And protests against Elbit in the Nederlands and great Dutch media coverage of the issues according to this report: Intimidated Elbit minimizes presence at Rotterdam arms fair due to commotion By Sonja Zimmermann (docp.nl) On November 20, seven organizations and some 50 individual activists staged a protest against the NIDV arms fair held at the AHOY in Rotterdam. The activists gathered in front of the AHOY exhibition hall chanting anti-war slogans and brandishing posters against war profiteering. They protested against the likes of Elbit and Lockheed Martin, companies that amassed huge profits as a result of the wars on Gaza and Iraq respectively. At 9.15 a.m. Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis made her appearance. In May, during a trip to Israel, Minister Hennis strengthened Dutch ties with Elbit by contracting the company for the maintenance of Dutch F-16s and Apaches. A delegation of the activists, accompanied by an impressive show of press, handed her a letter demanding that the Netherlands cease their military cooperation with Israel and put an end to the maintenance contract with Elbit. The NIDV organizers downplayed the arms fair, saying that the event consisted of a symposium for exchange of expertise and information, and that there were no arms on display. However, the announcement of the protest a few days before appeared to have caused considerable commotion.As a result Elbit decided not to display its new missile system at the fair, but to limit its presentation to a stall with leaflets. This was reported by the Dutch rightwing morning paper DeTelegraaf, after which the press ran out to follow the events. Many media reported on the letter to minister Hennis, wrote that Elbit stayed away , that Arms trade benefits from conflicts, that Bad news for the world is good news for the defense industry etc. The team that sent away Elbit Meanwhile, at the Rotterdam city council, the representatives of the Socialist Party and the NIDA Party urged the municipality not to allow future arms exhibitions to be organized in Rotterdam, but to follow the example of Amsterdam. For most media this was the first time to hear about arms producer Elbit and the contract between the Dutch Ministry of Defense and Elbit. The arms fair received unprecedented media attention thanks to the protest. At Rotterdam Central Station, Socialist Party representative Leo Klein The protest was organized by DocP together with the Netherlands Palestine Committee, Youth for Palestine, Stop Arms Trade,//the Socialist Party, GroenLinks Rotterdam and NIDA Rotterdam. Reports: rijnmond.nl/nieuws/20-11-2014/actie-tegen-wapenbeurs-ahoy-rotterdam headlines.nl/7272117/Het-ongemak-van-de-wapenbeurs/ nidarotterdam.nl/nieuwsberichten/oppleurten-uit-rotterdam-met-jullie-wapenhandel-voor-oorlogsmisdaden/#.VHNHRtLF-KQ stopwapenhandel.org/NIDV2014 rotterdam.sp.nl/nieuws/2014/11/sp-geen-wapengekletter-op-rotterdams-grondgebied
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 12:38:24 +0000
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