Campaigners hope to prove the pen is mightier than the tank by handing out a one-off newspaper before the arms fair arrives this autumn.

Newham Recorder: Activists from Campaign Against the Arms Trade present their campaigning newspaper called Newham Adversary to inform residents about the upcoming Arms Fair at the ExCeL Centre, Custom House.Activists from Campaign Against the Arms Trade present their campaigning newspaper called Newham Adversary to inform residents about the upcoming Arms Fair at the ExCeL Centre, Custom House. (Image: Archant)

The DSEi Arms Fair is the world’s biggest defence and security exhibition which makes the ExCeL London centre in Custom House its home every two years.

This year, it will march into the borough from September 10 to September 13 but a coalition of activists from Stop the Arms Fair, Campaign Against the Arms Trade, Disarm DSEi, and East London Against the Arms Fair will do their best to stop them in their tracks.

The Newham Adversary newspaper, launched on Saturday, will be posted through residents’ letterboxes and handed out to commuters at train stations in the coming weeks.

Last time, 750 copies of the Adversary were handed out but the print run has been stretched to 3,000 this year.

An international section has also been created with articles written in Gujarati, Punjabi, and Urdu to reflect Newham’s diverse population.

Gwyn Jones, from Forest Gate, said: “We need to share information about plans made here in Newham that will cause so much suffering all over the world.”

Chris Browne, editor of The Newham Adversary, said: “As individuals who think there is something very wrong with the idea of selling deadly weapons in pursuit of corporate profit, we feel it is extremely important to do everything we can to shut down DSEi.

“But the arms trade doesn’t exist in a vacuum; its events have to take place somewhere. For DSEi, that ‘somewhere’ is Newham.

“The Adversary is a big part of Stop the Arms Fair coalition’s public outreach.

“We wanted to get the message out to Newham residents - many of whom hate the arms fair taking place in their borough - that it’s easy to get involved in the campaign; together we can make sure DSEi 2013 is the last ever to darken our doorstep.”

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