London and Liverpool Arms Fairs

 

Dear friends,

To round off September we’ll have a look at everything we’ve achieved together, from hundreds marching through Liverpool to demand the electronic warfare arms fair is cancelled to the various creative ways folks took direct action at DSEI in London and everything in between!

DSEI 2021

We saw people from across the UK show up at the Excel in London over a fortnight of resistance to DSEI (one of the world’s largest arms fairs) this year and take part in the dozens of actions, including the Stop the Arms Fair Day of Action on the opening day.

Catch up on the Action:

Our friends at Phoenix Media Co-Op did a brilliant job writing daily action updates from the week of action prior to DSEI opening to prevent equipment from entering the Excel Centre.

If you have you have missed any of the fantastic videos created during this fortnight of resistance by our friends at Rainbow Collective and others, you can check them out on the Stop the Arms Fair Facebook page here.

As well as at home or public gatherings supporting those at the Excel Centre from across the UK, we also received some powerful messages of solidarity from comrades in Colombia and New Zealand, so make sure you catch those over on our Instagram.

‘Bomb Sale’ and Portraits of Resistance:

As always, Art the Arms Fair’s resistance was spectacular and this year they partnered with Art Represent to hold the ‘Bomb Sale’ art exhibition in London for the week of DSEI. Read more about Art the Arms Fair and view some of the featured art here.

Our Portraits of Resistance to mark CAAT and Mwatana’s Nobel Peace Prize nomination were also debuted at the ‘Bomb Sale’ exhibition. You can watch the accompanying short film featuring a piece from Yemeni-Scouser poet Amina Atiq on our Youtube. The Portraits of Resistance celebrate CAAT’s many campaigners, supporters, partners, and our landmark ongoing legal case challenging arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

You can still purchase any of the Portraits of Resistance via Art Represents here.

Education vs DSEI

Students and academics held a strong presence across DSEI-resistance this year and our Universities Coordinator explores how demilitarising education should be at the heart of anti-arms fair campaigning in this blog, as well as looking at the 2021 Conference at the Gates.

The first digital Conference at the Gates was a huge success with its focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and healthcare education and how they are impacted by militarism and securitisation brought people involved in education together from across the UK. Keep an eye on our Youtube for the videos in the coming weeks!

Thank you!

However you supported work against DSEI, whether that was by taking part in any of the actions, helping people get there by providing transport, food, accommodation, childcare or petcare, provided police station support or sending good wishes and solidarity – thank you for your continuing support and resistance!

Your donations over the past year have supported the ongoing STAFs Fund, which enabled a lot of young activists to travel to London and take part in many of the various creative actions that took place in September. You can check out some of those DSEI actions on our Twitter. 

Liverpool vs the Arms Fair:

As you may have seen, the anti-arms fair action wasn’t contained to London through September; Liverpudlians gathered in their hundred to stop the AOC Europe electronic arms fair from taking place in their city this month. Join their resistance, write to the venue’s directors via this link and demand they immediately revoke permission for the arms fair.

If you can safely travel to Liverpool, why not join the rally on 12th October? You can find the most up-to-date details on the Liverpool Against the Arms Fair Twitter page.

What’s Coming Up?

October brings a lot of opportunities to get involved at CAAT; why not see if you have a local group near you or perhaps start one in your local area?

There will be resistance to both the Liverpool AOC Europe arms fair and the DPRTE arms fair in Farnborough, as well as lots of other events taking place this month, you can always keep up to date on our website.

We would not be able to continue our work if not for every donation by supporters like you, so if you are able, please consider donating to CAAT so we can continue to fund amazing actions like those seen in Liverpool and London. If that is not possible, consider forwarding this email to a friend and share our work as widely as possible.

Every minute spent campaigning, every pound donated, and every social media share will support our work and help bring about an end to the arms trade.

Thank you for your support.

 

Emma Cockburn
Campaign Against Arms Trade