Arms company General Dynamics has been education-washing its image by sneaking its way into a multitude of partnerships with UK schools. That is, it has flaunted itself as sponsors, with speakers at school career fairs and events, all as Israel uses bombs it supplied to commit educide and massacres children across Gaza.
Now, outraged parents and carers are demanding that it get out of public education after discovering the arms corporation had recently visited a host of local schools and colleges.
General Dynamics: arms company infiltrating UK schools
Notably, the arms company has made visits to several schools this academic year. This included 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. It states how it has “good working relationships” and promotes work experience and careers with the company.
The Careers East Sussex volunteer enterprise advisor for Claverham Joy Sheen, is an employee of the weapons manufacturer.
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 the weapons company at a careers fair stand. She said:
I couldn’t believe they were there! 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.
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.
Schools Out for General ‘Genocide’ Dynamics campaign
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.
HDPSC has held 16 protests at the two General Dynamics sites in Hastings over the past 18 months. It has done so to draw attention to the presence in the town of the world’s fifth largest weapons manufacturer and its role in the genocidal assault on Gaza:
Its new 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:
At its recent annual conference, 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.
General Dynamics: ignoring the UN and the ICJ
General Dynamics supplies the Israeli military with huge 2,000lb bombs. Israel has dropped these 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. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UN experts, as well as genocide scholars have confirmed the continued forced starvation, deprivation of water, displacement, and killings as ‘genocidal acts’.
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, the UN has ordered countries and companies to stop all weapons and ammunition transfers to Israel: an order which General Dynamics and the UK have ignored.
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.
Sanitising genocide and the arms trade in schools
And some of their school visits appear to be taking place under the radar.
HDPSC officer Olivia Cavanagh, a single parent, said:
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.
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. It was a freebie the company had given out to students during a careers fair. She said:
I was disgusted. 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. This boasted of the school’s “growing partnership” with the arms company.
However, 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.
Featured image and additional images supplied
