sussex volunteer enterprise advisor for Claverham, is an employee of the weapons manufacturer.
A recent Instagram post from Bexhill College
New campaign launched
A branded General Dynamics freebie given to local students. Photo: Hastings PSC
Now Hastings & District Palestine Solidarity Campaign (HDPSC) has launched the ‘Schools Out for General ‘Genocide’ Dynamics’ campaign to give parents, carers and students the tools to demand their school stops hosting the arms company.
HDPSC secretary Laurie Holden said: ‘Right now “Genocide” Dynamics is making billions in profit from selling technology, bombs and weapons used to kill thousands of Palestinian children in Gaza. Meanwhile, East Sussex schools and colleges are allowing it to “STEMwash” its role in this genocide and pretend to local children that it is just a normal company.’
The campaign reflects growing outrage across the UK at Britain’s role in continuing to arm Israel, which stands in the dock at the International Court of Justice for genocide, as well as the normalisation of war profiteers in schools.
18,000 dead children
Last week Britain’s largest teaching union the National Education Union (NEU) voted to ‘disarm education’. The union, which represents half a million teachers, support staff and leaders up and down the country, called for all schools to cut ties with arms companies and to end careers collaborations and partnerships.
A ‘Stop Genocide’ protest march to one of General Dynamics’ factories in Hastings, April 2024. Photo: Hastings PSC
HDPSC has held 16 protests at the two General Dynamics sites in Hastings over the past 18 months, drawing attention to the presence in the town of the world’s fifth largest weapons manufacturer and its role in the genocidal assault on Gaza.
General Dynamics supplies the Israeli military with huge 2,000 lb bombs which have been dropped on displaced families in tents as well as schools, hospitals and thousands of homes. These bombs are so powerful they level buildings and destroy all life within a 365-metre radius.
Israel’s assault has so far claimed over 60,000 Palestinian lives, including over 18,000 children; the continued forced starvation, deprivation of water, displacement and killings was confirmed as ‘genocidal acts’ by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UN experts as well as genocide scholars.
‘Stop the Genocide’ protest at one of General Dynamics’ factories in Hastings, April 2024. Photo: Hastings PSC
Israeli leaders are wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court and countries and companies have been ordered by the UN to stop all weapons and ammunition transfers to Israel, an order which General Dynamics and the UK have ignored.
HDPSC officer Olivia Cavanagh, a single parent, told me: ‘We have consistently campaigned for General ‘Genocide’ Dynamics to stop arming Israel. It is appalling to think they are getting into our schools without parents and carers knowing about it. Effectively, this company is targeting pupils to work with them in the future to produce weaponry that will obliterate other children, without informing them that this is what they actually do. Our children should not be exposed to a deeply immoral company arming a rogue state in defiance of international law.’
Visit HDPSC Instagram for more information on the Schools Out campaign. Click here to view the template letter to headteachers.
‘They make bombs’
The website for General Dynamics’ local factories states that they make systems for fighter jets and ground vehicles but does not mention its larger role in manufacturing bombs and ordnance.
And some of their school visits appear to be taking place under the radar.
One grandmother only discovered the company had visited her grandson’s school after noticing he was drinking out of a branded General Dynamics water bottle, a freebie given out to students during a careers fair.
‘I was disgusted,’ she said. ‘We don’t think it’s right to be offering jobs in schools here while they are causing such destruction in Palestine. They get away with it because most parents don’t know who they are or what they do.’
A post on Bexhill College’s Instagram account said they were ‘privileged’ that the weapons manufacturer ran an assembly for 60 STEM students in February, boasting of their ‘growing partnership’ with the arms company.
But one student there said: ‘They are selling themselves as an ordinary company, which is misleading because they make bombs. When I told other students what they did, they were quite shocked. The college is treating them like a normal company but there is nothing normal or respectable about profiting from genocide.’
When questioned on the suitability of an arms company visiting schools and colleges, Careers East Sussex said in a statement: ‘The East Sussex Careers Hub works with schools in the county to help them link young people with local employers to learn about careers opportunities in the area and make individual informed choices about their next steps.
‘General Dynamics UK is a local employer which, like any company, has to meet the legal obligations set by national governments. The Careers Hub does not have any role in these matters.’
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