Liverpool mobilises against the AOC Europe arms fair

After two decades of war in Afghanistan, there is no option but to protest a conference for companies complicit in human rights violations

A national protest against an upcoming arms fair took place in Liverpool on 11 September with over 3,000 people in attendance. Jeremy Corbyn and Maxine Peake were among those who showed support. In his speech to the gathered crowd of protestors Corbyn urged, ‘let’s turn the page and learn the lessons from the past. Let humanity prevail.’ 

AOC Europe, the Association of Old Crows’ electronic warfare conference, is set to be hosted by the city’s ACC Exhibition Centre between 11 and 13 October. For an event of this nature to occur in the wake of US withdrawal from Afghanistan, feels particularly offensive. The ongoing effects of human rights violations perpetrated by Western intervention in the Middle-East are playing out in Afghanistan as I write these words. It is no secret that arms companies have directly profited from this conflict. At least seven of such companies are on the list to attend the fair, including Textron, MBDA, L3 Harris and Teledyne. 

Liverpool mobilises against the AOC Europe arms fair | Red Pepper