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Arms trade, walks over bodies,
NO arms fair in Ahoy, Rotterdam.
foto: Martin Broek | | | |
Last week Dutch peace activists
and
the solidarity movement with Palestine went to Rotterdam to
protest
against the annual symposium of the Dutch Defence and Security
Association (NIVD). This annual party is connected to an
exhibition,
the newspeak word often used for an arms bazar. Just before the
symposium, the spokesman of the NIVD told the press that one of
the
participating companies, Elbit from Israel, was not showcasing a
missile system, because of fear of the protests. So even before
waving the banners the protest was already succesfull, and
received
broad media attention. At the same time however, the several
contracts on fighter aircraft F-16
and F-35
(Joint Strike Fighter) where conclued at the arms fair.
On
December 1, defence exhibition IDEAS2014 will open in Karachi.
Dozens
of top military officials and senior dignitaries are expected to
attend. The organisation assured that all the necessary security
measures
are taken to provide a safe and secure environment for the more
than
200 companies from 23 countries, and more than eighty delegates
from
more than forty five countries. It is worth the effort, because,
as
was stated in
Pakistan
Observer, the military spending spree of India
“is also
posing
a serious challenges to other neighbouring countries.” So what may
be called the South Asian arms race is the reason to sell even
more.
The
Dutch are preparing a trip to the IDEX arms fair in Abu Dhabi.
In
February 2015 the NIVD
and the Netherlands Aerospace Group (NAG)
organises this in cooperation with the ministries of Foreign
Affairs,
Economic Affairs and Defence. Minister of Defence Jeanine
Hennis-Plasschaert will be heading the delegation in person.
(See
the IDEX
website
for the most recent overview of participants.) The Middle East
is the
region with the highest military expenditures after NATO
countries
and East Asia. So for arms manufacturers, it is absolutely the
place
to be.
Closer
at
home there will be a next chance to raise sales and profits.
From
June 3 to 5 the whole circus of the international arms industry
will
be coming to Rotterdam harbour for the Underwater Defence
Technology
(UDT)
fair. Submarines, torpedo's and sonar, all the hidden
under-surface
killers will be presented here. Some are or will be armed with
nuclear weapons, like those subs of France, UK, US and Israel.
The
last time the UDT fair was organised in the Netherlands the
event
took place in Amsterdam. Companies such as Lockheed, Martin,
Airbus
(EADS), Thales, Raytheon, British Aerospace and Finmechanica
were at
show in 2005. Together they counted for one third of all arms
sales
worldwide. The 2005 UDT fair met with fierce protest by peace
activists and and was blockaded effectively for hours. The Major
of
Amsterdam, Job Cohen, stated at that time that although he could
not
close the fair, he was not happy with it either. The Socialist
Party
opposed the exhibition of bombs.
In 2014,
several political parties in the Rotterdam city council supported
a
proposal to ban arms fairs altogheter from the city of Rotterdam.
Major Aboutaleb proposed a proper debate on arms fairs in the
city,
in response to the protests against the NIDV fair.
The
banning of arms fair has some history. The International Training
and
Exhibition Conference (ITEC) for example first met with objections
from the members of the Haque city council in 1999 who
visited
the
fair. ITEC met with protests everywhere ever since, in
Amsterdam, the Haque and Cologne. Next year the fair will be
organised in Prague. Franciscan protesters, who follow the ITEC
arms
fair all over Europe, booked another victory in 2014 when, just
like
Amsterdam which declared ITEC not welcome for 10 years, the city
council of Cologne decided that hosting ITEC for 3 times in the
Kölner Messe has been enough!
It is the
arms fair season. Protesting arms fairs may become fashion for
this
winter and spring.
