Islander Natalie Strecker (44) was one of hundreds trying to stop vehicles delivering equipment and arms to the ExCel London exhibition centre ahead of the Defence and Security Equipment International event. The fair is due to run for four days from next Tuesday.
Ms Strecker said: ‘We know that weapons are sold to countries that contribute to contravening international law and crimes against humanity. We are trying to prevent the fair from taking place and stop the weapons from being delivered. We feel it is our moral obligation to.
She added: ‘We were successful in the sense we managed to slow down trucks and managed to kneel in front of trucks and stop some vehicles.’
Ahead of the event, the UK’s Minister for Defence Procurement, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said: ‘DSEI showcases the best of British defence technology and innovation on the world stage. The UK government looks forward to engaging with strategic partners, international delegations and pioneering defence companies on the global defence and security agenda.’
During the protest, Ms Strecker, the founder of the Jersey Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, wore a white lab coat, stained with imitation blood, and held a placard bearing the name of Rouzan al-Najjar. The 20-year-old Palestinian paramedic was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces while volunteering as a medic during the 2018 Gaza border protests.
She was fatally hit by a bullet that ricocheted from a shot on the ground.
Ms Strecker said she would be dissolving the Jersey Palestinian Solidarity Campaign following its event later this month – a talk by Dr Ghada Karmi on US President Donald Trump’s so-called ‘Deal of the Century’ – an American peace proposal intended to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
The free event is due to take place on Thursday 26 September at the Old Magistrate’s Court building on Seale Street. Donations are welcome.
Explaining why the local campaign group, which has been running for four years, was being dissolved, Ms Strecker said it was a mixture of costs, time and lack of appetite for activism in Jersey. She said she has to pay £370 a year in public liability insurance to have their stall outside Boots on Queen Street.
‘I think there is an appetite for the cause, even holidaymakers come up and say how pleased they are to see a stall in Jersey. I think the appetite is there but it’s just the activism. In Jersey you only have to look at voting records – there is just general disengagement. People are not used to taking a stance.’
