Marking almost one year into the start of the U.S.-Israeli taxpayer-backed genocide in Gaza, hundreds of Delawareans for Palestinian liberation rallied and marched on Saturday to a location near the Dover Air Force Base’s main entrance, bringing attention to the base’s direct involvement in genocide and demanding an end to all weapons transfers to Israel from the military base in accordance with international law. While marching, protesters held signs saying “Arms Embargo Now,” “No More Death From Delaware,” “Dover Air Force Base is Complicit in Genocide,” and “Honor Air Force Member Aaron Bushnell’s Last Words”.
At the end of the march, protesters met at a rally point where they heard from speakers Miriam Gerges, President of University of Delaware’s Falastin; Nada Abuasi, Philly Palestine Coalition organizer; Dr. Carlyle Horrell and Major Mary Beth Brownlee representing Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine; and Abu Ali from Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.
“Since last October, there have been at least 30 flights from Dover Air Force Base with weapons for Israel’s slaughter. In August alone they approved 17 weapons transfers to Israel. These weapons are funded with our tax dollars,” said Blair Dawn, an organizer with DE Actions 4 Palestine. “We are all here to say: No More Death from Delaware.”
“Stop and think: what do the people in Gaza deserve from us? We who fund the death and destruction of the Palestinian people? We whose money funds the literal weaponry that is tested and used on Gazans today?” asked Nada Abuasi of the Philly Palestine Coalition. “Our struggle for liberation cannot be sieged, it cannot be imprisoned, it cannot be occupied, and it cannot be destroyed.”
After the remarks, protesters then gathered in prayer and supplication to honor all Palestinian and Lebanese lives taken in this genocide. Following prayer, 10 other protesters poured fake blood in front of the base and participated in a die-in to represent the Palestinian and Arab lives that continue to be taken by the weapons shipped from Dover.
This is not the first time Delawareans have brought attention to the direct relationship between Delaware’s involvement in genocide. In addition to their advocacy at Wilmington City Council, outside of Delaware lawmakers’ homes, the President’s home in Wilmington and church in Rehoboth, Delaware protesters for Palestinian liberation also brought up Dover’s connection to genocide when disrupting the Governor’s last State of the State in March 2024. As quoted in Delaware Online, a protester “noted shipments of Israeli armaments [are] sent through Dover Air Force Base a few miles away from Legislative Hall, emphasizing “’we are involved in this.’”
Over the last 363 days, Israel has killed well over 41,000 people in Gaza and the West Bank (according to The Lancet, the number of deaths may be upwards of 186,000 or even more), as well as more than 1,000 people in neighboring Lebanon. Artillery fire has displaced 1.2 million Lebanese citizens, and wiped out over 90% of Gaza’s infrastructure. And yet, it is not enough. In June, Netanyahu accused the US of withholding weaponry from Israel, even as Israel prepared an offensive against Lebanon. By this time, Israel had already dropped 75,000 tons of ordnance on Gaza alone, with an estimated 10% of the bombs remaining unexploded and presenting major future hazards. Yet, according to publicly available data obtained from flight trackers such as FlightRadar24 and FlightAware, at least 17 cargo and civilian planes have left Dover Air Force Base for Israel since the beginning of August, suggesting that the Biden administration has continued to capitulate to Israel’s demands for more weapons and ammunition in defiance of International law, U.S. Agency conclusions and the majority of Americans’ wishes.
Earlier last month, the U.S. released an additional $3.5 billion in military aid to Israel for use in its campaign in Gaza months after government appropriation. Another $20 billion dollar weapons sale was approved in the wake of the U.S. Agency conclusions that weapons transfers to Israel are in violation of U.S. law. Of these weapons, 120mm mortars and F-15 jets are included, similar to the ones used during Israel’s offensive into Lebanon. In addition to the 17 cargo and civilian planes leaving to the Nevatim Air Base in Israel from Dover just in August alone that may have included the above weaponry, Haaretz asserts that “a 747 cargo plane belonging to the Israeli company Challenge Airline IL was documented making more than 30 flights from the Dover Air Base to Nevatim. A tweet posted by the Israeli defense ministry revealed that the same 747 transported weapons. The plane has continued with its flights to Dover at the same pace over the past few months.”
Ryan Dunlap, a Delaware resident and march attendee states: “As a U.S. citizen I am deeply concerned the weapons utilized in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank are paid for using my tax dollars and coming out of my state, while it is clearly in violation of U.S. and international law, particularly the Arms Trade Treaty and the Leahy Law.”
Protesters continue their calls for an arms embargo on Israel now.