WHAT IS HAPPENING?
So far it's estimated that over 200,000 people in Palestine and Lebanon have been murdered in the past year (as published in The Lancet, a world-leading medical journal). Already more than double the population of Great Yarmouth borough, including Gorleston, Bradwell, Caister and the villages, this number continues to rise every day.
Currently, Israel is the #1 cause of children's deaths in the world.
As residents of Great Yarmouth we have a right to know what is happening in our town, and come together to hold accountable any unethical businesses that operate where we live and work.
A recent investigation revealed that the UK government have been secretly transporting components for the F-35 fighter jets to Israel over the past year. These are being sent from nearby Norfolk military airbase RAF Marham (Declassified, 2024)
One of these F-35 warplanes was used by Israel on July 13th 2024 to drop three 2000lb bunker buster bombs on an Israeli-designated "safe zone" in Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza. This killed 90 people and injured at least 300 more (Declassified, 2024). Soon after this massacre was committed, the Israeli Defence Minister travelled to a F-35 base, to personally thank the pilots involved. This is just one of the countless attacks using F-35s.
All the while our taxes are funding it. While 33.2% of children in Great Yarmouth are living in poverty, the UK government chooses to spend its money - our money - on arming Israel to murder children.
Between 2008 and 2022, the UK government - both Labour and Conservative - has supported Israel with military aid, licensing arms worth over £574m to Israel (Campaign Against Arms Trade, 2022).
While we were questioning why a ship was allowed to dump 300 tonnes of explosive cargo off our coast in Great Yarmouth this November, Israel has dropped almost 80,000 tonnes of explosives in Gaza in less than a year.
Israel has dropped almost 80,000 tons of explosives - this means that Israel has dropped ~36 kilograms of explosives on Gaza for every man, woman, and child. Each of these red dots shows a bombed place in Gaza. (UN Satellite Centre, July 6th)
This is what genocide looks like.
As residents of Great Yarmouth let's stand together in demanding that Spectrum Control stop manufacturing parts built, bought and shipped for war, and end our town's complicity in Israel's genocide!
OUR DEMANDS
We are campaigning for both an immediate end to Great Yarmouth's complicity in the genocide of Palestinians and for public dialogue on the future of weapons manufacturing in our town. As citizens, we hold both arms manufacturers, public bodies, and ourselves accountable for upholding international law. To that end we demand:
- That Spectrum Control Great Yarmouth immediately ceases production of components for the F-35 programme.
- That Great Yarmouth Borough Council opens transparent dialogue with their constituents on the legality of Spectrum Control's operations in our town, including the company's role in the F-35 programme, and their role as our elected representatives in ensuring local businesses uphold international law.
- That local residents come together and organise to end arms manufacturing in Great Yarmouth.