Soldier arrested over stand of conscience against the war in Yemen
Soldier Ahmed Al-Babati stood outside the Ministry of Defence on August 24th wearing a sign saying ‘I refuse to continue my military service until the deal with Saudi comes to an end’. He blew a whistle every ten minutes to signify the death of a child in Yemen as a result of the war as well as saying he did not want to be “part of a corrupt government that continues to arm and support terrorism”. He was arrested by military police.
London CAAT is in full support of Ahmed’s principled stand and we call for no action to be taken against him. Stop the War Coalition have a petition in support of his actions here and you can read more about his protest here.
Ahmed has set up an organisation called Stand for Justice “to make the world a better place” and you can listen to Ahmed’s passionate explanation of his actions here.
Getting ready for next year’s DSEI arms fair
In place of our usual meeting, we will have a roundtable organised by CAAT. It will be an opportunity to discuss the purpose of the Stop the Arms Fair network, reflect on and adapt our approaches to resistance, solidarity, and campaigning, and look ahead to the DSEI arms fair due to take place in September 2021. It will be on our usual meeting date of September 15th but at the slightly earlier time of 6pm. You can register for the roundtable here.
The awesome Quaker Roots are gearing up for DSEI as well and are having a series of workshops throughout September – check out their website for details.