Friends reflect after DSEI arms fair

‘One thing I came to believe on our journey is that peace is an eternal process, without an endpoint.’

Quakers who feel overwhelmed after the DSEI arms fair should practise self-care, urged Quaker Roots, as the four-day event drew to a close. In a newsletter sent to its supporters, the organisers of the network said: ‘If you find yourself tired, glum or raging after the exertion and emotions of the last few days, these are perfectly reasonable responses. Remember to nourish yourself.’

The comments came as Friends reflected on days of witness at the ExCel Centre trade show, whose invitees included eight countries on the Foreign Office’s ‘watch list’, including Colombia, Bangladesh and Egypt.

Almost 200 Quakers and others witnessed at a silent candlelit vigil outside the centre the night before the fair opened. Earlier that day, Friends visited arms company offices in London as part of a walk of witness. Others took part in a Peace Pilgrimage from Oxford. ‘One thing I came to believe on our journey is that peace is an eternal process, without an endpoint,’ said Adam Woods, from Carlton Hill Meeting in Leeds, who took part in the pilgrimage. ‘It is a pilgrimage of the heart. It is not merely the absence of conflict.’

Elsewhere, Friends upheld the activists, including Falmouth Quakers who held a vigil and ‘educated the public about this abhorrent fair’, they said on social media. Quakers were also mentioned in The Guardian’s coverage of the arms fair.

Nine Quakers were arrested at the ‘No Faith in War Day’ on 7 September. They were released on pre-charge bail.

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