Public Meeting calls for Arms Fair out of Newham - Forever

Around 50 local people attended the NOWAR public meeting on 5 September and the clear message that came from those present was the need for a broad campaign to close down the arms fair permanently.

At the moment, the ExCel Centre has been booked for further arms fairs in 2007, 2009 and 2011. The meeting debated the disruption caused to local residents by the protests that will inevitably accompany these events, but there was argreement that the best way to avoid this was to ensure that 2005 is the last time that Spearhead Exhibitions, the organisers of DSEi, host an arms fair in Newham. This means targeting Reed Elsevier, the parent company that produces education, science and health publications (like The Lancet) and who will be hosting the London Book Fair later this year. It also means making the link between the international arms trade and those young potential competitors in the 2012 Olympics whose prospects may be destroyed by the weapons that arms manufacturers sell to fuel civil wars and repression.

But most importantly, it means bringing together a broad coalition of local people and community groups to put pressure on those in power. This is something that NOWAR intends to work on in the coming months.

The meeting also discussed the different protests that will be taking place next week and the approaches that those mobilising against DSEi 2005 intend to take. Inevitably, there were disagreements over what constitutes 'violent protest', particularly as many of us have experienced deliberate provocation by the police at previous protests against DSEi (if pushed by a police officer, is it OK to push back?) Whether 'fluffy' or 'spiky', NOWAR supports all the events that have been organised. We just hope this year is the last time they will be necessary.

Campaign Against the Arms Trade have produced an excellent briefing on DSEi 2005 that can be downloaded from here.