Aidan White and Simon Shaw on Newham’s reaction to last month’s arms fair at Excel

A group of people with a banner and some placards — Protesters outside the arms fair at Excel

Community organisations and trades unionists from across Newham joined forces with nationwide campaigners in September to protest as leaders of the global arms industry came to the Borough to showcase their killing machines and high-technology weapons of war.
Every two years since 2011 hundreds of arms manufacturers from around the world come to the Excel exhibition centre in the Royal Docks for the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI).

This year, in the shadow of the war and genocide in Gaza, there was added controversy because 51 Israeli arms companies were among the 1600 exhibitors, undermining the gesture from the government, which is a co-organiser, not to invite an official Israeli delegation.

Among the hundreds of protesters this year were trades unionists, and religious and community leaders representing all sides of Newham’s diverse population.

During the fair from 9-12 September, protesters from across the UK gathered outside the Excel centre. A trenchant statement from Newham’s community organisations highlighted why the event is not welcome and how it does not reflect the values of the community.

“The arms industry profits from violence, exploitation, and the suffering of people across the world,” it said. “Hosting an arms fair in Newham dishonours our communities and makes our city complicit in the machinery of war.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said the exhibition conflicts with the values of a global city that is home to people affected by violence and conflict and Newham’s Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, has called the event “abhorrent and unwelcome”, adding that it undermines Newham’s status as a Borough of Sanctuary.

The community leaders acknowledged the widespread protest movement which has targeted the arms fair and also called for more actions from political leaders to stop future arms fairs from being held in Newham.

“Alongside organisations of conscience across London and beyond, we commit ourselves to opposing DSEI and to speaking out against the immoral trade in weapons,” they said.

Among the almost 50 organisations and individuals from different faiths and community organisations who issued the statement, were Imam Muhammad Ali, from Masjid e Quba; Rev Becca Rogers, from Ascension Church; Ann-Marie Ashton, representing the Born Everywhere Made In Newham network; Kamal Hussain, of Central Park Community Centre; and Mizan Rahman, of the Royal Docks Welfare Association.

On 7 September, trades unionists also gathered to protest. Teachers were angered that Lockheed Martin—the largest US arms manufacturer—was allegedly supplying colouring sheets for UK primary schools that included images of F-35 fighter jets, the same aircraft now used to rain death on Gaza.

An activist who had been jailed and tortured after the Arab Spring in Bahrain recalled that, as he was dragged away, the shackles on his wrists bore the words “Made in Britain.”

Newham medics at the protest also spoke of their campaign against the data company Palantir, which in 2023 was awarded a £330 million contract with NHS England to manage a new federated data platform. Palantir works with both the Israeli military and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and is a Bronze sponsor of DSEI 2025, exhibiting in the Tech Zone at Stand S16-120.

Eleanor, a theatre worker who lives in the south of the Borough, summed up the feelings of many: “I feel sickened that the arms fair at ExCeL hosts arms firms that manufacture weapons to kill civilians. I don’t think they should be in our community. Genocide is being perpetuated on our doorstep.”

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