Introduction
In a recent surge of actions people gathered outside the General Dynamics facilities in Scranton, PA and in Red Lion, PA on June 3rd, 2025. Organizers with the Harrisburg Palestine Coalition have been planning biweekly protests outside the Red Lion facility since Tax Day April 15th, 2025.
Tax Day was chosen to start this wave actions to highlight the fact that US tax dollars are being used to fund the genocide Israel is carrying out in Gaza.
During the protest Brian Keisling, an organizer with the Harrisburg Palestine Coalition, highlighted the fact that defense contractors like General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and others receive 80 percent of their funding from the US government, which comes from US taxpayers.
A National Wave of Actions
The Harrisburg Palestine Coalition is one of many groups in Pennsylvania and across the US that have formed since Israel’s genocide in Gaza began 19 months ago now. Groups like the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Democratic Socialists of America, and dozens of new national and local groups have been protesting Israel’s genocide in dozens of cities, towns, and boroughs across Pennsylvania. We have seen similar actions in solidarity with Palestine across the globe.
There have been massive rallies in major US cities since 2023. Hundreds of thousands have marched in Washington DC alone. These actions have been jointly organized by the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) coalition, the Palestinian Youth Movement, and hundreds of other groups across the country.
Many of these protest coalitions have formed in response to the massive outpouring of support and sympathy for Gazans facing forced starvation and daily war crimes by the genocidal Israel Occupation Forces. Israel has not only restricted the international aid to the starving people of Gaza, it has destroyed Gazan’s ability to feed themselves in what many experts have referred to as ecocide. Israel has destroyed Gaza’s environment, agriculture, and the vast majority of its cattle and livestock.
Local Outrage
This has sparked outrage and regular protests throughout Pennsylvania, even in smaller cities. Mid-sized cities like Lancaster, PA has seen nearly weekly protests since 2023 often attended by hundreds of people. The Harrisburg Palestine coalition organized many protests in 2023 and 2024 outside the state capitol building to demand an end to the state of Pennsylvania buying Israel bonds.
The protests outside General Dynamics show that the movement for a Free Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza is not going away even in places like central Pennsylvania. Brian Keilsing with the Harrisburg Palestine Coalition reiterated a few times that “this is a marathon not a sprint” and that the movement for a Free Palestine is not going anywhere.
Already there are plans for another picket outside the General Dynamics in Red Lion for Juneteenth. This will coincide with another rally outside the Dauphin County prison later that day to protest the unfair and inhumane treatment people are experiencing at the hands of the US carceral system. As was talked about at the rally, General Dynamics also uses prison labor.
Organizers Speak Out
When asked what they hoped the protests would accomplish, organizers said they wanted to stop General Dynamics from making the bombs that are going to kill Palestinian men, women and children. The first protest which consisted of a picket outside the Red Lion facility even caused the facility to shut down early for the day already showing that protesting can slow down and even stop the production of the explosive devices of genocide.
One of the protesters, Sonia from Lancaster, said she had been to multiple protests outside General Dynamics, and that she “came to the protest to say yes to life and no to genocide.” Brian with Harrisburg Palestine Coalition reiterated time and time again that the purpose of the protest was to disrupt the war machine right here at home in the belly of the beast. As protestors chanted “from the belly of the beast, hands off the Middle East.”
Protestors also highlighted how their tax dollars are being spent on war and cuts to vital public services right here at home. People chanted “money for healthcare and education, not for war and occupation.” These protests also take place with the unprecedented crackdown by the Trump administration on the right to free speech, protest, and assembly. This was no deterrent for the protestors outside what they termed “Genocide Dynamics.”
The message was clear that both Republicans and Democrats are responsible for supporting Israel’s expansionist genocide on the Gaza strip. The crowd enthusiastically responded to speeches that explained how we have two capitalist parties that both support Zionist occupation and US imperialism. The chant, “Zionism won’t survive, without the bombs that we provide,” was also well received.
Ongoing War Crimes
Gaza continues to face unrelenting Israeli bombing with US made weapons. It also continues to face famine due to Israel restricting aid from entering, especially since March 2nd, against both international law and the US domestic Leahy law. Gaza has faced a crippling and suffocating economic siege by Israel for decades that has ramped up dramatically the past nineteen months.
On the day of the protest outside General Dynamics Israel bombed tents on the ground of Gaza seaport that would be set to receive the Freedom Flotilla bringing aid to the starving people of Gaza. Seven people were killed in this bombing, one of countless war crimes in this genocide. Indignant over these atrocities protestors chanted “General Dynamics what do you say? How many people have you killed today?” and “Israel bombs, USA pays, how many people have they killed today?”
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. Well over a million, over 90 percent of the population of the strip has been displaced. This is because Israel has destroyed or damaged the vast majority of the housing and infrastructure.
The figures from the Gaza health ministry are considered to be an underestimate by many, but those figures paint a horrifying picture of well over 50,000 people killed and well over 100,000 people wounded. Reputable medical journals, however, such as the Lancet have actually put the estimate as likely far higher even months ago with a death toll closer to 180,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza.
Conclusion
Protestors outside of General Dynamics, like those found around the world, expressed an unwavering commitment to keep fighting against the US-funded Israeli genocide until Palestine is free.