We went down to a No Pride in Genocide protest outside one of the world’s biggest weapons fairs in London
The guests arriving at the DEISI arms fair yesterday morning (September 10) reacted to being heckled in different ways. Some scurried past with their heads bowed; some looked over with unguarded curiosity, taking out their phones to snap a quick video, and others, almost comically smug and evil-looking, grinned at the protesters with open contempt. As satisfying as it was to yell “shame!” at these people, for the most part this didn’t seem to be an emotion they had the willingness or capacity to experience.
The DSEI [Defence and Security Equipment International], which takes place across four days this week, is one of the world’s largest arms fairs. Around 1600 companies are exhibiting this year and, while the UK recently banned an official Israeli government delegation, this includes 51 Israeli arms firms, among them three of the largest: Elbit Systems, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). These companies sell manner of weapons and military technology to Israel as it carries out a genocide in Gaza, from guns and bombs to fighter jets and warships; drones of the kind produced by Elbit have reportedly been used to broadcast the sound of children and women crying, with the intent of luring Palstinian civilians out to help and then more easily killing them. As the Campaign Against the Arms Trade has said, “This will be a huge opportunity for Israeli companies to market military equipment that is no longer just “battle-tested” but now genocide tested, to a global audience.”
I went to a ‘No Pride in Genocide’ demonstration just outside the event, organised by a coalition of LBGTQ+ groups, including Drag Down the Borders and Queers for Palestine. The protest was more sparsely attended than the day before – at least when I was there – but the energy was high, with a crowd of demonstrators singing songs about Palestine, shouting “war criminals this way!” through megaphones and chanting “quit your jobs” at the delegates as they streamed past. Throughout the day, there were DJ sets, poetry readings, drag performances and a series of speeches, followed at 5pm by a demonstration organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
“DSEI is one of the largest arms fairs, where business deals are made off of genocide, exploitation and torture, and 1700 exhibitors are showcasing death and destruction,” CRYO, a drag king who was helping to lead the chants, told Dazed. “DSEI itself boasts about having unprecedented access to government leaders and military represenatives of 100 counties, including several on the Human Rights Watch list.”
As you’d expect, the DSEI doesn’t have a glowing record when it comes to human rights. At previous events, Amnesty International has found firms selling illegal cluster munitions and torture devices, including electro-shock stun guns, leg-irons and belly-chains. In 2016, eight activists were acquitted for blocking access to the fair, when a judge found “compelling evidence” that illegal arms were being sold there. Britain has previously invited states to attend which the foreign office itself had listed as “human rights priority countries”, and the fair caters to police forces as well as armies, selling tear gas, rubber bullets and high-tech surveillance which are used to crush dissent all around the world. While organised by a private company, DSEI is strongly supported by the UK government, and the Minister of Defence Luke Pollard delivered a keynote speech earlier today (Gaza, of course, didn’t warrant a mention.)
The opening day of the fair was met with thousands of protesters. Footage from the scene and eye witness accounts, including from journalists at Middle East Monitor, suggest the police response was heavy-handed and at times violent. “I saw the police assault multiple people on Monday – the majority being women, which is not surprising for the UK police,” says Gracie Brackstone, an artist and regular Dazed collaborator who attended the demonstration, where she and others attempted to block the entry of delegates to the fair. ”One protester got carried away in a stretcher because she either broke her foot or sprained her ankle,” she continues. “The police have got increasingly violent. I also attended the Defend Our Juries demonstration last Saturday and they have taken on a more aggressive approach.”
According to CYRO, the LGBTQ+ community has a particular responsibility to reject complicity in Israel’s genocide and the companies which are profitting from it, many of which are keen to latch onto queer culture. “We’ve seen our identities used time and time again at Pride events sponsored by private equity firms which have investments in arms manufactures, gas pipelines destroying indigenous lands or Israeli companies arming and funding a genocide. Our pink pound is being used to justify atrocities from Palestine to Sudan to Congo,” he said. “For me personally, Marsha P. Johnson and Silvia Rivera would be turning in their graves at the sight of queers revelling at events profiteering off our identities with blood money. Today is about saying no, that we will not be bought or traded.”