On the 3rd of December, activists in Bristol, UK, joined CAAT (Campaign Against Arms Trade) to demonstrate outside of the various arms companies (e.g. Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Thales Group, Boeing and Airbus) in the Bristol area that supply weapons to Saudi Arabia. Together, the activists remembered the ongoing war crimes against Yemeni people.

“The UK has supplied billions of pounds worth of fighter jets, bombs and missiles to the Saudi-led coalition for use in their unjust war in Yemen. This war has been raging for 8 years with (according to the UN) a death toll of 377,000, 8,983 of which were civilians killed in their homes, farms, schools and hospitals. It is Bristol's dirty secret that it and the surrounding area are home to 45 companies directly or indirectly linked with the military. Companies like Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, Thales Group, MBDA, Leonardo, Boeing and Airbus have directly contributed to these deaths by providing arms to a regime that repeatedly violates International Humanitarian Law. They have blood on their hands, the activists said.

“Yet the death toll of the Bristol Arms Trade doesn't stop in Yemen. Erdogan's fascist regime in Turkey has committed war crimes, chemical warfare and massacre against Kurdish guerrillas and civilians alike. Their ever-present war against the Kurds has escalated even further in recent times, with large regions of Kurdistan from Şehba to Kobanê, Dêrik to Şengal and the Quendîl mountains now under constant attack. Companies with a presence in Bristol have been complicit in this in providing the arms used by Turkey's horrific campaign against the Kurdish people. Indeed, recent evidence directly shows that Boeing provided components in rockets used within Rojava (Western Kurdistan). While the picture attached shows demonstrators outside of the Bristol branch of BAE Systems which, in 2017, signed a £125m deal to jointly develop Turkey’s TF-X Fighter jet with Turkish Aerospace.”

The demonstrators denounced the Bristol Arms Trade and the evil it has done in the name of profit throughout the world.