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DSEi Arms Fair & Sotheby’s 2: On Monday 7th September 2015 I went to the protests outside the world’s largest arms fair which was takes place in East London every two years and on my way home went to a protest in Battersea Park at Sotheby’s international car auction calling on the company to reinstate two sacked cleaners.

DSEi Arms Fair protest Israeli Arms Sales

Excel London, Royal Victoria Dock

DSEi Arms Fair & Sotheby's 2 - 2015 — *Protesters stopped a lorry going to the DSEi arms fair with a military vehicle for around 2 hours*

Protests were taking place on the first of six days outside the world’s largest arms fair, sponsored by the UK government at the Excel Centre. Occupy Democracy had set up a protest camp close to the East Entrance to the Excel Centre.

The theme of this day’s protest organised by the Stop The Arms Fair Coalition and Occupy Democracy and supported by Campaign Against The Arms Trade and a broad coalition of protest groups was ‘Stop Arming Israel’.

Israel also has a large arms industry and they were selling their arms at the fair which were said to be ‘battle-tested’, having been used against the Palestinian people in Gaza as well as in Syria.

When I arrived protesters were setting up a couple of stalls, one to ‘sell’ mock Israeli arms – with arms dealers D. Eath and C. Arnage, who were later joined by two enthusiastic sales representatives apparently from a proudly Israeli firm ‘Killing Machines Unlimited.’

Excel had fenced in the roundabout at the gates, claiming they owned it, so that protesters were unable to camp there. Later it was found that it belonged to Newham Council and that they had not given permission for the fence, but it did provide a good place to put up a huge banner with the message ‘Stop Arming Israel.

When a large low-loader arrived carrying a military vehicle protesters rushed into the road to block it and one in an orange jumpsuit and Tony Blair mask locked on to it. Others jumped up on to it. A woman who used a white-board marker to write ‘ARMS TESTED ON CHILDREN’ was arrested for ‘criminal damage’ although the slogan would easily wipe off without trace.

*‘Tony Blair’ locked on. Protesters still hope to see him tried for war crimes onver the invasion of Iraq*

After around 45 minutes police warned the protesters they might be arrested unless they moved away and most did, but then began a Dabke Arab folk dance workshop in front of the lorry. The police then called for reinforcements and when they arrived they pushed the protesters off the road, allowing the bemused Hungarian driver to move on.

*Police come and warn the protesters on the lorry, asking them to leave*

*The Dabke dance workshop in front of the lorry. Police watch but don’t dance*

*Eventually police lose patience and a large group come and push or drag eveyone from the road, watched by the photographers*

In 2026 the UK still sells arms to Israel which are being used in the genocide of the Palestinian people and some of those protesting against this have been given long prison sentences as ‘terrorists’.

More on My London Diary at DSEi Arms Fair protest Israeli Arms Sales.

Reinstate the Sotheby’s 2 at car auction

Battersea Park

*A line of police stopped the protesters at the entrance to the auction site*

Barbara and Percy, two cleaners at Sotheby’s in New Bond Street had been sacked after they took part in a protest calling for proper sick pay, holiday pay and pensions, and their trade union, the United Voices of the World had organised a number of protests including this one to demand their reinstatement.

Along with members of the UVW the protest was supported by Class War, SOAS Unison and Unite the Resistance and I met them outside Battersea Park Station from where they marched to the Sotheby’s auction site, Battersea Evolution inside Battersea Park, where police prevented them from entering.

Although they were some distance from the actual auction, the noisy protest could clearly be heard there, as one of those present at it, the mother of UVW General Secretary Petross Elia, came to tell us across the gates.

The protest continued for some time and I was tired and left before the end, missing a a spectacular performance of fire breathing by one of the protesters.

The campaign by the UVW eventually resulted in all outsourced workers there including cleaners, security guards and caterers becoming the first group of outsourced workers in the private sector to receive occupational sick pay – at a significantly enhanced rate to statutory sick pay.

More at Reinstate the Sotheby’s 2 at car auction.

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Disarm DSEI – City of London: on Tuesday 8th September 2009, the day that year’s DSEI Arms Fair opened at the Excel centre in East London, campaigners came to protest outside the city offices of companies heavily involved in the arms trade.

There were also protests outside the Excel Centre, but the protest in the City would be seen by many more people and was more likely to receive coverage in the media. Later in the day protesters from CAAT (Campaign Against the Arms Trade) also came into central London for a protest outside the government offices of UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) in Westminster. Their Defence and Security Organisation provides financial, political and logistical support for the arms fair, channelling our taxes to help private companies to profit from making the arms used to kill people.

The protest in the City of London was by Disarm DSEI, who had provided an excellently produced and well-researched ‘infopack’, 4 A4 pages with a map listing over 25 companies – including arms traders, law firms, institutional investors and banks with heavy involvement in the arms trade and which I quoted from extensively in my post on My London Diary. But Disarm DSEI stressed that the protest had no organisers but that those present would together decide on what it would do.

There were also people who had come prepared to speak at the stops the protest made about the activities of the companies, and after meeting outside the RBS in Aldgate (“the world’s leading creditor to the arms industry … over £44.6 billion in the last ten years including loans to producers of cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions” we went on to Barclays “the largest investor in the global arms trade with £7.3 billion in shares.”

From there the protest moved on to Schroders and Lloyds TSB, the “principal banker to BAE Systems and QinetiQ” and who have made loans “to produces of of cluster bombs and depleted uranium munitions.”

When we reached the BT offices, some protesters made a rush for the door and managed to push their way into the atrium, with others following them for a short protest inside – with staff and visitors to the building gathering on the balconies to watch.

Apart from a little possible damage to the door and from jumping over the security gates I saw little if any deliberate vandalism and no attempt to attack any of the people inside. “BT hold £59 million worth of shares in the international arms trade.” And after making their point, the protesters simply walked out.

Things got a little rougher at AXA Investments (“£2,259 million worth of shares in the UK arms trade and &6,207 million investment in the international arms industry”) where some smashed the glass with a reinforced banner, but the protest then moved away to the Stock Exchange (“where all the dirty dealing gets done“) – where after a short protest the banners were put away and the protest ended.

Police had not tried to stop the march and seemed to just stand back and watch, though there was a FIT team taking photographs. The ‘infopack’ had advised protesters to ‘mask up’ and many did as you can see in my photographs.

From there I took the tube to Westminster, where CAAT had brought a white elephant with doves on it along with a petition calling for an end to the support of the arms trade by the UKTI Defence and Security Organisation. Another banner had the message “Civil Servant … Or Arms Dealer” and accused the government of handing out arms export licences to repressive regimes – some of whom also sell arms as well as buy them at DSEI.

This year, 2025, the government made a highly publicised statement about not inviting the Israeli government delegation to the DSEI arms fair – but failed to mention that Israeli arms manufacturers will still be selling their weapons there, selling them as being “battle-tested” after their use in the long series of attacks on Gaza, killing Palestinians in the ongoing genocide.

Among those at protest outside the UKTI was peace activist Dan Viesnik on his 100 hour Famine for Victims of the Arms Trade at various government offices and other locations around the city.

More about these protests and many more pictures on My London Diary at Disarm DSEi and CAAT: Close UKTI DSO.

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Tag: battle-tested

DSEi Arms Fair & Sotheby’s 2 – 2015

DSEi Arms Fair protest Israeli Arms Sales

Reinstate the Sotheby’s 2 at car auction

Disarm DSEI – City of London 2009