Real Media interviewed two protesters just before their arrest for obstructing the highway. They were trying to stop exhibits from being delivered to the Defence and Security Equipment International exhibition at the Excel Centre in East London as part of the Festival of Resistance on the weekend before the arms fair was due to open.
They spoke about connections between the Kurdish and Palestinian struggles as new evidence emerges that Turkish arms company Aselsan is working in some way with Elbit systems after boxes bearing its name were spotted at Instro Systems (targeted by activists for making parts for Israeli drones used in the repression of Palestinian people). This connection casts doubt on Erdogan’s supposed support for Palestine.
The interview also highlighted the problem that so many MPs and Lords have financial connections to the arms trade. One of the exhibitors, JCB, has been implicated in war crimes due to its part in illegal demolitions in Palestine, but its chairman Anthony Brampton has provided numerous donations to Boris Johnson, totalling more than £100,000 so far this year alone.
Both protesters were arrested by police after sitting in the road outside Excel for some time, but the question to ask might be “Who are the real criminals?”
