Over 40 “Israeli” Firms Among World’s Worst Arms Dealers at London Weapons Fair

By Staff, Agencies

Dozens of “Israeli” arms companies are set to take part in London's annual arms fair on Tuesday, an event that campaigners have branded “a marketplace in death and destruction”.

The Defense and Security Equipment International [DSEI] takes place at the ExCeL center in London each year and has repeatedly come in for criticism from anti-arms trade activists. It is scheduled to be held between 12 and 15 September.

Among those attending will be BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Thales as well as more than 40 “Israeli” arms companies that have been accused of complicities in human rights abuses carried out against Palestinians.

In a statement on Monday, Campaign Against the Arms Trade [CAAT] said the companies taking part read as a “who's who of the world's worst arms dealers”.

“‘Israel’ is an ‘apartheid state’, and it is disgusting that the UK is not only selling weapons to ‘Israel’ but encouraging ‘Israeli’ arms companies to sell their weapons in London,” said Emily Apple, CAAT's media coordinator, adding that companies like Elbit “battle test” their weapons on Palestinians in the occupied territories.

She further added “Deals done at DSEI will cause misery across the world, causing global instability, and devastating people’s lives. Representatives from regimes such as Saudi Arabia, who have used UK-made weapons to commit war crimes in Yemen, will be wined and dined and encouraged to buy yet more arms.”

Apple also mentioned that activists, including those from the campaign group Stop the Arms Fair [STAF], would be waiting to greet the assembled visitors at the ExCeL center and would be “coordinating a fortnight of resistance”.

The DSEI is supported by the UK government’s Defense and Security Organization and features representatives from an array of private companies and governments, including many engaged in routine human rights abuses, according to anti-arms trade campaigners and human rights organizations.

It is regularly the target of protesters who accuse it of normalizing the sale of weapons to despotic governments.