About a hundred protestors with BDS Pittsburgh and other pro-Palestinian collectives marched from the William S. Moorhead Federal Building to the steps of the headquarters of Howmet Aerospace to protest the company’s defense manufacturing contract with Lockheed Martin.
BDS — or Boycott, Divest, Sanction — is an international Palestinian advocacy group that has sponsored targeted boycotts against Israel since 2005.
Howmet, according to public shareholder reports, produces titanium parts used within the production of F35 fighter jets, which protestors say the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) uses to bomb civilians in Gaza.
As of reporting, at least 67,173 Palestinians have been killed by the IDF, a third of them children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Howmet did not respond to The Globe’s request for comment.
A similar march to Howmet’s headquarters took place last year protesting the same contract, which was revealed to the public after a lawsuit between the two manufacturers, according to Pittsburgh City Paper in December 2024.
But this year’s was different, as it followed a U.S-mediated ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas many hope will bring an end to the fighting and genocide in Gaza.
The 20-point peace plan, agreed upon by both parties, directs the release of all 48 dead and living Israeli hostages by Hamas and about 1,950 Palestinian hostages by Israel. It also directs the IDF to pull back from their current offensive line to occupy about half of the Gaza Strip.
30 Palestinians have been killed in the Strip since the signing of the ceasefire, according to CNN.
It’s largely because of those continuing casualties — and weapons deals — that activists at the march said they were not convinced by the ceasefire effort.
“Israel still has more F35s on order from Lockheed [Martin] as we speak,” Matt Fiorillo, a spokesperson for BDS Pittsburgh, said. “And what we’ve seen from these planes since they’ve been put into operation is that they’re used to drop bombs on helpless vilians who have nowhere else to go.
“So they’re not tools of defense, they’re tools of mass murder. And there are more of them on the way, which means that we need to be wary.”
Aside from the ceasefire agreement, the march also took place under a different presidential administration from last year.
President Donald Trump has made several efforts to target left-leaning activists, like the groups protesting Palestine, with internal security directives targeting “anti-American” speech, according to independent U.S. journalist Ken Klippenstein.
This, coupled with ongoing efforts by far-right influencers to doxx those on the left, did not seem to be a concern of Fiorillo’s.
“I don’t think there’s any reason why anyone would ever designate me a terrorist,” Fiorillo said.
But some, like Brynn D. of Jewish Voices for Peace, were steadfast in their fears of persecution.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified,” D., who gave only the last initial of her surname, told a crowd of demonstrators outside of Howmet’s headquarters.
“Challenging state power is scary as hell, but we have the responsibility to speak out as human beings who have been privileged enough to have our eyes open to the long and steadfast struggles of Palestinians,” D said.
