action against racism

[rioters bloc]

so apparently tonight at the meeting there were two types of actions which had to be decided between: 1. a mass rally from town hall to parliament house 2. a series of decentralised, guerilla style actions with groups of four people [the nature of which is a little sensitive]

it seems the mass rally won out <_<

meh, i guess its okay, will get more people involved at least.. isn&#39;t as potentially alienating or distant.

so for anyone who wants to come, meet this sunday at 1pm at town hall steps.

i&#39;m working :/ but i&#39;ll give my camera to my bf and i&#39;ll post photos up


oh and info for why there is an action can be found here

peace out.

[chebol]

It wasn&#39;t a choice between two different types of actions- or it shouldn&#39;t have been.

There is a real need (and a real potential) for a large antiracism rally that involves broad sections of the community. This was a priority to organise because it takes more energy and effort to to do so.

There was no decision *not* to do or support smaller actions. There is a speak-out outside parliament this Thursday in response to the government giving the police more powers and severely increasing penalties for certain offences. Noone was stoping those with access to dung either.

The point at which these proposals seemed to get counterposed was when those solely intent on the dispersed, small (and I might add far less effective by themselves) actions walked out, refusing to take part in organising the rally. Some of these people also interrupted others during discussion asserting that no collective decision could be reached &#39;because we disagreed&#39;. Ie. They wanted no part in a large "boring" action.

It has to be realised that this issue is bigger than 110 students and the far-left sitting in UTS SA on a Tuesday night. The only way to organise the biggest response to the racism of the last few weeks is by working together- not trying to couterpose &#39;fun&#39; dispersed actions to &#39;boring&#39; big central rallies.

Ditto with arguments that we should all go to Cronulla......

[rioters bloc]

Originally posted by chebol@Dec 14 2005, 12:34 PM
It wasn&#39;t a choice between two different types of actions- or it shouldn&#39;t have been.

There is a real need (and a real potential) for a large antiracism rally that involves broad sections of the community. This was a priority to organise because it takes more energy and effort to to do so.

There was no decision *not* to do or support smaller actions. There is a speak-out outside parliament this Thursday in response to the government giving the police more powers and severely increasing penalties for certain offences. Noone was stoping those with access to dung either.

The point at which these proposals seemed to get counterposed was when those solely intent on the dispersed, small (and I might add far less effective by themselves) actions walked out, refusing to take part in organising the rally. Some of these people also interrupted others during discussion asserting that no collective decision could be reached &#39;because we disagreed&#39;. Ie. They wanted no part in a large "boring" action.

It has to be realised that this issue is bigger than 110 students and the far-left sitting in UTS SA on a Tuesday night. The only way to organise the biggest response to the racism of the last few weeks is by working together- not trying to couterpose &#39;fun&#39; dispersed actions to &#39;boring&#39; big central rallies.

Ditto with arguments that we should all go to Cronulla......

ye, i&#39;d only heard a little bit when i posted the call-out - i&#39;ve since heard from my bf that the anarchists behaved really badly and just walked out contemptuously. normally he&#39;s with them but he felt it was just really rude of them. and when he joined them later on they were all sitting around and laughing about horse shit and he really just got the shits with everything.

the march is to nsw parliament house, right?

what were the reasons for having it there?

[ComradeOm]

Was this meeting just far left groups or more mainstream anti-racist groups?

People have got to realise that there&#39;s no harm in co-operating with elements of the bourgeoisie or labour aritsocracy if you have common goals. A "holier than thou" attitude does little good.

[rioters bloc]

Originally posted by ComradeOm@Dec 14 2005, 10:52 PM
Was this meeting just far left groups or more mainstream anti-racist groups?

People have got to realise that there&#39;s no harm in co-operating with elements of the bourgeoisie or labour aritsocracy if you have common goals. A "holier than thou" attitude does little good.

it was for everyone, anyone who wanted to come basically.

i agree, like chebol said having one big rally doesn&#39;t stop other groups from taking separate actions as well - i mean the rally will go for what, maybe 2-3 hours? there&#39;s plenty of stuff that can be done.

i&#39;m currently working on doing a stencil run, but ive only got 3 stencils so far and no time to make some and theyre all more anti-nazism than racism, and id like some anti-racist ones to highlight that its not just the neo-nazis that are racist, but most elements of australian society.

if anyone has any post em up please&#33;

[Nathe]

this is in sydney right?
cause i live in melbourne
so if theres any anti racist action there, post it up

[Hiero]

2. a series of decentralised, guerilla style actions with groups of four people [the nature of which is a little sensitive]

Who proposed this, and what was meant to be done by this style. Who ever proposed this is an idiot. It is a great way to make an anti-racist movement quickly unpopular.

[rioters bloc]

Originally posted by Hiero@Dec 15 2005, 01:43 PM
Who proposed this, and what was meant to be done by this style. Who ever proposed this is an idiot. It is a great way to make an anti-racist movement quickly unpopular.

well they&#39;re still doing it, just alongside the bigger action, the rally.

i believe the mutiny kids are undertaking it.

news of the rally has spread so fast, ive gotten about 15 txt messages and 8 emails, mostly from people who aren&#39;t political at all, which is great - it shows that this is beyond ideologies or whatever and really is about uniting against racism. and i stencilled over the city today with an anti-racism graphic and "Smash Racism: 1pm 18/12/05 Town Hall".

three people came up to me while i was stencilling to ask about the rally, and one when i was in the lift carrying the stencil. haha he asked me if it was &#39;real&#39; and said that hed gotten heaps of emails about it but wasnt sure if it was true :P

i didnt have my camera but ill post up a pic of it tomo when i do

and i saw groups of people running around the city postering for the rally too

im actually quite excited now, i think we should get a fairly good turn out - over 2000 at least.

might call in sick to work that day

[rioters bloc]

a bit late [the e-lists have been screwing up but]

***melbourne***

We Refuse to be Divided

The racist riots in Cronulla this week are the result of the Australian government’s War on Terror and its use of race and religion as political tools.

These tactics are designed to divide the working class on ethnic, religious and communal lines so that workers will fight against each other, instead of focusing on the real enemies.

Civil society in Australia is facing its biggest challenge in decades under Howard’s three fold attack to control our class and support the capitalists. The IR laws are designed to leave unions powerless, and to bankrupt us, if we resist. His anti-terror laws are designed to immobilise us by punishing and imprisoning activists. The sedition laws are designed to silence anyone who supports civil liberties, class struggle and unity of the working class.

The detention, arrests and murders of trade unionists and activists in the Asia Pacific region show us that this trend is not unique to Australia. We are not alone in Australia fighting this battle.

In Guantanamo Bay, hundreds of people are being detained without trial or charge under the globalised War on Terror. These are the same politics that target Islamic communities and feed the racial tensions that exploded in Cronulla.

Join the Speak-Out in solidarity with the detainees at Guantanamo Bay and against racism, and say no to communal violence.


Friday 16 December @ 5pm
Bourke Street Mall, near Myer Christmas Window

[rioters bloc]

tomorrow - saturday 16th december

lunch at newtown neighbourhood centre with FREE tabouli&#33;

1pm

[Nathe]

Friday 16 December @ 5pm
Bourke Street Mall, near Myer Christmas Window

fuck, just saw that then
missed it
thanks for the info anyway
next time

can anyone post a link to a good activist calendar?

[rioters bloc]

Originally posted by Nathe@Dec 16 2005, 10:22 PM
fuck, just saw that then
missed it
thanks for the info anyway
next time

can anyone post a link to a good activist calendar?

http://www.active.org.au/

^great stuff

[Forward Union]

Originally posted by ComradeOm@Dec 14 2005, 11:52 AM
Was this meeting just far left groups or more mainstream anti-racist groups?

People have got to realise that there&#39;s no harm in co-operating with elements of the bourgeoisie or labour aritsocracy if you have common goals. A "holier than thou" attitude does little good.

Why would you co-operate with the people who are responsible for the racist climate?

[Nathe]

Originally posted by rioters bloc@Dec 16 2005, 11:28 AM
http://www.active.org.au/

^great stuff

nice site&#33;
thanks for that&#33;

[Amusing Scrotum]

Originally posted by rioters bloc+Dec 16 2005, 11:28 AM--> (rioters bloc @ Dec 16 2005, 11:28 AM)

Nathe

@Dec 16 2005, 10:22 PM
fuck, just saw that then
missed it
thanks for the info anyway
next time

can anyone post a link to a good activist calendar?

http://www.active.org.au/

^great stuff [/b]

I&#39;m going to make a sticky for activist calendars. If anyone has any more please post them here.

[rioters bloc]

here are some photos from this past weekend from www.smh.com.au

there aren&#39;t that many so i didnt bother starting a thread in gfx for it

[Jadan ja]

This question might sound stupid since I am not familiar yet with meaning of symbols in Australia.

On one of the pictures above an arrow is pointed towards southern cross constellation and below that is written "a symbol of racism". Is southern cross really a symbol of racism or did I misinterpret something (is "symbol of racism" refering to something else on the flag or complete flag?)?

[rioters bloc]

Originally posted by Jadan ja@Dec 20 2005, 01:32 AM
This question might sound stupid since I am not familiar yet with meaning of symbols in Australia.

On one of the pictures above an arrow is pointed towards southern cross constellation and below that is written "a symbol of racism". Is southern cross really a symbol of racism or did I misinterpret something (is "symbol of racism" refering to something else on the flag or complete flag?)?

no, they&#39;re referring to the whole flag

1. because australians in general are notriously racist and
2. because the flag represents the invasion of this land by white settlers who didn&#39;t even ahknowledge the original inhabitants... which i guess is where 1. stems from.

[chebol]

For what it&#39;s worth, I counted just under 4000 people at the end of the march, entering Belmore Park.