PETITION TO HASTINGS BOROUGH COUNCIL
RE: GENERAL DYNAMICS FACTORY, CASTLEHAM ROAD
We, the undersigned, being residents of Hastings Borough or those who work or study here, note that:
➢ The premises at Castleham Road, TN38 9NJ, occupied by General Dynamics, are leased to the company by Hastings Borough Council.
➢ The said Lease contains a clause which states that it can be wholly revoked by the Council if the company engages in “illegal or immoral activities” on its premises.
➢ General Dynamics develops and manufactures components and parts for weapons and aircraft which are used by the Israeli  military against the Palestinian civilian population of Gaza and the West Bank.
➢ The Human Rights Council of the UN has called for all countries, “to cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel” and that a number of listed companies, including General Dynamics, are, by sending, “weapons, parts, components, and ammunition at risk of being complicit in serious violations of international human rights and international humanitarian laws”.
➢ The International Court of Justice has found that Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza constitute a plausible genocide.
We therefore believe that the ongoing leasing of premises to General Dynamics makes Hastings and its citizens complicit in providing the means to commit a genocide, the most heinous crime imaginable and certainly something that is unethical and totally immoral.

We, the undersigned, call on Hastings Borough Council to immediately evict General Dynamics from council premises, for carrying out illegal and immoral activities.