Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Anti-capitalists to target arms fair

Jo Bookchin | 05.09.2001 18:12

Thousands of anti-capitalist protestors are preparing to converge on London Docklands next Tuesday to disrupt Europe’s largest arms fair, the Defence Systems and Equipment international (DSEi). A ‘Fiesta for Life Against Death’ has been called by Disarm DSEi, with active support from London Reclaim the Streets and the Wombles.

PRESS RELEASE

Disarm DSEi office: 020 7281 4621
www.disarm-trade.org
www.reclaimthestreets.net
www.wombleaction.mrnice.net

Anti-capitalists to target arms fair


Thousands of anti-capitalist protestors are preparing to converge on London Docklands next Tuesday to disrupt Europe’s largest arms fair, the Defence Systems and Equipment international (DSEi). A ‘Fiesta for Life Against Death’ has been called by Disarm DSEi, with active support from London Reclaim the Streets and the Wombles.

The Fiesta will be a bold celebration of humanity and creativity in the face of a trade that sees 2000 children killed, maimed or psychologically affected by its product every day. The seriously playful mass action in the spirit of the June 18 1999 and Mayday protests will explode in a shower of pink and silver on the streets of East London. All across the country banners, costumes and puppets are in readiness and a 'critical mass' of cyclists are standing by to mobilise against the DSEi arms fair.

The hypocrisy of a government that describes protestors as violent and incoherent yet actively promotes arms sales to countries with appalling human rights records will be exposed in a joyous carnival of music and colour on the 11th. It is intended as a move away from protesting against global economic institutions, as part of a growing recognition of the wider destructive nature of capitalism.

Jo Bookchin from Disarm DSEi said:
“We are calling for people to gather together to prevent the serious breach of the peace that will be committed at DSEi. It is the trade in weapons that allows exploitation and murder to continue around the world, like the UK's support of a corrupt military to protect western oil interests in Colombia. On the 11th we are setting our sights on the arms trade, which peddles the commodity that enforces all other commodities.”

Photographs of actions in the run-up to the Fiesta will be available by Friday on www.uk.indymedia.org or by phoning the office number.

Notes to Editors
1. Disarm DSEi is a coalition of activists from direct action and anti-capitalist groups.

2 DSEi is being held at the newly built Excel exhibition centre on Royal Victoria Dock, E16. It runs from September 11-14. The Fiesta for Life Against Death will assemble at Tidal Basin Rd E16 at 12 noon on the 11th.

3. The 'critical mass' bike ride meets at 10am by Waterloo Bridge on September 11th. Critical mass is a gathering of cyclists, rollerbladers, skateboarders (and anyone else on wheels) that takes back the road from motorised vehicles.

4. According to the UN Human Development Report, in 1999 the world’s governments spent an estimated $719 billion of our money to run their military machines of which more than two-thirds ($520 billion) was spent by Europe and North America alone. This is 14 times more than is needed to eradicate the very worst ‘absolute’ poverty from the world.

5. The arms industry employs 0.3% of the UK’s workforce. There is a £12,500 a year government subsidy for each of these 90,000 jobs.

6. Other demonstrations are being organised on the 11th and for the remainder of the fair by Campaign against Arms Trade and other activists.

Further information can be found at www.disarm-trade.org
www.caat.org.uk
www.reclaimthestreets.net
www.wombleaction.mrnice.net

Disarm DSEi office: 020 7281 4621

Jo Bookchin
- e-mail: disarm@hushmail.com
- Homepage: www.disarm-trade.org

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech