Every two years, the global arms trade comes to Newham’s ExCel Centre, showcasing weapons and tools for war and armed violence. In 2025 the DSEI arms fair takes place from 9 – 12 September.
WILPF Women against War and Weapons will be joining with other organisations to demonstrate our opposition to the escalation of arms supplies across the world and to London’s role in showcasing weapons and tools for wars and armed violence.
How can you be involved?
WILPF members, and friends, will be walking from Stratford Stations to the Excel Centre on Wednesday 3 September, distributing leaflets and talking to the residents and visitors of Newham to alert them to the presence of this horrendous event in their community.
We will meet at Stratford at 11.00am and walk down through Newham, passing a number of tube and DLR stations, so you can join us part way through if you wish. We aim to get to the Excel Centre by 2.00pm where we will lobby those organisations bringing their lethal products to the conference. Later we will join the Women in Black at the Edith Cavell Monument in Trafalgar Square for their regular 6.00-7.00 vigil and place a wreath at the monument. We will also do this on 10thSeptember.
On Wednesday 10th September, WILPF will be back at Excel between 11.00 and 4.00 (tbc) standing in vigil alongside other organisations such as the Peace Pledge Union, Movement for the Abolition of War, Every Casualty Counts and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade to make our concerns clear to the conference participants and all those supporting the event.
If you can join us for either or both days, please let us know at ukwilpf.info@gmail.org so we can add you to the WhatsApp group and keep you updated on our plans.
There will be a presence from Stop the Arms Fair every day of the conference, with themed days relating to No Faith in War, Environment, and Palestine so if you cannot join the WILPF activities, do see whether you can join one or more of the other days (Find details here). There will be a camp providing support to activists and advice about protest behaviour should you be concerned.
Take action now
- Sign the petition to kick Israel out of DSEI, the UK’s largest arms fair.
- Use Campaign Against the Arms Trade’s email template to contact DSEI official hotel-booking partners EventBeds™and NuBreed Hotels, urging both companies to drop DSEI! They must sever ties with the UK’s largest marketplace of death and destruction.
