While France and Chile ban Israeli companies from arms shows, Canadian government supports CANSEC

Published by Brent Patterson on June 2, 2024June 2, 2024

Photo: Riot police responded to the protest at the CANSEC arms show on May 29 in Ottawa against the Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems and other companies profiting from the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

While the Trudeau government provided unqualified support to the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa this past week, the Boric government in Chile and the Macron government in France have taken a different response to Israeli weapons companies participating in the major weapons shows in their countries.

While multiple Israeli weapons companies have been prohibited from taking part in FIDAE in Chile (April 9-14) and Eurosatory in France (June 17-21), Elbit Systems was welcomed at CANSEC in Canada (May 29-30).

Elbit Systems                                                                      

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Action Center for Corporate Accountability has noted: “Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems is one of the primary suppliers of weapons and surveillance systems to the Israeli military, including Skylark and Hermes military UAV drones, which form the majority of Israel’s fleet of large drones and have been used extensively in Gaza.”

The AFSC adds: “On April 1, a Hermes 450 drone attacked three vehicles of the humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen near Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The attack resulted in the killing of seven aid workers who were managing food shipments. They were from Palestine, Australia, Poland, the U.K., and a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada.”

France

Reuters reports: “France has banned Israeli companies from participating in this year’s annual Eurosatory arms and defence industry exhibition in Villepinte near Paris, the event’s organisers and the French Defence Ministry said on Friday [May 31].”

Eurosatory is one of the largest arms exhibitions in the world.

The French  Defence Ministry told Reuters that: “Conditions are no longer met to host Israeli companies at the show at a time when the President is calling for Israel to cease operations in Rafah.”

Seventy-four Israeli firms were set to attend the event from June 17-21 at fairgrounds close to Paris’s main international airport.

Chile

This follows the decision of the Chilean government to prohibit Israeli companies from taking part in the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE), Latin America’s biggest aerospace fair, on April 9-14.

BBC reports that FIDAE is “considered one of the most important security, defense and aeronautics exhibitions in Latin America.”

El Pais adds: “Local media have reported that it was President Boric himself who ordered the steps to exclude Israel from FIDAE, a fair that takes place at the II Air Brigade of the FACh, next to the international airport of the Chilean capital [of Santiago], where the specialized and general public attends.”

At a media conference on March 8, Boric stated: “What is happening in Gaza is unacceptable and it would not seem prudent or coherent to me that Israeli companies come to expose weapons to Chile under these conditions.”

It is believed that about 16 Israeli companies would have exhibited at FIDAE this year.

CANSEC, May 29-30 in Ottawa

In sharp contrast, several cabinet ministers, including Defence Minister Bill Blair, spoke at the CANSEC arms show in Ottawa last week. Global Affairs Canada has also provided $450,352.00 in funding to CADSI, the organizers of CANSEC, over the past two years. Various government bodies, including the Trade Commissioner Service and the Canadian Commercial Corporation, participated in CANSEC this year.

DSEI, September 2025

In the coming months, the international community will be looking at the decisions made in this regard by the biennial Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms show that will take place in London, UK from September 9-12, 2025.

In August 2021, London Mayor Sadiq Khan told DSEI organizers to “reconsider” their event and not return to the city.

Khan said London is the “home to many people who have fled conflict and suffered as a consequence” of weapons “like those exhibited at DSEI” and that “for it to be used as a marketplace for those who wish to trade in weapons to some countries that contribute to human rights abuses goes completely against our values.”

We continue to follow this.