LONDON: A vigil organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign has been held in London against the Defense & Security Equipment International arms fair, one of the biggest defense-sector events in the world.
The vigil called on London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has previously voiced opposition to DSEI, to cancel the event.
DSEI, a biennial fair due to begin on Sept. 12, will be attended by hundreds of arms manufacturers and dealers, including firms based in or doing business with Israel.
PSC said in a statement that the fair promotes the use of lethal equipment against “indigenous and marginalized communities across the world,” including the Palestinians.
It added that Israeli companies and the Israel Defense Forces use weapons and equipment exhibited at DSEI against the Palestinians, and then advertise and sell them to other customers as “battle-tested.”
Ben Jamal, PSC director, said DSEI “provides a venue to Israel’s apartheid regime to buy weapons, and allows Israeli arms companies to sell their lethal weapons developed through Israel’s attacks on Palestinians to other repressive states. The arms fair must be shut down.
“In addition, we call on the British government to end the arms trade between the UK and Israel through the introduction of a comprehensive military embargo, as Palestinian civil society has repeatedly demanded.”
Pro-Palestine protesters urge London mayor to cancel arms fair
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Pro-Palestine protesters urge London mayor to cancel arms fair
- Vigil held to oppose DSEI, one of the world’s biggest defense-sector events
- ‘We call on the British government to end the arms trade between the UK and Israel’
What is Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’?
- The Board of Peace’s charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory of Gaza
- Trump will be chairman but also “separately serve as inaugural representative of the United States of America”
BRUSSELS: US President Donald Trump’s government has asked countries to pay $1 billion for a permanent spot on his “Board of Peace” aimed at resolving conflicts, according to its charter seen by AFP.
The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of war-torn Gaza, but the charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.
What exactly will it do? And who has been invited?
- To what end? -
The Board of Peace will be chaired by Trump, according to its founding charter.
It is “an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict,” reads the preamble of the charter sent to countries invited to participate.
It will “undertake such peace-building functions in accordance with international law,” it adds.
- Who’s boss? -
Trump will be chairman but also “separately serve as inaugural representative of the United States of America.”
“The Chairman shall have exclusive authority to create, modify, or dissolve subsidiary entities as necessary or appropriate to fulfill the Board of Peace’s mission,” the document states.
He will pick members of an Executive Board to be “leaders of global stature” to “serve two-year terms, subject to removal by the Chairman.”
He may also, “acting on behalf of the Board of Peace,” “adopt resolutions or other directives.”
The chairman can be replaced only in case of “voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity.”
- Who can be a member? -
Member states have to be invited by the US president, and will be represented by their head of state or government.
Each member “shall serve a term of no more than three years,” the charter says.
But “the three-year membership term shall not apply to Member States that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force,” it adds.
The board will “convene voting meetings at least annually,” and “each member State shall have one vote.”
But while all decisions require “a majority of Member States present and voting,” they will also be “subject to the approval of the Chairman, who may also cast a vote in his capacity as Chairman in the event of a tie.”
- Who’s already in? -
The White House has said its members will include:
US President Donald Trump, chair
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special negotiator
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law
Tony Blair, former UK prime minister
Marc Rowan, billionaire US financier
Ajay Banga, World Bank president
Robert Gabriel, loyal Trump aide on the National Security Council
- Who’s been invited? -
The list of countries and leaders who say they have been invited include, but are not limited to:
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi
Argentina’s President Javier Milei
Jordan
Brazil
Paraguay
India
Pakistan
Germany
France
Italy
Hungary
Romania
Uzbekistan
Belarus
Greece
Morocco
Slovenia
Poland
- When does it start? -
The charter says it enters into force “upon expression of consent to be bound by three States.”
