First of all, London CAAT wishes you all a happy new year We had some magnificent successes last year like the amazing week of action against the DSEI arms fair and CAAT’s victory in the court of appeal over arms sales to Saudi Arabia – you can see CAAT’s review of the year here. Thank you for all your support over the year.
The horrendous arms dealer dinner must be opposed
January 22 will see the annual ADS dinner of death return to the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Arms dealers, MPs and military personnel will gather to schmooze, swill champagne, and feast on expensive food. At the same time, 14 million Yemeni people are at risk of famine, starved as a result of the Saudi-led coalition’s bombing of their country. Many of the bombs are made by the arms companies present, and have been sold with the support of the politicians in attendance.
Over 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed since war in Yemen broke out in 2015, including 12,000 civilians in directly targeted attacks. The war in Yemen has caused one of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The UK government is directly involved in causing this suffering; only legal action from CAAT has forced the government to review arms sales to Saudi. Meanwhile, UK-made planes are dropping UK-made bombs in Yemen, and UK arms sold to Turkey have been used in the decimation of the Kurds. UK arms sales fuel death, destruction and violence across the globe.
We will not let those profiting from and enabling war to celebrate unchallenged. JOIN US outside Grosvenor House to protest the ADS dinner with creative action! Bring yourselves, friends, warm clothes, and banners, placards and your voice.
For more information about the demo, see here.
Come here from Action on Armed Violence!
Our January 21st meeting will have a talk from Jenny Dathan from Action on Armed Violence on their work. We meet at 6.30pm in the CAAT office in Finsbury Park – the address is Unit 4, 5-7 Wells Terrace, N4 3JU. Do join us for what is bound to be a fascinating talk.