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BAE protest at Warwick university

Beth | 19.01.2009 18:01 | Anti-militarism | Palestine | Birmingham

Account of our disruptive protest against a BAE recruitment event

Last Thursday, a group of Warwick university students, in opposition to the arms trade and in solidarity with Gaza, protested a recruitment event run by BAE and Warwick Careers Service. BAE is the third largest arms manufacturer in the world and the inclusion of Israel in its (very colourful) list of customers made action particularly important at this time for us. On their way in, attendees were leafleted with our BAE alternative careers guide (available at  http://weaponsoutofwarwick.wordpress.com/ ) At the start of the talk a group of students stood up, with one giving an excellent and emotive speech about the darker side of a career with BAE. During the talk itself a second group stood up to disrupt the presentation by reading a second speech, heroically ignoring the pleas of the Careers Service to be quiet. At the end of the BAE presentation the sheer number of students asking questions about the unethical nature of the company led to the group question session being abandoned. It is strengthening to be part of a broader campaign across universities against companies such as BAE and after our action we had much excited chatter about activism over a pint or two.

Beth
- Homepage: http://weaponsoutofwarwick.wordpress.com/