As the September 4th start date of DSEI, the world’s biggest arms fair, edges closer, early actions to draw attention to protests against the annual gathering of the merchants of death have begun to filter in.
Posters have been put up around London by activists using the increasingly popular method of hijacked bus hoardings this week, and have been charting some of their efforts via the Protest Stencil handle on Twitter. Some of the sites targeted include Broadway Market in Hackney, Canning Town and Upton Park in Newham — and particularly cheekily, right outside the ExCeL centre on Royal Victoria Dock, where the big bombs bash is to be held.
Stop The Arms Fair is updating regularly on social media in advance of the event, and has been putting up useful tips such as on knowing your rights on its website. A full schedule of events has also been published of what’s going on during the week (see below).
| September 4th-10th All day |
Occupy the Arms Fair! Stop DSEI campt ExCeL east entrance, London |
| Monday September 4th All day |
Stop Arming Israel! Stop The Arms Fair! ExCeL east entrance, London |
| Tuesday September 5th 9am-6pm |
No Faith in War ExCeL east entrance, London |
| Wednesday September 6th All day |
No to Nuclear Weapons: No to the Arms Fair ExCeL Centre, London |
| 10am-6pm | Arms to Renewables ExCeL east entrance, London |
| Thursday September 7th All day |
Free Movement for People, not Weapons! ExCeL east entrance, London |
| Friday September 8th 9.30am-5.30pm |
Conference at the Gates: Academics Against the Arms Fair ExCeL Centre, London |
| 10am-2pm | Super-Villains Picket the Arms Fair ExCeL Centre, London |
| Saturday September 9th 10am-6pm |
Art the Arms Fair at the Big Day of Action ExCeL east entrance, London |
| 10am-6pm | Big Day of Action East Entrance, Victoria Dock Road |
Warton Airbase Two heading to court
On a linked note, anti-war activists Sam Walton and Reverend Daniel Woodhouse are set to head to court on October 4th for their action trying to take down a warplane which was bound for use in Saudi Arabia, currently in the midst of a horrifying imperial war of attrition in Yemen.
They are currently crowdfunding to try and get the best outcome for their trial, where they will be accused of criminal damage for their actions in breaking onto BAE System’s Warton Airbase to try and disarm a Typhoon aircraft. They will argue their actions were to prevent a greater crime against humanity, but are currently relying on entirely pro-bono work which has hampered their legal team’s efforts.
Walton and Woodhouse said:
We are scheduled for a four-day trial. But it will not be us on trial. BAE Systems and our government’s complicity in war crimes in Yemen will be under the microscope and in the news. They desperately want this to go away, so we are going to make as much noise as possible.
