CT’s Colt Manufacturing, commissioned to sell 18,000 rifles to Israel, draws protesters

A fenced-in compound in West Hartford has become the latest ideological battleground in the intense debate over the monthlong Israeli-Hamas war.

Colt Manufacturing Co., headquartered in Hartford, has been commissioned to provide 18,000 assault rifles to Israel and the order has sparked protests at the New Park Avenue site and raised concerns among U.S. officials that the weapons would be given to Israeli settlers of the occupied West Bank.

Dozens of protestors blocked the entrances to Colt Manufacturing for several hours on Thursday to protest the multimillion-dollar arms deal.

The protest, organized as part of the national Shut It Down for Palestine movement, called for the gun manufacturer to stop supplying Israel with weapons. The pro-Palestine movement advocates for marches, walk-outs, sit-ins, and other forms of direct action against political offices, businesses, and workplaces that collaborate with Israel, according to their website. Several leaders from multiple advocacy organizations around the state coordinated the protest.

“We came together as a group of Connecticut residents from every part of the state,” said Miranda Cohen, a Yale graduate and member of the pro-Palestine group New Haven Jewish Voice for Peace. “We felt compelled to join this national movement launched by the Palestinian Youth Movement. We will be keeping up these protests and demonstrations until we have a cease-fire and even beyond that a free Palestine.”

Cohen joined workers, students, and organizers from across the state gathered at Colt’s facility at 545 New Park Ave just after 6 a.m. Thursday. Braving the cold, protestors bundled up under large jackets and held signs that read “Shut it Down for Palestine” and “Stop Arming Genocide.”

“Organizations don’t vote, people do,” said Keren Prescott with the anti-racist group PowerUp Manchester. “We wanted to be clear that this was a collective of Connecticut residents who came together to call for a ceasefire and tell Colt to stop arming Israel. We have to come together in large numbers to make sure Blumenthal, Murphy, Biden and others know to stop sending our tax dollars to fund a genocide.”

Colt Manufacturing Co. declined to comment on the protest.

Many of the protestors said they were inspired by the recent rally for Palestine march in Washington, D.C., last weekend. The D.C. protest, the largest rally for Palestine in U.S. history, saw over 300,000 people march past the White House demanding a ceasefire. Around the country, several other pro-Palestine rallies have taken place, including thousands of protestors marching down streets in midtown Manhattan this week. College campuses around the country remain a flashpoint for the conflict.

Pro-Palestine solidarity marches have also swept across much of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, including one in London Saturday that reportedly drew 300,000 people.

Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, some 10,569 Palestinians have been killed, including 4,324 children since the fighting began, according to the United Nations. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who has called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict, said that Gaza is quickly becoming a “graveyard for children.” Israel, which began an aerial bombardment of Gaza shortly after suffering the worst attack on its soil by Hamas on Oct. 7, has seen just over 1,000 Israeli civilians killed, according to their government.

Across the state, pro-Palestine rallies in Hartford, Waterbury, and New Haven have overshadowed demonstrations for Israel. U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, who have both been outspoken in their support for Israel, appeared at a pro-Israeli rally in West Hartford on Oct. 9. Murphy has since called for Israel to “change direction” in Gaza in response to the growing humanitarian crisis there.

Jewish leaders in Connecticut say they fear reprisals and calls for violence against the Jewish community. David Waren, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, said he welcomes debate and protest, but that there is a fine line between criticism and antisemitism.

“The messages and speakers at many of these protests across the country reflect raw antisemitism including the chants and signage proclaiming Palestine will be free ‘from the river to the sea.’ That is a call for genocide. It is not a call for a two-state solution or a free Palestinian state. It is a call to eliminate the Jewish state and its 6 million Jewish residents. That is unacceptable. Sadly we’re seeing that almost ubiquitously at many rallies.”

Debate over the slogan’s meaning has raged. Palestinian American U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, of Michigan, who was censured for its use, said it calls for freedom for the Palestinian people.

“From the river to the sea is an aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction, or hate,” Tlaib said. The slogan gained popularity in the early 1960s under the Palestine Liberation Organization, as the PLO called “for returning to the borders under British control of Palestine, where Jews and Arabs had both lived before the creation of Israel as a Jewish state in 1948,” according to the New York Times.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., another Muslim congresswoman, was also admonished for her criticism of Israel.

Waren said that any civilian death caused by the conflict is a tragedy. However, he said he is also concerned about the demonization of the Jewish people and fears disagreements can descend into violence.

“Criticism of Israel is not antisemitic. Pick up any Israeli newspaper and you will see tons of criticism every single day. But what is antisemitic is what Jewish writer Natan Sharansky called the three D’s or demonization, delegitimization, and having a double standard for Israel. Demonization is what we’re seeing at many of these rallies. Demonizing the Jewish state is antisemitic. Organizers of rallies have a responsibility to ensure differences of opinion don’t devolve into hatred, bigotry and violence.”

Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com

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