Activists from Oxford have today occupied the head office of Spearhead, the company organizing Europe's largest arms fair, Defence Systems Equipment International (DSEi).
---BEGINS---
For immediate release 2003-08-21
Around 15 people arrived at Apex Tower, in New Malden High Street, at 9 o'Clock this morning. Some protesters hung a banner from the front of the building, and did a 'die-in'. 3 people managed to get inside the building where they handed out leaflets asking staff to consciensiously object to spearheads role in organizing DSEi.
Leaflets were handed out to passers by, and office staff, explaining the role of Spearhead in organizing DSEi, and asking staff to consider conscientiously objecting to the event.
One of the protesters, Sally Mander said, "We believe Spearhead's involvement in the promotion of armed conflict is a crime against peace. The arms trade fuels war and terrorism. We could feed the world 14 times over on the amount spent on weapons. This arms fair is a hideous market place of weapons of mass destruction and we're not prepared to stay at home and ignore the trade in death that's going on right under our noses."
---ENDS---
---NOTES FOR EDITORS---
At the first DSEi in 1999 the Pakistan Ordnance Factory and a Romanian arms firm were both prepared to supply land mines, anned under international law, to undercover journalists. The exhibition has dealers from organisations including BAe who sold hawk jets to the Indonesian government who then used them to commit genocide in East Timor, and Defence Science and Technology Laboratories (dstl) which includes Porton Down - manufacturers and researchers of Chemical and Biological Weapons.
At the last DSEi in September 2001 arms dealers from countries well known for abuses of human rights like Saudi Arabia, Israel, Algeria, Turkey, Colombia, China and Nigeria were invited, and it is thought that they will again be present.
According to the UN Human Development Report, world governments spend £719 billion a year on the arms trade, 14 times more than is needed to eradicate absolute poverty from the world.
There is an ongoing campaign against the DSEi event, see www.destroydsei.org, www.dsei.org
---CONTACT---
07792 840 256
babylons_burning@linuxmail.org
#####
For immediate release 2003-08-21
Around 15 people arrived at Apex Tower, in New Malden High Street, at 9 o'Clock this morning. Some protesters hung a banner from the front of the building, and did a 'die-in'. 3 people managed to get inside the building where they handed out leaflets asking staff to consciensiously object to spearheads role in organizing DSEi.
Leaflets were handed out to passers by, and office staff, explaining the role of Spearhead in organizing DSEi, and asking staff to consider conscientiously objecting to the event.
One of the protesters, Sally Mander said, "We believe Spearhead's involvement in the promotion of armed conflict is a crime against peace. The arms trade fuels war and terrorism. We could feed the world 14 times over on the amount spent on weapons. This arms fair is a hideous market place of weapons of mass destruction and we're not prepared to stay at home and ignore the trade in death that's going on right under our noses."
---ENDS---
---NOTES FOR EDITORS---
At the first DSEi in 1999 the Pakistan Ordnance Factory and a Romanian arms firm were both prepared to supply land mines, anned under international law, to undercover journalists. The exhibition has dealers from organisations including BAe who sold hawk jets to the Indonesian government who then used them to commit genocide in East Timor, and Defence Science and Technology Laboratories (dstl) which includes Porton Down - manufacturers and researchers of Chemical and Biological Weapons.
At the last DSEi in September 2001 arms dealers from countries well known for abuses of human rights like Saudi Arabia, Israel, Algeria, Turkey, Colombia, China and Nigeria were invited, and it is thought that they will again be present.
According to the UN Human Development Report, world governments spend £719 billion a year on the arms trade, 14 times more than is needed to eradicate absolute poverty from the world.
There is an ongoing campaign against the DSEi event, see www.destroydsei.org, www.dsei.org
---CONTACT---
07792 840 256
babylons_burning@linuxmail.org #####
Comments
Hide the following 16 comments
Great reportage
21.08.2003 08:23
richarddirecttv
An Update
21.08.2003 08:55
ciderpunx
Mental
21.08.2003 09:44
All you are doing is creating free advertising.
Bob
Respect!
21.08.2003 09:53
(Cheers for demonstrating your irrelevance to world issues, Bob!)
Col Buendia
Homepage:
http://us.geocities.com/bozavine/can/
What happens the UK never had weapons companies
21.08.2003 10:10
I bet the protestors outside of Apex would be the first ones complaining?
Hey just my 2c
Good luck to them, they believe in a cause and thats good, I just think that if they have so much free time, it would be better spent working in a soup kitchen giving food to the poor, or working in Angola clearing mines?
Remember people are the ones using the weapons?
...
Bob
Well done
21.08.2003 10:36
Keep us in touch with police charges, they're coming out with some corkers lately. It'll be good to know how you you all are later.
B
PS ignore Bob, the art of a good troll is to provide an arguement that doesn't just annoy, but leads to an arguement, which they can seruptitiously leave....
bozavine
e-mail:
bozavine@yahoo.co.uk
Inspiring action!
21.08.2003 11:11
A LOT more action like this, of course...But that's what the big anti-DSEI week of action is important.
Let's not concentrate in one place...let's be everywhere.
anarchist
bob is a pigscum...
21.08.2003 12:49
That is the only explanation for some one who displays such idiotic logic.
ram
CONGRATULATIONS & answer to Bob
21.08.2003 12:52
In answer to Bob: Who sold and continues to sell weapons to unstable countries and dictatorships? If we did not have an arms industry or even had a more responsible arms industry and an ethical foreign policy terrorism and oppression by dictators would be reduced. Ethics before profit would be nice.The bright spark that decides to attack the UK is likely to be using wweapons we or the US sold them.
The arms trade feeds people and Bob likes it. It also contributes and gives the ability of regemes to violate human rights and create genocide. So he is trying to justify this by saying it is giving jobs to 'our'people. What crap. Hit men get good money and can support their families. Should we support genocide because it gives us a better standard of living?
Bob uses a lot of ifs. It is not whether America did nothing after Sept 11th but what action it took. Lookig at the causes of terrorism may have been more constructive rather than fueling more terrorism.
Surely the point is that the arms industry ensures that countries have weapons? The rogue state with an undemocratically elected leader and the greatest threat to the world is America.
People doing this action do not have lots of free time to use up. They are giving up money and time to do what they believe is right. They are willing to stand up and make sacrifices for their principles. However, if Bob works in a soup kitchen then respect to him. I have a funny feeling he doesn't. Many of these people are working for NGOs for little money trying to make a difference as well as doing actions like this.
He asks us to remember that it is people using the weapons. Does this mean that those selling weapons knowing how they will probably be used have no responsibility?
Paul
It just goes to show................
21.08.2003 12:57
and that we a s humans
as loving beings of light and yet more love
are just beginning to
tap into our enormous potential
to flood this suffering planet
with loads and loads of love
and yet more of it.....
It is the absolute ingenuity
inspired by events like these
that will simply not "vibrationally"
allow the destructive souls
that we have allowed though
some of our collectively programmed fear and obedience
to be born again.....
Now is this great time when together
and united we stand
in ridding our collective human soul
of the ugly mass unconcioussness of war
and the kind of FEAR-BASED-REALITY
that has been propogated and
needlessly garnished by the Blairs,powells,and bussh'ss
all we need continue to do as love
is be love and then collectively
thier fear based reality will just simply dissapate
or vanish....
The kind of arguments of "what if the uk was attacked" by bob
are still primarily based in fear
and show a deep unintelligence
That we actually do not need a struggle
we just need love
and lots of it
and loads of it..........
Yippppeeee
Bollockschops
No war but the class war.
21.08.2003 14:06
Rockwell
Protesters ALL released without charge !!!
21.08.2003 14:06
Don't get sucked in by trolls like bob ;-)
ciderpunx
Bob the Troll
21.08.2003 14:12
Trolls just jealous coz they can't get laid.
Boohoo lonely sad troll lose again.
acab
I didn't think arming Syria was defence Bob!
21.08.2003 14:22
pauliolioni
Homepage:
http://www.dsei.org
the guardian on arms
21.08.2003 19:19
Special report: the arms trade
Arms trade: archived articles
Ethical arms policy?
-
General comment on the action
24.08.2003 15:55
Only one small problem.
All of the "staff" in question are involved in the industry, a very small handful will work for Spearhead, the majority will work for the main tenant of the building who have a slight vested interest in DSEi taking place and who will be well aware of the implications of what they do.
Watcher