Charleston protest demands U.S. hands off Iran

Charleston, SC – Upwards of 50 people gathered at Elbit Systems of America’s facility in Ladson, South Carolina, on Sunday March 15 to join the Anti-War Action Network’s day of action demanding no United States war on Iran.

A dozen local organizations united with the Elbit Out of South Carolina (EOSC) coalition to protest President Trump’s ongoing assault on Iran.

Nate Hubler, a member of EOSC representing the Lowcountry Action Committee (LAC), said that the decision to hold the protest at Elbit was purposeful: “It can feel like American forever wars are thousands of miles away, so it’s always important to draw the connection to companies like Elbit, who are profiting from this unjust war on Iran and the ongoing genocide in Gaza while simultaneously defunding our county’s public school system.”

The crowd chanted, marched in front of the facility’s entrance, and held signs speaking out against the war and Elbit’s presence in South Carolina along the busy Palmetto Commerce Parkway. The Elbit facility in Ladson is one of eleven Israeli-owned weapons manufacturers around the country.

Speakers from the organizing groups spoke throughout the afternoon and related the devastating U.S. and Israeli backed war to their own local organizing work, though they often had to pause while passing vehicles drowned them out with supportive honks.

Joel Milliken, a member of the South Carolina Tenants Union, spoke to the crowd, “Our taxes are paying for the bombs being dropped on schools and hospitals in Iran and the subsequent double tap strikes on aid workers searching for survivors in the rubble. Meanwhile, tenants are going to be forced between paying $5 a gallon for gas to get to work and paying their rent.”

Students were also out in force at the rally and spoke out against the attacks on Iranian schools.

“Cry for humanity – for the life and youth foolishly wasted by the right-extremists of this administration, claiming that they wage such aggression in our name,” remarked Sasha Bozanic, National Representative for the College of Charleston Students for a Democratic Society. “Were 170 schoolgirls massacred in our name? Are the Army, Navy and Marines being sent to assail a civilian population in our name? How many must suffer and die before we learn that a blow to one family is a blow to us all?”

“Working-class people here know they have more in common with the working class of Iran than they do the billionaires, imperialists and war-profiteers that are starting this war,” remarked Alfred Peeler, a member of the Charleston District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “They know what’s actually needed to materially improve their lives and together, we can build a very real form of political power in the Lowcountry.”

The protest ended with organizers urging the crowd to only continue to show up to future rallies and events, but to speak out against the United States and Israeli war of aggression and to get involved with the groups present.

“We are going to win, but we need everyone to find a way to get involved in the work and we’re more than happy to help them get connected to the right organization,” said protest organizer Gillian Bergeron.

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