CAAT’s Media Coordinator, Emily Apple, said:
“While CAAT welcomes the government’s decision not to invite an official Israeli delegation to DSEI, it is cowardly and symbolic. It was not the UK government that decided to pull the plug on the Israel country pavilion, but the Israeli government. Meanwhile, it is welcoming companies such as Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest defence company who make 85% of the drones used by the Israeli Defence Force, Rafael, and Israel Aerospace Industries to market their genocide tested weapons to a global audience.
“This is the government pretending to take action while safeguarding the profits of arms dealers. At the same time it’s banning an official Israeli delegation, it is on the cusp of awarding a £2bn contract to Elbit Systems. These are not the actions of a government committed to taking action against Israel. These are the actions of a government complicit in a genocide.
“Israel is committing genocide. It has created a man-made famine. Babies are dying from starvation. Israel is bombing hospitals and killing journalists. These heart breaking atrocities are war crimes. Nothing could be clearer.
“It is also clear that our government is not committed to taking any action that disrupts the profits of arms dealers. It is therefore down to campaigners across the country coming together to take action to uphold international law on the streets of East London”.
Notes to Editors
For further information see CAAT’s latest media release – https://caat.org.uk/news/media-release-campaigners-demand-action-as-israeli-war-criminals-set-to-attend-secretive-london-arms-fair/
Stop the Arms Fair is coordinating two weeks of protest against DSEI – see Home – Stop the Arms Fair for more information.
A coalition of over 100 groups is uniting to take action on the first day of DSEI – see The ‘Big One’ Coalition for more information.
