What are the DSEi bells pray tell?
DSEi bells are set to be the biggest tribal liturgical monastic bombastic samba band Eva formed of all festival revelers and friends ringing their bell at DSEI!! Each bell represents SOMETHING we WANT the arms traders to take note of!!
- THE ARMS TRADE is scary: lets raise the alarm bells!
- But also the meditative and reflective bell that calls for change...
Peace Is More Than The Absence Of War
The practice session is over now is the time for the performance c'mon join the DSEi bells.. you know you have always wanted to be in band.. even if just for a day.
What is DSEi?
DSEi is one of the biggest arms fairs in the world. For one week every two years, in East London, 1400 arms companies display their weapons to buyers from around the world, including authoritarian regimes and countries with serious human rights problems. The UK government helps to organise this arms fair, invites these repressive regimes, and helps arms companies to make deals, at taxpayer expense. All this happens through an organisation SPEAK has campaigned to close; the DSO (part of UKTI). This has to stop, and together we can stop it.
https://www.caat.org.uk/issues/arms-fairs/dsei
What's more SPEAK people already helped to close DSO's big brother DESO. This happened last time we made a major scale effort to BUS people in to BUSt the arms traders out..
DSEi is taking place in London on September 15th- 18th and there is a whole week of action planned by a coalition of groups to stop the arms fair the week before http://www.stopthearmsfair.org.uk (this coalition includes SPEAK AND CAAT). Different groups are taking action throughout the week with different actions on different day. Our day is September 14th 2015.
This YEARS SPEAK DAY OF ACTION September 14th 2015 11am
11am - Talk and explanation by keynote SPEAKers (location To Be disclosed)
12.30pm - Brief practice (watch for the songs and demonstration videos some maybe posted in advance)
2pm - Gather outside arms fair (Excel Centre location to be disclosed)
2pm-4pm - Perform the DSEi Bells from various different performance groups
2:15 - performance from the samba section
2:45 - performance form the church bell ringers section give peace chance and other bell based
3.15pm - The Gathering of the Arms Traders Take Note Petition; gathering the notes on the off scale on a wall hanging petition!! THIS will be.. temporarily displayed near the entrance of DSEi.. but in a few months after more action it is to be taken and handed in at DSO..
4pm-5pm - Peace meal, breaking bread (rumor has it someone with a special oven may be baking bread shaped drones - or perhaps that was just an over enthusiastic flower model brainstorm - lets see, there will definitely be bread though)
6.30pm - Silent Reflection- We are joining in this wider action with a peaceful faith group from the stop the arms fair coalition http://www.stopthearmsfair.org.uk. For the bi-annual silence (The silence has been traditionally part of the action at DSEi for quite a few years in a row... the silence is the only time when protestors are actually allowed on site. It's amazing how these dates naturally coincided.. we have noise then silence).
7.30pm DSEi Bells Peace festival chillax after party.. look out for the link and DJ Music form looped exodus from MUSIC SPEAKS /SPEAK/...IN HOLLAND TBC ..Location. The scale of the after party depends on volunteers and capacity!! However there will definitely be some collective relaxation!!!! It may be flopping in a chair.. or it may bopping away with b-bop note taking!!!..If you want to help get in touch admin@speak.org.uk
Preparing For This Years Day of Action
PRACTICING BEFOREHAND
If YOU AND YOUR GROUP can pick a note and get hold of some hand bells (possible to get hold of a small hand bell set on line with a bit of searching).. and learn all the anthems as a group like 'Give PEACE Chance'. Then you will be in an ideal position on the day to raise the bells! We would love for groups to post on line demonstration videos of you all enthusiastically playing various peace anthems!! Either with hand bell set or with samba! Lets hear the sound peeps! Post videos to our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TheSpeakNetwork
Please let us know your coming on facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/1545026219083576/
Arms Traders- Take Note...Our Concerns are Off the Scale!!!!