Author: Ian Pocock

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June update – Join us on a fascinating, informative tour of London arms companies

Learn about the destructive companies in our midst

With the DSEI arms fair coming up in September, we thought it would be a good time to revitalise our walking tours of arms companies in London. This will be an interesting, informative two hour walk where you can learn more about the arms companies that exist in London and the death and destruction they are responsible for. This will be a fascinating way to learn about some of the companies that will be exhibiting at DSEI and hopefully inspire you to take action against them and/or get involved in the resistance to DSEI (see below for more details on that).

We will be visiting some of the world’s largest and most destructive arms companies, highlighting their evil deeds, devastating impact on innocent civilians globally, exposing their corruption and close ties with governments and showing how some of these companies are complicit in the Yemeni war and resultant humanitarian crisis. Join us on July 6th at 2pm – we’re meeting outside the Victoria Palace theatre. Please sign up for your free place here and you can also see details on the Facebook event.

Get involved with the Stop DSEI campaign

Come to the next Stop the Arms Fair meeting on June 15th. This meeting will pin down plans to tackle the arms fair that is looming on the horizon in September and get more people involved. There are various plans already regarding themed days of action in the run up to the fair, e.g. Stop Arming Israel and Climate Justice, so you can focus on one area if you want. The meeting is at 12.30pm at St Hilda’s East Community Centre and lunch will be provided. See here for more details.

Weak justifications from the BAE Chair at their AGM

Last month, we attended the BAE AGM at their HQ in Farnborough. It was a disturbing spectacle where the Chair Roger Carr claimed they were an ethical business only interested in peace. Among some other ludicrous claims and defences of their arms sales, he said his firm’s role was to “provide defence equipment that ultimately encourages peace”, that they are helping peacekeeping rather than encouraging warfare and that they are in pursuit of peace and prosperity for all. He also praised their ethics and belief in doing the right thing and that they are proud because they think it is one of the world’s great companies doing amazing things. His claim that “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a stabiliser in a very uncertain world” was met with derision. And as for the sign boasting that they are improving children protection, there are simply no words to describe the hypocrisy of this.

CAAT supporters again dominated the Q&A session, mostly focussing on the Yemeni war. Questions were asked on behalf of the Yemeni journalist Ahmad Algohbary about whether they would stop selling arms to Saudi Arabia to save the Yemeni people or if they would continue to build their economy on the killing of innocents. He was also challenged by a British-Yemeni lawyer, saying BAE blindly sell bombs to the Saudis and fail to do any due diligence. All in all, Roger was given an uncomfortable AGM/morning (as he is at every AGM) and was left in no doubt about the strength of feeling against his company’s work. You can read the Morning Star’s report on the AGM here.

Next London CAAT meeting, June 18th

Join us at our next meeting on Tuesday June 18th at 6.30pm in the CAAT office in Finsbury Park and the address is Unit 4, 5-7 Wells Terrace, N4 3JU. As always, we will be making plans to tackle the elements of the arms trade that exist in our city. All welcome so come get involved!

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May update – Oppose the repression of Bahraini citizens

Tell the Bahraini King he is not welcome here, May 11th

The Bahraini King is once again attending the Royal Windsor Horse Show and once again the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) will be protesting against his presence. The King and the Bahraini regime have a horrific human rights record and the UK is complicit in this through it’s arms sales to the regime. Since the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, the UK has sold £103m of arms to the Bahraini military. Family members of the Director of BIRD have been have been targeted because of protests against the King’s visits.

Please join BIRD this Saturday to protest against the Show’s sponsorship by Bahrain’s dictatorship. They will be departing for the show at 10am from Paddington Station. If you are able to attend, please send an email to [email protected]. If you are making your own way there, the Royal Windsor Horse Show is taking place in the grounds of Windsor Castle. Information on how to reach the event can be found here.

CAMPAIGN WIN!! – BAE Systems dropped as sponsor of the Festival of Making

In a wonderfully fast victory for our movement, it took two days for the Festival of Making to drop BAE as their sponsor. Art Not Arms again the led the way, targeting the festival on Twitter to point out the massive harm BAE’s business causes globally and launching a petition. The festival capitulated quickly and announced that the Festival was no longer receiving support from BAE. After getting BAE dropped as the sponsor of the Great Exhibition of the North, we are closing down the number of spaces where BAE can whitewash the true nature of their business. Unfortunately, they are still sponsors of Pride in Surrey and Pride Blackpool – you can sign the petitions about those sponsorship deals here and here.

Our walking tour of arms companies

We are still finalizing our plans for our walking tour around some of the arms companies that will be exhibiting at the DSEI arms fair but we have now chosen July 6th as the date for it. It will be an interesting and informative walk around some of the more heinous companies we have in our midst and will hopefully fire you up to take action at DSEI. We will send final details in next month’s bulletin.

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April update – the government are being taken to court over arms sales to Saudi Arabia

Legal challenge to Saudi arms sales

On April 9-11th, CAAT will be bringing an appeal to court regarding the legality of the government’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia. A High Court ruling in July 2017 rejected CAAT’s case that the government’s issuing of export licences to Saudi Arabia for military equipment contravened the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. You can read more about the case here. As the war on Yemen enters it’s fifth year, we need to keep the pressure. Please sign and share the petition to stop the arms sales here.

In the week that Jeremy Hunt ludicrously said that ending the UK’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the UAE would be “morally bankrupt”, it is more important than ever we to continue to tell the government to stop these heinous arms sales. It was great to see the five opposition parties call on the Foreign Secretary to Stop Arming Saudi. The UK’s complicity in the devastation wreaked on Yemen is shocking and immoral and it must be challenged every step of the way.

A walking tour of arms companies

We have been discussing what action we can take in the run up to the DSEI arms fair and we will be doing a walking tour around some of the arms companies in our city. We will do a whistle-stop tour of six arms companies, including old ‘favourites’ such as BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin. It will be a fun way of highlighting the presence of these companies in our city and linking them to DSEI. We are planning to do it on May 25th so keep an eye out for future announcements

Next London CAAT meeting, April 16th

At our next meeting, we will continue to plan our walking tour and look at other ways to resist DSEI. Do join us! We will be meeting on Tuesday April 16th at 6.30pm in the CAAT office in Finsbury Park and the address is Unit 4, 5-7 Wells Terrace, N4 3JU.

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March update – It Starts Here – join the resistance to the DSEI arms fair

It Starts Here conference, March 9-10th

Every two years, the world’s largest arms fair rolls into East London. Every two years, we resist this horrendous event with passionate and inventive protests. Come along on March 9-10th to build on the amazing resistance to the last DSEI. See here for a report of the brilliant ways people obstructed the fair in 2017.

DSEI brings together arms companies with military delegations from countries, including those from human rights abusing regimes and countries involved in conflict. In 2017, nine authoritarian regimes were invited to attend (Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Vietnam) and six were identified by our own government as ‘human rights priority countries’ (Bahrain, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia). You can read more about DSEI here.

On these days, we will skillshare and learn, link up and discuss. There will be workshops, panels and space to meet people and build the strength of the resistance. It will be a warm and friendly place where you can meet/join migrant solidarity groups, anti-nuclear crews, LGBTQIA+ folk and Palestine solidarity activists among others and work on how best to resist DSEI.

You can get your ticket here and there are more details on the Facebook event, including the programme. With a mass movement to oppose DSEI, we can shut it down.

Yemeni crisis meeting, March 12th

Join North London Stop the War for a free talk on British arms and Saudi Arabia. With the UK supplying £4.7bn of weapons to the Saudi regime, they are complicit in the devastation wreaked on Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition. The UN estimates 14 million people in Yemen are on the brink of starvation due to the war. You can get tickets here.

Next London CAAT meeting, March 19th

We had a fantastic meeting last month where we had a deep dive into DSEI and what we as London CAAT might do to resist it. We came up with some great ideas so at our next meeting we will try to pin down some concrete plans. Do join us! We will be meeting on Tuesday March 19th at 6.30pm in the CAAT office in Finsbury Park and the address is Unit 4, 5-7 Wells Terrace, N4 3JU.

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February update – Stand in solidarity with Bahraini protesters



Day of Rage 8th anniversary protest, February 14th

February 14th will be 8 years since the Day of Rage in Bahrain began the movement for democacy and social justice. With assistance from the Saudi Arabian military, the Bahraini regime brutally crushed the movement.

London CAAT will join the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) from 2pm outside the Bahrain Embassy. We will stand steadfast beside our friends from BIRD and in solidarity with all those imprisoned by the regime for simply expressing their desire for a just and democratic society.

Through over £100 million worth of arms licensed to the Bahraini regime, the UK government is complicit in the oppressive behaviour of the regime, which has involved targeting activists and torturing critics. The regime has resorted to stripping citizenship from Bahraini citizens and even threatened the families of pro-democracy campaigners.

Join us outside the Bahrain Embassy, 30 Belgrave Square, Knightsbridge, SW1X 8QB from 2pm on the 14th. See and share the Facebook event here.

Arms dealers not allowed to dine in peace

On January 23rd, arms dealers gathered for the annual Aerospace, Defence and Security organisation dinner. They received a ‘warm welcome’ from protesters as they gathered to celebrate their ‘achievements’ and were not allowed to dine in peace. Protesters gathered outside the hotel to peacefully challenge them and remind them of the great harm their trade causes, particularly in countries such as Yemen.

Protesters were manhandled by police and security guards as they tried to block entrance to the dinner and ask attendees whether their conscience allowed them to recognise the harm their trade is responsible for. They were also confronted with chants of ‘Blood on your Hands’ and banners saying ‘arms dealers dine while Yemen starves’. We also played a video from the Yemeni journalist Ahmad Algohbary outlining the death and destruction wreaked on his country by weapons supplied by the UK government and thanking protesters for standing with the Yemeni people. Some protesters even managed to sneak inside the hotel and leave messages asking attendees to Stop Arming Saudi Arabia.

The former Home Secretary Alan Johnson was the keynote speaker and ignored a letter from Campaign Against Arms Trade calling on him to cancel his appearance. Other MPs were also in attendance and were no doubt lobbied by the arms companies present. The demo received excellent coverage in Left Foot Forward and Open Democracy.

DSEI arms fair conference, March 9-10th

London CAAT are proud to be part of the Stop the Arms Fair coalition and will be attending their two day conference on the DSEI arms fair. Come along to skillshare and learn, link up and discuss. There will be workshops, panels and space to meet people and build opposition to the fair. Full details are here.

Next London CAAT meeting, February 19th

We have some exciting ideas about how to oppose and resist DSEI so do come to our next meeting to help us bring these plans to fruition. We will be meeting on Tuesday February 19th at 6.30pm in the CAAT office in Finsbury Park and the address is Unit 4, 5-7 Wells Terrace, N4 3JU.

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January update: Help us oppose arms dealers dining while Yemen starves

Protest the heinous arms dealer dinner

On January 23rd, the UK arms trade will host its annual black tie dinner at Grosvenor House in London. Aerospace, Defence and Security is the trade organisation for defence companies and its dinner will bring together arms dealers, MPs and military personnel to dine on expensive food and imbibe expensive champagne. They will do this while over 50,000 people have died in the Yemeni war tand over 14 million people are at risk of famine. The bombs that these companies have sold to Saudi Arabia are directly responsible for the catastrophe in Yemen and these arms dealers have to be challenged for their complicity in this man-made disaster. The government has licensed nearly £5bn of weapons to the Saudi regime since the war started so the MPs who attend this dinner are also complicit in the death and destruction being inflicted on Yemen.

Join us from 6.30pm on January 23rd to protest this awful, hypocritical event and demand that the UK stop arming Saudi Arabia. You can share the Facebook event and more details are also on the CAAT website.

Join East London Against Arms Fairs to protest at the venue of the DSEI arms fair

The DSEI arms fair is due to take place in September this year and on January 12th, East London Against Arms Fairs will be having a protest at the venue of DSEI. Join them from 2.30pm to call for the arms fair to be cancelled – all details here.

Next London CAAT meeting

With DSEI in mind, we will be having our first meeting of the year on January 15th and planning how we will resist the sheer horror of this arms fair. The fair hosts military delegations from some of the most oppressive regimes in the world and arms companies will be there hawking their weapons to them. Join us to plan how we take action against the fair – we meet at 6.30pm in the CAAT office in Finsbury Park and the address is Unit 4, 5-7 Wells Terrace, N4 3JU.

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December update: Taking opposition to arms sales to Saudi Arabia to the heart of Government

Standing in solidarity with the people of Yemen

We held a moving candle-lit vigil for the people of Yemen outside the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation, the government body responsible for promoting arms exports globally. There was a great turnout of concerned citizens calling on the government to Stop Arming Saudi Arabia and thus being complicit in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Since the war started in March 2015, the UK has licensed £4.6bn worth of the weapons to the Saudi regime. This weapons have been used to bomb schools, roads and health facilities (even when the coordinates of these facilities have been provided). The most powerful moment was when we read out the names of the 38 children who died in the bus bombing in August this year, followed by a two minute silence. We also sang some peace songs, chanted our opposition to the government’s sales and got a good reception from the passing public. We ended the night by putting put up a plaque on DSO’s wall, highlighting the arms they’ve sold to the Saudi regime. Ahmad Algohbary, a Yemeni-based journalist, tweeted that the people of Yemen were grateful to hear about the vigil and it was also covered by Bahrain Alyoum.

Next London CAAT meeting

There will be no December meeting so thank you for your support over this year and see you next year as we continue to challenge the arms trade. Our next meeting will be on January 15th.

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November update: The UK government’s complicity in the Saudi-led coalition’s assault on Yemen must end

Stop Arming Saudi – join us for a candlelit vigil for Yemen

The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is dire and getting worse. The number of deaths is likely to be underestimated. And yet the government continues to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia. Join us for a candlelit vigil to protest against and commemorate the lives that have been lost in the Yemen since the war began in March 2015. By supplying these weapons to the Saudi regime (£4.6bn since the war started), our government bears responsibility for the crisis.

We will be outside the government body responsible for promoting arms exports to oppressive regimes such as Saudi Arabia on November 26th from 5pm, calling for these sales to stop. Bring a candle if you have one. More details are on the Facebook event – please share it.​

Take part in training to stop the DSEI arms fair

The DSEI arms fair is due to take place in London in September 2019. War Starts Here. We need to stop it here.

Join Beautiful Trouble to discover how can we escalate creative resistance to DSEI. Join them this Sunday 4th November, 9.30 – 4.30 to find out!

They will have an interactive dive into strategic creative cultural resistance and action. They will look at principles, theories, stories and tactics that every activist building for a more just world would want in their toolbox!

This workshop is FREE, and a simple picnic lunch will be provided.

This workshop is for people interested in skilling up, getting inspired and motivated, and then taking those skills, that inspiration and motivation back to your group of activists/organisers/ friends/rabble rousers to get stuck into the movement to shut down DSEI.

To apply, please fill in this short questionnaire. They will let you know if you have a place as soon as possible.

Screening of powerful documentary about the arms trade

Join the amazing Andrew Feinstein and equally brilliant Lowkey for a screening of Andrew’s wonderful and eye-opening documentary.

The Shadow World film provides unique insight into the global arms trade, a business that counts its profits in billions and its costs in human lives.

The film will be followed by a panel including musician and activist, Lowkey, and Andrew Feinstein, author and expert on the impact of the global trade in weapons.

Please book your free place via EventBrite.

Free to attend, donations welcome.

Next London CAAT meeting, November 20th

Our next meeting is on Tuesday November 20th at 6.30pm in the CAAT office in Finsbury Park – the address is Unit 4, 5-7 Wells Terrace, London, N4 3JU. After our demos at the London Transport Museum and UKTI DSO, help us plan what we do next.

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“AngloArabia” – talk by David Wearing, hosted by London CAAT

In September author David Wearing spoke in London on Britain’s military and economic support for Saudi Arabia, and the UK connection with the war in Yemen.

Ian Pocock from London CAAT writes:

London CAAT were proud to host David Wearing as he gave a fascinating and insightful talk on Anglo Arabian relations to coincide with his new book. He covered the long history of the intertwined relations between the UK and the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates), the weapons/military assistance they provide to these countries and the consequences of this assistance.

He began with an outline of the UK’s relationship with these countries; covering how their monarchical rules were set up with the help of the UK, the UK’s withdrawal from the region in 1968 (they left their military bases in 1971) and how extensive UK involvement in the region remained after this, with UK advisers at all levels of bureaucracy, military and intelligence, thus helping to sustain monarchical rule.

He then proceeded to the meat of the issue for activists, how these relationships hinge on arms sales. He said UK arms exports help the UK to remain a global military power and that they are more about strategic value than commercial profit. Revenues from these exports help sustain the domestic arms industry. While the value of arms exports to the rest of the world have gone down, exports to the GCC have risen exponentially and are now 50% of exports. The UK is one of three of main countries exporting to the GCC, the others being the US and France.

The arms deals struck with these countries don’t just cover the weapons, they include maintenance, logistics, base rights (for example Bahrain paid for the UK military base stationed in their country) and training for their security services (UK police trained the Bahraini security service who then went onto violently oppress protesters during the Arab Spring). All the while maintaining the Bahraini regime was reforming – this claim can be disproved by the many Human Rights Watch and Amnesty reports on the oppression there.

David also outlined the devastating situation in Yemen, where 8 million of the 20 million people living there are on the brink of starvation, all due to the blockade of Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition. He outlined the coalition’s use of ‘double-tap’ strikes, i.e. following up an initial missile strike with another one that targets the first responders. The most heinous thing he outlined was that these strikes were carried out with British-made jets flown by British-trained pilots using British missiles that are then maintained by the British. This was a stark reminder of the UK’s complicity in these strikes. It is clear that the UK regards our economic comfort more important than the lives of Yemeni citizens. He touched upon the lack of knowledge the UK public have about the situation – only 49% know we are at war with Yemen, a stark indication that the media have not done their job.

The well-attended talk ended with a lively discussion, with the key question from the audience being what can we do about this horrendous situation. David said write to your MP about them (you can do that here), target the arms companies responsible for the weapons sold and support CAAT’s judicial review of arms sales to Saudi Arabia. You can also get involved with London CAAT as our main focus at the moment is these sales – we meet the third Tuesday of the month at 6.30pm in the CAAT office.

© 2018 London Campaign Against Arms Trade