LONDON: Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered Tuesday outside a major arms fair in London as it opened without the presence of Israeli government officials because of tension between Britain and Israel over the Gaza conflict.
Police watched as around 300 protesters waved Palestinian flags and held up placards including one reading “UK: Stop arming Israel. Stop the Gaza Genocide.”
The British government excluded the officials from the four-day event, but 51 Israeli defense companies are set to attend, including major arms manufacturer Elbit.
Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries, both government-owned, will also have exhibitions, making Israel the fifth-largest national contingent at the fair at the Excel London exhibition center.
The Israeli companies “should be investigated for crimes against humanity, not invited to profit from the unspeakable devastation they have caused in Gaza,” Campaign Against Arms Trade spokesperson Emily Apple said in a statement.
Britain’s defense ministry announced at the end of August that no Israeli government delegation had been invited, citing Israel’s “decision to further escalate its military operation in Gaza.”
Israel labelled the exclusion of its officials from the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) fair as “discrimination.”
At the same time, Israeli President Isaac Herzog is due in London on Tuesday for a three-day official visit.
‘Offensive weapons’
The arms fair “includes unrivalled access to international governments, ministries of defense... alongside all UK front line commands,” according to the DSEI UK website.
A record number of exhibitors and visitors are expected at the event, as global conflicts including the Russia-Ukraine war have prompted European and other governments to ramp up military spending.
France, which is also represented at the show, had in June blocked access to the stands of several Israeli arms manufacturers at the Paris Air show for displaying what it termed “offensive weapons.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Britain will formally recognize a Palestinian state later this month if Israel does not take steps, including agreeing to a ceasefire in the Gaza war, which was sparked by the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.
London has suspended trade talks with Israel over the conflict, as well as some export licenses for arms used in Gaza, but some UK-made parts, such as components for Israeli F-35 jets, are still exported.
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Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally outside London arms show
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Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators rally outside London arms show
- The British government excluded the officials from the four-day event, but 51 Israeli defense companies are set to attend
European leaders expected to cement support for Ukraine amid Washington pressure to accept deal
BERLIN (AP) — European leaders are expected to cement support for Ukraine Monday as it faces Washington’s pressure to swiftly accept a U.S.-brokered peace deal.
After Sunday’s talks in Berlin between U.S. envoys and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian and European officials are set to continue a series of meetings in an effort to secure the continent’s peace and security in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia.
Zelenskyy sat down Sunday with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in the German federal chancellery in the hopes of bringing the nearly four-year war to a close.
Washington has tried for months to navigate the demands of each side as Trump presses for a swift end to Russia’s war and grows increasingly exasperated by delays. The search for possible compromises has run into major obstacles, including control of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which is mostly occupied by Russian forces.
Zelenskyy on Sunday voiced readiness to drop his country’s bid to join NATO if the U.S. and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to NATO members. But Ukraine continued to reject the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia.
Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the part of the Donetsk region still under its control among the key conditions for peace.
The Russian president also has cast Ukraine’s bid to join NATO as a major threat to Moscow’s security and a reason for launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine renounce the bid for alliance membership as part of any prospective peace settlement.
Zelenskyy emphasized that any Western security assurances would need to be legally binding and supported by the U.S. Congress.
‘Pax Americana’ is over
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has spearheaded European efforts to support Ukraine alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said Saturday that “the decades of the ‘Pax Americana’ are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as well.”
He warned that Putin’s aim is “a fundamental change to the borders in Europe, the restoration of the old Soviet Union within its borders.”
“If Ukraine falls, he won’t stop,” Merz warned during a party conference in Munich.
Macron, meanwhile, vowed Sunday on social platform X that “France is, and will remain, at Ukraine’s side to build a robust and lasting peace — one that can guarantee Ukraine’s security and sovereignty, and that of Europe, over the long term.”
Putin has denied plans to attack any European allies.
After Sunday’s talks in Berlin between U.S. envoys and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian and European officials are set to continue a series of meetings in an effort to secure the continent’s peace and security in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia.
Zelenskyy sat down Sunday with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in the German federal chancellery in the hopes of bringing the nearly four-year war to a close.
Washington has tried for months to navigate the demands of each side as Trump presses for a swift end to Russia’s war and grows increasingly exasperated by delays. The search for possible compromises has run into major obstacles, including control of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which is mostly occupied by Russian forces.
Zelenskyy on Sunday voiced readiness to drop his country’s bid to join NATO if the U.S. and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to NATO members. But Ukraine continued to reject the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia.
Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the part of the Donetsk region still under its control among the key conditions for peace.
The Russian president also has cast Ukraine’s bid to join NATO as a major threat to Moscow’s security and a reason for launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine renounce the bid for alliance membership as part of any prospective peace settlement.
Zelenskyy emphasized that any Western security assurances would need to be legally binding and supported by the U.S. Congress.
‘Pax Americana’ is over
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has spearheaded European efforts to support Ukraine alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said Saturday that “the decades of the ‘Pax Americana’ are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as well.”
He warned that Putin’s aim is “a fundamental change to the borders in Europe, the restoration of the old Soviet Union within its borders.”
“If Ukraine falls, he won’t stop,” Merz warned during a party conference in Munich.
Macron, meanwhile, vowed Sunday on social platform X that “France is, and will remain, at Ukraine’s side to build a robust and lasting peace — one that can guarantee Ukraine’s security and sovereignty, and that of Europe, over the long term.”
Putin has denied plans to attack any European allies.
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