Anti-War Protesters Call On Raytheon To Stop Selling Weapons

WALTHAM, MA—A group of Waltham activists are calling on Waltham-based Raytheon Technologies to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for the Yemen War. And you'll see them from 11 a.m. to noon at the corner of Main and Moody Streets on Waltham Common holding signs and making their point known on Saturday, July 18.

From Waltham Concerned Citizens:

For five years a coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates has been bombing the country of Yemen. Fragments of missiles and bombs made by Raytheon and other companies, have been repeatedly discovered in the aftermath of deliberate airstrikes on schools, hospitals, markets, wells, and houses. Seven hundred civilian deaths and 1,600+ civilian injuries were documented in 2019 alone, and nearly 7,300 civilian deaths and 11,600+ civilian injuries since May 2015. At least 56,000 have died from air strikes. If an equivalent percentage of Massachusetts residents were killed by air strikes, there would be 14,000 dead.
The coalition is also using man-made famine as a weapon of war. More than 14 million people, half the population, now live on the brink of starvation. The war in Yemen, which the United Nations calls “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis,” has caused the deaths of at least 85,000 children under the age of 5 from starvation. One million people have contracted cholera.
Raytheon is a major arms supplier for Saudi Arabia and has actively lobbied against Congressional curbs on weapons sales to the Saudis. U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is a former Raytheon lobbyist.

Waltham Concerned Citizens said it is asking the business to use its facilities to meet human needs instead of arming countries.

The vigil will be co-sponsored by Raytheon Antiwar Campaign, Mass. Peace Action and Veterans for Peace

Waltham Concerned Citizens was founded in 1981 with the aim of calling for peace and justice. Its initial focus was on a nuclear weapons freeze.

For more info, call (617) 354-2169 or email info@walthamconcernedcitizens.org.