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DISARM DSEi 2009 - 8th September 2009 - City of London

Disarm DSEi | 26.06.2009 23:54 | Animal Liberation | Anti-militarism | Climate Chaos

DESTROY THE BANKS!
DESTROY THE INVESTORS!
DESTROY THE ARMS TRADE!

Defenc e Systems Equipment International (DSEi) – the world’s largest arms fair – is due to take place in East London between 8 and 11 September 2009. At DSEi 2007, there were 1352 exhibitors from 40 different countries with a total of 26,5000 visitors.

Oxfam have called the arms trade “out of control” and state that “as well as prolonging and intensifying conflicts, the poorly regulated arms trade causes huge levels of waste, corruption and debt. The recent devastation in Gaza was aided by UK arms sales of over £27 million in the first 9 months of 2008.

According to UNICEF, two million children were killed between 1986 and 1996 as a result of armed conflict. A further six million were also injured or permanently disabled and countless others were forced to witness or take part in violence.

Gracca Machel, the author of the report, also recently stated that “wars have always victimised children and other non-combatants, but modern wars are exploiting, maiming and killing children more callously and more systematically than ever.”

Politicians pay lip service to controlling the arms trade by introducing piecemeal legislation. Meanwhile, business is booming. The UK company, Chemring, saw a 500% rise in profit in the four year period following the Iraq invasion, and instances such as ex MP Michael Portillo serving on the board of BAE Systems show self interest and profit triumphing over any concern for ethics or morality.

The arms trade and the military industrial complex it supports – along with many other struggles – should not be seen as a single issue campaign. For example:


· The majority of asylum seekers have fled because of the effects of war and the arms trade. However, in locking these people up, and labelling them as scroungers, the government conveniently ignores the huge profits made by the UK companies who made the weapons which destroyed their homelands.
· The military are climate criminals responsible for 25% of air pollution. In 2006, according to Scientists for Global Responsibility, the UK military as a whole was responsible for emitting 5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. Furthermore, a report from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution into aircraft emissions in 2002 stated that “the performance requirements of military aircraft suggest that compared to civil aircraft, they are likely to produce proportionately more emissions”.
· Animal testing plays a major role in military research. In 2006, there were more than 21,000 animals, including monkeys, ferrets and pigs being subjected to experimentation at Porton Down. This was a 76% increase from 2000. Tests include applying fatal doses of a nerve agent to an animal’s skin, and giving sarin and anthrax to primates.

However, the bankers, the investors, are the glue which bind all these issues together. High street banks invest billions in the arms trade, as well as supporting the corporations who profit from environmental destruction, attacks on migrants and animal torture. Given these banks invest in global death, destruction and displacement, their reluctance to help the average worker facing redundancy and repossession is unsurprising.

The banks are only interested in profit. They invest willingly in the international arms trade, caring little about the consequences either for the victims of war, or UK workers. Heavy investment in 'high risk' arms sales to Africa, Asia and the Middle East is just another gamble with our own economy, all for the sake of hefty bonuses and over inflated pensions.

DISARM DSEi are calling for people to join together to unstick these institutions, expose the devastation they cause, and hold them to account for their actions.

Come to The City with love and rage; music and militancy; desire and determination – together we can show we will no longer tolerate the death and destruction they cause.

DESTROY THE BANKS!
DESTROY THE ARMS TRADE!
DESTROY DSEi!

www.dsei.org

Disarm DSEi
- e-mail: disarm@dsei.org
- Homepage: http://www.dsei.org

Comments

Hide the following 10 comments

Offical DSEi site on Facebook

27.06.2009 00:05

Make your feelings about DSEi known on their public forum

 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=63066767039#/group.php?gid=64078525618

DISARM DSEi
mail e-mail: disarm@dsei.org
- Homepage: http://www.dsei.org


MORON

27.06.2009 10:49

What the kin has this got to do with AR ?

I wish people would not post after they have been at the wacky baccy !

One


Why the city?

27.06.2009 11:12

Well yes, the Banks and investors are financing most of the forms of nastiness that
take place in this world. However, as in past years the DSEI arms fair will be taking
place at the Excel center in Docklands and thats where protests against it should be
taking place, not the city.

By the same logic, we should be moving campaigning against EDO/ITT, Raytheon,
Aldermaston, Faslane etc to the city, because to be sure, money financing them
passes through there.

This just sounds like a misguided attempt to jump on the bash the bankers bandwagon.
If it looked as though it would be more effective at highlighting the arms fair, then great,
but it wont, will it? Just another pointless pen in the cities bustle.

Campaigner


AR relevancy

27.06.2009 13:03

> What the kin has this got to do with AR ?

Re-read the article, will you? The bit about military animal testing.

And stop flinging insults around.

h


why the city

27.06.2009 13:21

No-one is suggesting any campaigns should move to The City. However, the arms fair is not held very far away from The City, and we've been calling mass demos at ExCeL for the last eight years, and if we'd called for a similar event, there would be posters criticising us, and saying we're just going back to ExCeL and it'll just be another excuse for police pens etc.

The police only pen us because we let them. We are quite capable of having a successful demonstration in The City if we work together and challenge this policing.

Moving the main protest to The City is a way of challenging the backers of the arms trade, and drawing attention to them. If there are people here who don't think it's appropriate, then call your own demo against DSEi, in anyway you feel is relevant - the more the merrier.

DISARM DSEi
mail e-mail: disarm@dsei.org
- Homepage: http://www.dsei.org


to the fuckwit trolls

27.06.2009 13:47

listen fuckwits

1./ this is not a cash in on any fucking banker stuff.

2./ As we have said repeatedly, the banks, shares and stockmarkets are intrinsically linked with the arms trade financing it and its core aims i.e robbing the global south of all minerals ( much of which is used to build bombs, mr fucking metals exchange wanker ) and using it as a toxic dumping ground, and a dumping ground for small arms for more sdhareholder and banker profits. The UK econbomy is vampiric, mainly being a service indiustry surrounding a financial industry based on war and theft. What the fuck is there not to understand you fucking cunts.

3./ Destroy the sq mile, mayfair and canary wharf abnd you will go a long way to stopping the rape of asia, africa and latin america:- the other piece of the jigsaw is permaculture though I don't suppose you understand about soil erosion or anything other than fucking consumerism.



destroyraytheon


Raytheon

27.06.2009 17:30

So Mr Destroyraytheon, where did the most effective actions against Raytheon
take place? Was it outside the Bank of England? Was it at the BOS? or was it
at, inside and on the roof of, the Raytheon offices in Bristol and Ireland?

Fuckwit troll


time for a bit of solidarity...

28.06.2009 15:13

..rather than the inevitable 'why the hell did you do this..' reaction.

Experiences at the Excel centre in recent years have shown a decline in the effectiveness such demos can have there. The police are well practiced and rehearsed in controlling anti-arms fair activity around the site, and we haven't been able to effectively answer that.

Personally, I'm unhappy not to get the chance to demonstrate at EXCEL. BUT, I have to accept the rationale that says, on this occasion, we can be a lot more effective targetting the investors that make the arms trade happen. Why should those who hide behind desks get off scott free anyway? In many ways they are more responsible than the sales reps that go to the fair.

Jumping on the bandwagon of bankers? Well sort of, in that people seem ready (at last!) to accept that what happens in the money supply has real life consequences. The huge investment in, and profit from, the arms trade is fuelling a massive expansion in military technology across the world.

The call is also intended to ask for a little co-operation from campaigns that have definite links. Such as that between war and climate change, war and forced migration, war and the excesses of rampant don't-give-a-damn-as-long-as-it-pays capitalism. And yes, animal rights too - what do you think the miltary test their biological and chemical weapons on?

By working together we can have a much greater impact than working apart. In co-operation and solidarity we really can stop the city and hold the investors to account. And then, when we've done that, we may even have a bit of energy left to visit Excel...

mad'n'bad


Solidarity, yes please.

28.06.2009 20:01

You say "The police are well practiced and rehearsed in controlling anti-arms fair activity around the site", referring to the Excel center. Can not the same be said about policing
in the city? After all they've had enough practice recently.

As for solidarity, despite this call out from Disarm-dsei, there will be people going to
confront the scumbag arms dealers. Diverting people to the city will mean that those
at DSEI, will be starved of numbers and extra vulnerable.

sane&good


DSEi runs for four days

28.06.2009 21:54

This action has been called for one of those days. This means, if people are worried about numbers in calling something on the first day, that there are lots of opportunities for people to confront the dealers on all the other days in anyway they want. Furthermore, there will be the customary Thursday night protest at their banquet, which is always a good chance to challenge them directly.

If you want to organise something else, we are happy to publicise it on our website, and show solidarity. It would be nice if those dissenters could do the same for us.

DISARM DSEi
mail e-mail: disarm@dsei.org
- Homepage: http://www.dsei.org


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