Pro-Palestine protesters urge London mayor to cancel arms fair

A vigil organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has been held in London against the Defense & Security Equipment International arms fair, one of the biggest defense-sector events in the world. (AFP/File)

• Vigil held to oppose DSEI, one of the world’s biggest defense-sector events
• ‘We call on the British government to end the arms trade between the UK and Israel’

LONDON: A vigil organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has been held in London against the Defense & Security Equipment International arms fair, one of the biggest defense-sector events in the world.
The vigil called on London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has previously voiced opposition to DSEI, to cancel the event.
DSEI, a biennial fair due to begin on Sept. 12, will be attended by hundreds of arms manufacturers and dealers, including firms based in or doing business with Israel.
PSC said in a statement that the fair promotes the use of lethal equipment against “indigenous and marginalized communities across the world,” including the Palestinians.
It added that Israeli companies and the Israel Defense Forces use weapons and equipment exhibited at DSEI against the Palestinians, and then advertise and sell them to other customers as “battle-tested.”
Ben Jamal, PSC director, said DSEI “provides a venue to Israel’s apartheid regime to buy weapons, and allows Israeli arms companies to sell their lethal weapons developed through Israel’s attacks on Palestinians to other repressive states. The arms fair must be shut down.
“In addition, we call on the British government to end the arms trade between the UK and Israel through the introduction of a comprehensive military embargo, as Palestinian civil society has repeatedly demanded.”