PHOTO: Hundreds of protestors gathered outside Woodward headquarters in Fort Collins to show support for Palestinians and demand action from Woodward executives on November 10, 2023. (Chloe Anderson for Colorado Newsline)
This story by Chloe Anderson appeared on Colorado Newsline on November 13, 2023.
About 300 people gathered outside the headquarters of Woodward in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Friday to protest the company’s alleged involvement in the Israel-Hamas war. Event organizers held multiple 10-minute-long “die-ins” — a demonstration in which protesters lie on the ground and pretend to be dead — to show solidarity with Palestinians and demand action from Woodward executives.
The demonstrators’ outrage was directed toward Woodward when a photo allegedly taken in Gaza showed the aerospace company’s name and logo on a purported missile fragment. Although the photo’s authenticity hasn’t been independently verified, it received thousands of engagements on X, formerly Twitter.
On October 7, the Palestinian militant group Hamas initiated a series of attacks against Israel. According to CNN, over 1,200 Israeli civilians and more than 11,000 Palestinians — including women and children — have been killed in the fighting. Israel and Hamas have both been accused of war crimes as a result of the widespread civilian casualties.
“Woodward calls themselves ‘world leaders’ in the production of ‘Control Actuation Systems for the world’s most advanced guided tactical weapons, including Joint Direct Attack Munitions,’ which we know are used by Israeli Defense Forces,” demonstration organizer Carly Paul told Newsline in an email. “If not in Gaza, their products are invested in death and destruction elsewhere.”
Hundreds gathered at the corners of Lincoln and Lemay avenues in Fort Collins to participate in a 10-minute “die-in” — a demonstration in which people lie on the ground and pretend to be dead — to represent the 10,000 or more Palestinians who have been killed since a war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7.
Woodward executives have declined to comment on the photo, but a spokesperson told The Coloradoan “a small portion of our business involves indirectly supplying the U.S. government with subsystems that go into military equipment. While we are not involved in policy decisions regarding the use of defense equipment containing our products, we remain committed to serving all of our customers.”
Newsline contacted Woodward for comment but had not received a reply by the time of publication.
“When we look at the end result of their products and what they are being used for, we have to question the ethics and moral values of the people that help bring these weapons into existence,” said Palestinian American Adam Awadallah, who participated in the demonstration. “U.S. taxpayers are aiding Israel’s military and these companies are profiting from the war crimes that Israel is committing against Palestinians.”
According to the company’s website, contractors use Woodward products in guided bombs and rockets, air defense and direct attack missiles, and guided artillery and mortar rounds. Woodward boasts its reputation as a “world leader in design, development, and lean production of electro-mechanical actuation systems and components for Smart Defense application.”
“That’s just another way of saying we build smart bombs and we’re proud of it,” Awadallah said.
The demonstration in Fort Collins was one of hundreds across the country, and the 300 in attendance were a fraction of the tens of thousands of Americans protesting Israel’s military campaign. According to organizers in Fort Collins, informing the public about Woodward’s alleged involvement in the Israel-Hamas war and condemning the ongoing civilian deaths in Gaza were just starting points. Like protesters in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Cincinnati and dozens of cities in between, they hope to pressure President Joe Biden into demanding a ceasefire.
“Most Americans — and many people in Fort Collins — want a ceasefire, and that is evidenced by our action yesterday,” Paul wrote Saturday.