On Monday morning, a group of 500 Jewish activists and allies brought the New York Stock Exchange to a halt, demanding that the U.S. government stop arming Israel and profiting from the ongoing violence in Gaza. The demonstrators, wearing red shirts emblazoned with the slogans “Not in our name” and “Jews say stop arming Israel,” chanted and held signs that read, “Gaza bombed, Wall Street booms” and “Fund FEMA, not genocide.”
The protest, which blocked the entrance to the iconic Stock Exchange, saw some activists chaining themselves to the doors in an act of civil disobedience. The demonstration resulted in hundreds of arrests, as police moved in, binding protesters with zip ties and forcibly removing them while they shouted, “Let Gaza live.”
The protest was in response to both the continued U.S. support of Israel and the rising profits of defense contractors amid the conflict. The activists argue that these companies are profiting from what they call a genocide in Gaza, while Wall Street reaps the rewards.
A Year of Devastation in Gaza
For over a year, Palestinians in Gaza have been documenting the violence they are enduring, sharing their suffering with the world. As Israeli airstrikes continue, Palestinians trapped in the north of Gaza, particularly in places like the Jabalia refugee camp, find themselves in what some describe as “a genocide within a genocide.”
Reports from inside Gaza describe streets littered with bodies, while ambulances are unable to reach the wounded due to fears of being targeted by Israeli drones and snipers. Food, water, and medical supplies have been cut off since early October, and the Israeli government has ordered 400,000 Palestinians to flee south – even though no part of Gaza is truly safe.
In recent days, Israeli tanks shelled a U.N. school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, and missiles struck tents sheltering displaced people at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. One of the victims, Shaban al-Dalou, a 19-year-old engineering student, was killed while lying in a hospital bed, still attached to an IV. This is just one example of the indiscriminate violence that has claimed countless lives in Gaza, with activists stating that such horrors will continue as long as the U.S. keeps supplying Israel with weapons.
Wall Street’s Profit from War
As the violence escalates, U.S.-based defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman have seen their stocks soar. These corporations, some of the largest in the world, are deeply connected to U.S. foreign policy. At least 50 members of Congress reportedly hold stocks in defense companies, and in 2023, Lockheed Martin alone spent over $14 million on lobbying efforts.
Lockheed Martin’s CEO even sits on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations, highlighting the close ties between defense corporations and the corridors of power. For these companies, endless war means endless profit, and the ongoing conflict in Gaza has only bolstered their bottom lines.
The activists from Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) who shut down the New York Stock Exchange aimed to expose the role of Wall Street, big banks, and defense contractors in perpetuating the violence in Gaza. They called on the U.S. government to listen to the people and stop sending weapons to Israel, highlighting how U.S. interests in the Middle East often take precedence over human rights.
Calls for Action
The protest underscored a broader message: the U.S. government’s support for Israel is not about Jewish safety, but about maintaining dominance in the Middle East, where Israel serves as a key ally. The Biden administration has approved $18 billion in weapons and military aid to Israel since the violence began, and top officials have supported Israel’s ongoing military operations, including in southern Lebanon. Despite calls for a ceasefire, the U.S. has continued to send advanced missile defense systems and troops to support Israel.
For the protesters, this is a fight to ensure that the violence in Gaza does not become the new normal. “We refuse to allow Israel’s genocide of Palestinians to become the new normal,” a JVP spokesperson said. “We will keep crying out with everything we have to demand that the U.S. government stops arming Israel and to disrupt the institutions and individuals who profit from this horror.”
As the world watches the unfolding violence, the protesters’ message is clear: it’s time for the U.S. to stop fueling the conflict and for Wall Street to stop profiting from war.
