Ahoy Rotterdam smeared with fake blood ahead of arms fair; 3 protesters arrested
Activists smeared fake blood on the facade of Ahoy Rotterdam where a weapons fair started on Thursday. They also painted slogans on the windows and showed banners accusing Ahoy Rotterdam and event sponsor KPN of culpability in funding war crimes. “Arms are for hugging,” one banner read. The police have already arrested three protesters.
The Rotterdam authorities expected even more unrest than usual around the weapons fair given the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Mayor Carola Schouten designated a fenced and gated area for demonstrations.
But by 8:00 a.m., demonstrators had already broken out of the fenced area and defaced the facade of the building. The police intervened and drove the protesters back into the designated area with batons, AD reported.
Three protesters have already been arrested, including one for spraypainting “Ahoy complicit in genocide,” translated from Dutch, on the glass wall of the building. Other protesters chanted that Ahoy has blood on its hands.
Verzet Tegen Oorlog (VeTO) officially registered the demonstration against the weapons fair with the municipality of Rotterdam. Many other organizations called their followers to join, including Extinction Rebellion and several Palestine support organizations.
“I am here because it bothers my conscience that there is an arms fair here, in my city,” a protester at the scene told Rijnmond. “I am here for peace. It is now even more relevant than in recent years to say something about it: companies that are at the fair today are developing weapons that have been used on people.”
It has been restless around Ahoy and KPN all week, Rijnmond reported. The facades of the two parties have been defaced with fake blood almost every day.
“Two weeks of actions, a motion in the city council, and repeated calls from Rotterdammers to cancel the arms fair are completely ignored by the city council, the government, Ahoy, and main sponsor KPN. Everything has to make way for the arms fair. It shows once again that the government and big companies mainly protect each other’s interests and don’t care what the ordinary citizen wants,” Extinction Rebellion said on Instagram.
Ahoy calls the event a Defense Fair, the official name is NIDV Exhibition Defense & Security.
