On Friday, June 20, several activist organizations and community members held a rally in front of Centra Industries in Cambridge.
These organizations included Palestinian Youth Movement, Neighbours for Palestine, Kitchener-Waterloo Against Colonism and Captialism (KWACC) and others, all united under the banner of Arms Embargo Now.
“I need you all to be as loud as you can possibly be[…]there is no time like right now to be as loud as you can,” one speaker said.
Centra Industries is a manufacturing company based in Canada that comes under the umbrella of PCC Aerostructures, an American company with locations around the world.
Centra Industries produces the forward and centre fuselage and keel beam. These are integral components Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jets, which Israel uses to bomb Gaza.
Canada has been a part of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program since 1997.
“The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program involves the development, production and sustainment of a stealthy, multi-role fighter aircraft,” the Canada defence website states.
“This program turns every single Canadian, whether they want to or not, from an observer to an active participant in the genocide,” the speaker said.
Speakers also cited the example of Maersk, a shipping company which has faced protests across several ports, especially Morocco.
In a statement, Maersk acknowledged that the manufacturing line for F-35 jets is complicated and they ship parts to Israel where wings for the jet are manufactured.
“The full F-35 supply chain is ultimately managed and controlled by the coalition of partner countries.,” the statement reads.
In another statement from June 2025, Maersk said they continue to review their actions to meet international standards in regards to providing support for Israeli settlements.
Other facilities in Waterloo Region that manufacture various components for the war planes include Heroux Devtek Manufacturing, Honeywell Aerospace, Magellan Aerospace, Raytheon Canada Limited and Senstar Corporation.
Various faith groups were also present at the protest. Lauren Weinberg from Independent Jewish Voices Waterloo Region, made a statement in a press release for the June 20 event.
“IJV-WR condemns Canada’s exploitation of its Jewish citizens to excuse Israel’s war crimes. Our MPs must acknowledge our region’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza. We demand a real arms embargo, and an end to violence and apartheid in Palestine,” she said in a press release.
A speaker from a new group, Christians for Palestine, said the ongoing genocide should be a concern to all Christians and community members.
“Something is fundamentally wrong in our community when it is knowingly fabricating and supplying parts for war machines,” he said.
“Any policy in which human beings are destroyed must be of concern to the Christian church as it is to all human beings,” the Christians for Palestine representative said.
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