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BAe talk disrupted by protesters

sociétélibre + others | 06.05.2004 01:41 | Anti-militarism | Oxford

BAE warmongers came to Oxford to give a talk about "careers in BAE", but they realized quite soon they were not welcome...

Not welcome!
Not welcome!

Disarmed...
Disarmed...

Leave your conscience...
Leave your conscience...

Definitely not welcome!!!
Definitely not welcome!!!


Students protested Tuesday at a careers talk given in Oxford by Ian Macdiarmid of BAE Systems, over his company’s support for repressive and murderous regimes. A group of students went to the presentation on Tuesday night at St. Antony’s college; they distributed leaflets and held signs detailing some of the company’s activities.

Mr. Macdiarmid was invited to continue his talk, but declined. Those who had come to attend the talk were sympathetic to the protestors’ position, and pressed the BAE manager for answers.

The activists questioned Mr. Macdiarmid over his participation in a company which was responsible for arming regimes from countries such as Indonesia, Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe. (The first three are engaged in programs of repression of indigenous peoples, Saudi Arabia is renowned for its anti-democratic internal repression and Zimbabwe has arms embargoes, which BAE has violated.) Mr. Macdiarmid relied that at 53 he was too old to change his mind. He declined to comment on the view expressed by a former head of PR at BAE, Don McLen that ‘Sometimes in this business, you have to leave your conscience at the door.’

It was communicated that anyone participating in such a company would be supporting the murder of civilians, the stability of oppressive regimes and the use of bribes such as the 20 million pound ‘slush fund’ that BAE has kept to bribe Saudi Royals. (The Guardian reported BAE’s corrupt practices two days ago). The arms companies are inevitably engaged in such practices, as are driven by a profit motive.

Macdiarmid protested that it was not his responsibility what his company was doing. It was pointed out that his company was able to continue, because that is the attitude that people took. By working for the company, Macdiarmid supported it.

The activists advocate a philosophy of ‘think global, act local’: being aware of the atrocities being perpetrated in places like Indonesia and trying to address their root causes in our local communities.

Matthew Baker, one of the activists present said: ‘It’s really important that everyone consider the ethical impact of the career they choose.’ ‘Every major atrocity committed in the world is committed with weapons made and sold by some person, with the backing of some other person: we can’t allow this to continue’. He continued ‘don’t believe the propaganda on the company’s website - do your own research’.

Mr. Macdiarmid, who holds a senior position in BAE, was attending the meeting the evening after the company’s Annual General Meeting. When the activists left, it appeared that Mr. Macdiarmid had decided to cancel the talk. The protest had been calm and civil throughout, on both sides. The activists had met through the Oxford Student Activist Network, though this action was independent of that group. They are in support of the aims of the Disarm DSEi and Campaign Against the Arms Trade groups. The group is determined that arms dealers in Oxford will always be confronted by students who will expose the crimes that their corporations have committed.

We call on all JCRs and MCRs to take action to ensure that their college is not investing in arms companies.

The leaflet given out by the activists will follow soon.

-----

The action was a real success, notwithstanding the fact that only 4 students actually came to hear the BAE warmonger speak, while around 20 protestors showed up to show they strong disagreement with what BAE and arm companies are doing around the world... it was quite clear that he wasn't prepared for that and felt totally "disarmed"!

sociétélibre + others

Comments

Hide the following 11 comments

Yes Yes Yes

06.05.2004 11:01

This is a text book example of activism in action!! I applaud you all, well done :o)))).
As you can see not a great deal of effort is required to bring these people to shame. The facts speak for themselves and cannot be argued with. Hooooraayyyyyy. Bring it on, shake it up and take it down.

king'O'dahill
- Homepage: http://www.schnews.co.uk


If you want this kind of action publicised...

06.05.2004 11:23

If you want local publicity about these kinds of protests please contact Roz Miles at the Oxford Mail.
We will send a photographer and write about what you are doing and your reasons...
Tel 01865 425 425 or e-mail  rmiles@nqo.com

rosalind miles
mail e-mail: rmiles@nqo.com


doing it for ourselves

06.05.2004 11:57

big up to all the protesters- nice one

re "if you want local publicity"- it looks to me like they got some....

media mole


If you want this kind of action publiscized ...

06.05.2004 16:47

Looks like we've got the 'conventional' press turning to indymedia for info on what's really going on in Oxford...

I guess one reason why people prefer to publish on indymedia is that they can use their own words and photos rather than have them 'interpreted' (dare I say mediated!) by a journalist. It's a weakness of the conventional media that it doesn't allow that.

Of course there is the problem that we don't have the same number of readers (yet...)

Anyhow hope you keep visiting the site, Roz ;-)



indyperson


link to leaflet

07.05.2004 20:01

linker


for the .doc leafletter:

08.05.2004 00:06

communicating your activist stuff in word documents is like organising a forum against capitalism in a business centre.
and...
the forms and documents containing vital information that should be openly accessible and free of charge should not be presented in a proprietary format.
Roberto Di Cosmo.
 http://www.mmedium.com/dossiers/piege

Come on, Get yourself some Free Software

 http://www.openoffice.org

this is a marketing-like site; some of you may be more comfortable there...

 http://www.cafeshops.com/getopenoffice

and now that we're here, why don't you stop looking at the indymedia site from b***y explorer and upgrade to Mozilla!

 http://www.mozilla.org

ana


Pension plans and adult responsibility

08.05.2004 15:36

I would have thought students would have enough to do worrying about their careers and planning for their futures rather than getting involved in activities distupting meetings and the such like to try and help people they do not know.

What next. Disrupting meetings of friendly cabinet members who are just supporting a war of liberation in Iraq and disrupting his re election for Oxford East. I sincerely hope not. The poor man.

Students should get their priorities right and remember it is never to early to start a pension plan.

Paul


micro$oft evilleness

09.05.2004 16:30

The leaflet was put together at last minute in a college computer room, so it was a choice between that and nothing. Since then, nobody's bothered to convert it, because we all have better things to do! Anyway, here's a quick plaintext version:

----------
Exciting Career Opportunities in the “Systems” Industry!

Join BAE Systems: "the leading systems company, innovating for a safer world."
With BAE, you can explore exciting career opportunities in the world of the arms trade.
For example:

- SELL arms to the repressive governments of Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, and Israel!

- MARKET expensive weapons systems to the governments of countries that can’t afford healthcare for the poor, like South Africa!

- SUPPLY the US Department of Defence with the armaments it needs to bomb and occupy Iraq and Afghanistan!

- NEGOTIATE to sell arms to embargoed countries (Libya, Iran, Democratic Republic of the Congo)!

- KEEP Labour MPs in your pocket to lobby for your arms deals and subsidize your industry more than any other except agriculture!

- BE the lead UK contractor for the US "Star Wars" Missile Defence system!

- MAINTAIN a 20 million pound slush fund to bribe Saudi royalty for arms contracts!

- PROMOTE the supply of weapons to brutal governments and armed forces in civil wars across the world!

BAE SYSTEMS: Helping Indonesia bomb civilians in East Timor since 1984. Helping the Israeli military maintain the occupation. Helping the Zimbabwean government suppress dissent. Helping India and Pakistan keep the Kashmir conflict alive. Helping South Africa spend its resources on fighter jets instead of AIDS medicine. Helping buy Saudi Arabian princes shiny new cars...
__Who do you want to help today?__

"Sometimes in this business, you have to leave your conscience at the door" --Don McLen, Former PR director, BAE Systems

Learn more about BAE Systems and the crimes of the arms trade:

 http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/profiles/bae/bae1.htm
http:// www.caat.org.uk – Campaign Against the Arms Trade
 http://www.controlarms.org/
For info on the Saudi bribery scandal, see The Guardian, search “BAE”

----------

.


hehehe

09.05.2004 16:39

Exactly. With exams and careers looming, the last thing we should be doing is trying to make the world a better place. Always stay within the law. In fact, please sit at home, watch TV, and go on endless shopping sprees filling your lives and homes with endless consumer crap... you will then feel content. Honest. ;)

responsible student


PDF version

09.05.2004 17:15

Take it, use it, keep up the good work!

Fuck BAE, AND Microsoft


Not really so hot

06.07.2004 22:06

Hate to rain on the parade, but there were more protesters there than there were people attending the talk, and once the porters booted them all out, the talk went ahead as planned. It really only managed to elicit snickers from those present, especially as the talk wasn't about BAE. Likely not the most productive use of your time.

Having been to a variety of protests for all sorts of stuff in various places, and having done video work for Indymedia in the States, it was frankly embarrassing to watch you all hold up upside-down signs against windows while the speaker openly laughed at you.

Hope you all enjoyed the wine you stole.

T+