by Candice Bodnaruk
Undeterred by the weather, it was a cold, brisk December day in Winnipeg when dozens of people joined together for a one hour, “Keep Watch for Peace” vigil at Magellan Aerospace.
Activists were calling on Magellan to end its support for death machines and to demand it start working for peace. Passing vehicles honked in support while the demonstrators kept warm by a makeshift fire and held signs like “Magellan: Build for Peace Not Parts for F15 Fighter Jets” and “Mennonites for Peace”.
Magellan’s Winnipeg plant manufactures the tail assemblies for the F35 fighter jet program. The assembly built in Winnipeg is the basis for the F-351 Joint Strike Fighter jet Israel is using to bomb Gaza.
The noontime event was led by Mennonite Action and featured songs, prayers and reflections. Members of Independent Jewish Voices Winnipeg, Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Mennonite Church Manitoba Palestine Israel Network (MCMPIN), Mennonite Central Committee and Friends for Standing Together all participated in the vigil.
Participants built a small fire on the sidewalk to stay warm.
Speakers who had recently visited Palestine shared their experiences and encouraged those in attendance to continue to do this work.
At the conclusion of the vigil organizers delivered a letter to Magellan executives, expressing concern about the weapons parts manufactured there that are key to the F351 jets currently being used by Israel in its war on Gaza. The jets are manufactured by Lockheed Martin in the US.
The organizers say that working at Magellan does moral injury to workers who are just doing their jobs but are complicit in the genocide in Gaza and they called on Magellan to use their skills and innovation to build for peace, not war.
