<nettime> previewing protest against arms fair

[roya// <roya@girlfish.net>]

Greetings, After ignoring all press releases sent out by anti-arms trade
protesters over the last weeks, the Police raid of two squats in south
London this Friday finally seems to motivate some of the mainstream
media to come up with something, 

Well some mainstream media, but not the BBC. A producer of the BBC (who
is currently going through some internal quarrels on how to make their
political coverage more appealing to the non-voting majority of british
youth) explained the reasons behind the lack of reporting on tomorrows
mass protests at Europes' largest Arms show. He explains that there are
"some very high level discussions about the effect of previewing UK
demonstrations and our culpability if, for example, someone gets hurt or
there is violence." 

Er, however... here is some coverage The Guardian came up with..

so long + ahoi // roya*

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Police fear violence at arms fair 
Protesters say 'fiesta for life against death' will be peaceful
Special report: the arms trade 

Steven Morris and Richard Norton-Taylor
Monday September 10, 2001 // The Guardian 

Police have raided squats in south London to head off what they fear
could be violent demonstrations against an arms fair which begins
tomorrow in the capital's Docklands. 

Activists accused the police of over-reacting, claiming they plan
peaceful protests at the Defence Systems and Equipment International
Exhibition, or DSEI, at the ExCeL centre. Almost all major arms
companies will be represented, with state-of-the-art weaponry from
hundreds of companies on
show. 

Amnesty International and the Campaign against the Arms Trade have
strongly criticised invitations to some of the countries expected at the
exhibition, run by a private company in association with the government. 

Much of the protest is expected to come from Disarm DSEI, an umbrella
organisation that is organising what it calls a "fiesta for life against
death". On its website, it promises an "audacious intervention against
the arms trade". 

The website invites protesters to: "Come in costumes. Think pink and
silver. Bringdrums, instruments, food and water to share, props,
puppets, banners, circus skills, your blue suede shoes, and your love of
life." 

Scotland Yard, however, is fearful the demonstration could turn violent.
Early on Friday officers raided two social centres in Borough, in south
London. Four people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause violent
disorder, and later released on bail pending further inquiries. 

The protesters claimed that the police had smashed up props, including a
papier mché figure, for the demonstration. One protester, who asked not
to be named, said: "The squats have been under observation. It's clear
to us that the police are  trying to sabotage our legitimate protest." 

 Amnesty International has attacked the government for
inviting countries with poor human rights records - Sri Lanka, Saudi
Arabia, and Nigeria among them.
                                                                        
Countries such as Angola, Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria, China and Turkey
have also been invited, although government guidelines state that arms
should not be exported to countries where they could be used for
internal suppression or could exacerbate internal or regional conflicts. 

A ministry of defence spokesman said the government supported exporting
of defence products, which underpinned 100,000 jobs. 

A spokesman said the fair promoted only "legitimate
defence exports", and invited countries would not
necessarily be given licences in order to import arms on sale.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/armstrade/story/0,10674,549416,00.html

***************************************************

Fiesta against Death website: 

http://www.disarm-trade.org/

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