Additional reporting by Kalina Kornacki

On Monday, Sept. 29, at 12:30 p.m., 30 students with Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) protested against the RTX Corporation at the annual Isenberg career fair at the University of Massachusetts.

“As we gather here, Raytheon, one of the primary weapons manufacturers that arms the Israeli military, is in the campus center recruiting students,” Kivlighan de Montebello, a junior social thought and political economy and sustainable community development major, said.

Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of the RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon technologies), was present at the Isenberg career fair. RTX is an American aerospace and defense company that manufactures aircraft engines, missiles, drones and other electronic warfare systems. These systems are used by both the U.S. and their military allies, including Israel.

De Montebello then told the story of Shaaban al-Dalou, a software engineering student at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, who was killed days before his 20th birthday.

“This is one of the countless stories of the student just like us, whose dreams have been destroyed at the hands of Israel’s genocide,” de Montebello said. “Now there are no universities left in Gaza.”

The protestors then began marching towards the Campus Center and proceeded down the escalators, chanting against the presence of Raytheon, “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes.”

The Executive Director for Environmental Health & Safety and Emergency Management, Jeff Hescock, was present for the entire event and addressed protestors as soon as they entered the Campus Center lower floor. Hescock was also one of many members of the UMass Demonstration Response and Safety (DRST) team present.

Citing the Student Code of Conduct, Hescock said that protesters had a right to protest, but it was against the code to disrupt any university business.

“You can’t have amplified sound in the building,” Hescock said. “Your group is more than welcome to stand over there as part of it, but they can’t be yelling, they can’t be chanting as part of it. That is disruptive to the operations here, students trying to come down to seek employment opportunities.”

Hescock and the rest of the DRST guided the protesters into the corner of the lower level and told them if they did not comply Hescock would be forced to call the UMass Police Department (UMPD).

After a brief push back by protestors, they followed Hescock’s directions, moved back and stopped their chanting. Members of the DRST stood in front of the demonstrators as if they were a barricade.

“They’re infringing on our first amendment right to protest,” de Montebello said. “They’re not even letting us speak to [the] other students.”

De Montebello said they complied because they wanted to inform students about “where [Raytheon’s] weapons are being used and the destruction that they’re causing.”

The demonstrators held up signs and covered the floor with post-it-notes which DRST members immediately removed. Several SJP members handed out “Raytheon resumes” that outlined their history in weapons manufacturing.

De Montebello spoke with Isenberg Senior Associate Dean, William Brown Jr., and discussed that Raytheon’s presence was against the guidelines that the university has for its employers by not following  “the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Principles for Ethical Professional Practice.”

De Montebello argued that their involvement in the “killing hundreds of thousands of civilians,” in Gaza was an unethical practice.

The protesters began chanting again, but quietly, repeating statements like, “Raytheon, your hands are red, 600,000 people dead” and “Free, Free Palestine”.

At 2:15 p.m., they began chanting louder again. Hescock notified the protestors that they had to leave immediately or he would collect their names to file student conduct complaints and he would call UMPD.

The DRST members declined to comment on the demonstration and said the Office of News and Media Relations will release a statement in the future.

The remaining protestors collected their things and left chanting “F*ck Raytheon.” They marched back to the Student Union where they continued chanting.

“[SJP] will continue to show up and fight until no more war profiteers exist and until Palestine is free,” de Montebello said.

The demonstration ended at 2:30 p.m.

Alexandra Hill can be reached at [email protected] and Norah Stewart can be reached at [email protected].