Join Us To Resist Britain’s Biggest Arms Fair On 9th September 2025
Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) – one of the world’s largest arms fairs – returns to London’s ExCeL Centre between 9th-12th September 2025.
DSEI is a marketplace in death and destruction. It takes place every two years and is where arms dealers and politicians meet and make deals for genocide, war, and more human rights abuses. This is where they stock up on the latest lethal weapons and tools for repression – all with the backing of the British state.
British colonial violence did not end when hard fought liberation struggles were waged around the globe. Instead, as empires crumbled, global colonial and imperialist forces adapted. Now, arms fairs, like DSEI UK, continue to back the profiteers of state-led death, occupation and violence that has never ceased.
In 2023, 1500 exhibitors, including the world’s largest and worst arms dealers, networked with 3250 delegates representing 100 countries. This included official government invited delegations from Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Bahrain, Turkey and Qatar.
This is where war starts. This is where repressive border policies start. This is where torture starts. This is where the contacts are made and the lucrative deals done that fuel genocide, war crimes and human rights abuses around the world. This is why we have to shut it down.
Israel always plays a prominent role at DSEI, with the UK government inviting an official Israeli government delegation. If this happens in 2025, it will be our government continuing to roll out the red carpet to legitimise and enable war criminals coming to shop for even deadlier weapons to wage their genocide against Palestinian people.
In 2023, in addition to Brigadier General Dr Danny Gold, head of directorate of defense research and development for the Israeli Ministry of Defence giving a keynote speech, Israel had its own country pavilion with 48 domestic Israeli arms companies exhibiting at the event. These are companies that are directly responsible for, and directly profiting from, Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Israel Aerospace Industries is already advertising its presence at DSEI with a brochure of weapons the IOF has used to commit genocide in Gaza. This will be a huge opportunity for Israeli companies to market military equipment that is no longer just “battle-tested” but now genocide tested, to a global audience.
DSEI is massively important to the British government. We can shut it down – but only if we have numbers! It is hoping we’ll be scared to take to the streets. But we say no! We say we’ll stop genocide profiteers in their tracks. This is our moment to come together, across our movements, to show that proscription won’t stop us taking actions against the arms trade.
Book time off work now! Crash space accommodation available in London – please get in touch if you need funding towards travel or any accessibility needs.
The Big One is part of two weeks of action against DSEI coordinated by Stop the Arms Fair. We’re choosing to target the first day of the fair – but there are two weeks of action – stay for longer and get involved!