One of the UK’s biggest arms fairs (DPRTE) met resistance on 16th March in Cardiff town centre.
Full report with pictures and original formatting (via StCAF blog).
DPRTE rooftop action
crowd at DPRTE demo
Food not Bombs at DPRTE
pickets and subverts before DPRTE
NB Since some people are facing ongoing legal cases, we can’t say everything we would like to in this report; but even with some of the most powerful details left out, we think it’s a story worth telling.
The day started early; two people outwitted security to occupy the venue’s rooftop with a banner before the event had begun.
As delegates started arriving, a lively crowd ensured they were very aware they weren’t welcome. Around 150 people (including banners and surreal props) were there to challenge the event; not bad for first thing on a weekday morning.
Meanwhile Cardiff Food not Bombs had set up a structure and were providing food and music, and a place to relax or to chat with intrigued passers-by.
Unfortunately, during the morning the police arrested 4 people on various spurious grounds. The two people on the roof were also arrested at the end of the day.
Of course, what happened on the day was just the tip of the iceberg – from bus stop subverts to comms blockades, from pickets of the venue (the Motorpoint Arena) to leafletting sessions, a lot of unseen work by all sorts of people went into making this happen.
With DPRTE possibly returning to Cardiff in March 2017 it’s time to keep up the pressure and organise a campaign capable of shutting down this monstrosity for good.
- Contact Motorpoint Arena and encourage them not to host DPRTE 2017.
- Support those arrested at their court hearings. Watch the StCAF blog for details.
Comments
Hide the following 4 comments
Better than last year
05.04.2016 04:23
Apart from that one bright spot the protest was obviously ineffectual and largely a waste of everyone's time. This event continues to grow each year and the protests get smaller. As we have seen with DSEI, BAE Systems, EDO and Thales protests the result is always the same.
1- Initial enthusiasm
2- Outrageous promises to "smash" or "close" the event
3- Over-ambitious expectations
4- Fall off in support
4- Failure
Last year at DSEI there was the lowest ever number of people protesting and those that were there achieved absolutely nothing, protests against Heckler and Koch ended with none of the promises made being met and the infamous EDO protests descended into farce once the antisemites of the Brighton Palestinian Society started to demand the banning of Jewish people in return for funding. The last protest outside BAE Systems in Farnborough resulted in TWO people !
Time to have a major rethink I would humbly suggest
Laughing
Smash EDO sees the world as it is now
05.04.2016 15:53
We at least recognise that there will never be peace in the Middle East until every jewish person has returned to their homes in Europe, it's a shame you are too stupid to understand that.
smashedo
Homepage:
smashedo.org.uk
trolling and disinfo
05.04.2016 22:10
The comment claiming to be from smashEDO reads like some fake disinfo aiming to smear them as antisemites.
Oh, and of course we're open that our aims are to shut you down, but we have no illusions that this will happen overnight. Come on.
anon
Not difficult
06.04.2016 03:04
"aiming to smear them as antisemites. " as is claimed but regretfully SmashEDO is on record as asking three Jewish members to leave the organisation at the direct request of the Brighton University Palestinian Organisation. I was one of those who objected to this and was at one point called a 'Jew lover" for pointing out it was wrong. More than this at least one of the people now involved with SmashEDO who is also involved with BUPO has been heard calling for a 'Jew free Palestine" something that resulted in his temporary suspension from the University and his agreement to undertake counseling.
Rather than trying to sweep it under the carpet we need to recognise that antisemitism does exist within those organisations and campaigns that are involved with the Israel / Palestine dispute.
Steve in Brighton