Solidarity with Yemen! |
Hi there! I’m Amber, CAAT’s new Campaigns and Communications Coordinator and here’s a bit about what we’ve been up to this month!
Arms fairs: 12 months til DSEI!
DSEI, Defence and Security International, is one of the world’s largest arms fairs, taking place every two years on our doorstep in London! In 2021, DSEI brought together over 30,000 arms buyers and dealers to network and make deals. Governments and military delegations, including countries involved in military conflicts and war and those on the UK’s government’s own list of human rights abusers, browsed the wares of 1600+ arms companies. This is where war starts, but it is also where we can stop it!
Every 2 years, Stop the Arms Fair (STAF), a collective of organisations and individuals, come together to take action against DSEI, with our support. It’s now one year until DSEI and people are busy organising, ready to make the resistance to DSEI 2023 bigger and better than ever! Each year people use talks, workshops, music, creative walkabouts, direct action, community organising and solidarity to say NO to DSEI here or anywhere! If you’d like to get involved then you can join STAF meetings, you can do so by messaging them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or email: [email protected].
If you’d like to take action against other arms fairs taking place in the UK then please do send us an email and we can point you in the right direction!
Stop Arming Saudi Demo
On 6th September, Liz Truss took office as the UK’s new Prime Minister, following Boris Johnson’s resignation. Members from Campaign Against Arms Trade, along with numerous activists, handed in an open letter to Downing Street, signed by over seven thousand people across the UK - from local CAAT activists to Vivienne Westwood - to call on the new Prime Minister to stop arming the Saudi-led coalition for its bombardment of Yemen.
The war on Yemen has been made possible by weapons supplied by the UK, and sustained by their ongoing military support. Since the bombing of Yemen began in March 2015, the value of UK arms sales to the Saudi-led coalition amounts to at least £23 billion.
Many people took to Downing Street to protest the arrival of Liz Truss, however, we were still able to make our voices heard, with an infectious chant of ‘Stop Arming Saudi’. Andrew Feinstein, author of ‘The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade’ and guest speaker said “Anyone who feels empathy for the suffering in Ukraine must oppose the UK’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia which are causing even greater harm and devastation in Yemen.”
Excessive police presence disrupted the physical hand in of the letter detailing the thousands who demand an end to the UK’s role in this conflict, however, the letter will be delivered via post in the coming weeks and we will be sustaining our opposition to the sale of UK weapons to Saudi Arabia.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for information on more actions and events in the coming months to say NO to the UK arming Saudi Arabia!
Stop Saudi Sportswashing
Sportswashing is when unethical regimes use sports to improve their public image. When human rights abusing countries buy or fund sports teams or events, they are not doing so out of their love of sport but as an attempt to improve their reputation. This is a tactic we have seen Saudi Arabia use multiple times, a country with an appalling human rights record.
This August, a major boxing tournament between Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk and Britain's Anthony Joshua took place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, was joined by FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, to watch this event. Many people have been appalled by the relationship between FIFA and Saudi Arabia, and are concerned this meeting may lead to a future World Cup being held there.
Recent reporting has also highlighted the Saudi goal of hosting a future Olympics. These are attempts by Saudi to hide their poor human rights record, including use of torture and executions as well as their war crime atrocities in Yemen.
Currently, the UN is calling for Phd student, Salma al-Shehab, to be released who has been charged with 34 years in prison for following dissidents on Twitter. She has reported several incidents of rights violations in prison, including possible physical or sexual violence. It is vital we challenge sportswashing, and demand sporting events aren’t held in Saudi or funded by them.
Palestine: Stop Arming Apartheid Day of Action in Oct; Human rights organisations raid
On the 1st of October, you can join actions at your local high street Barclays to demand they stop investing in arms companies that supply weapons used to target Palestinians. Over the past decade or so, Israel has carried out four devastating military assaults on the Occupied Gaza Strip, all of which have resulted in large numbers of civilian deaths and have been said to be in violation of international law. More recently, in August 2022, Israel once again bombarded the Gaza strip, resulting in the death of 49 Palestinians, including 17 children.
Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s research shows Barclays has invested over £1billion+ in arms companies supplying Israel, as well as providing them with financial services. This includes investment in Israeli arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems.
You can challenge this by joining the action at your local Barclays and show solidarity with Palestinians!
Thank you for your support.
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Amber Rose-Dewey
Campaign Against Arms Trade
P.S. CAAT would not exist without your support! If you would like to donate to CAAT, you can do so via our donations page. If you don’t have one already, why not set up a Direct Debit? More details on the donations page.