Re: AUT: RE: antiwar movement

["Kurasje Archive" <kurasje@xxxxxxxxx>]

Well,

That is may be what the whole fuss of the "multitudes of opressed singularities" is all about when it comes to it ?

J.

----- Original Message -----
From: Peter van Heusden

Date: Mon, 22 Mar 2004 10:55:00 +0200
To: aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: AUT: RE: antiwar movement

> >
> > As for unity: The desire for unity within the
> > largest antiwar coalition in Sydney was expressed
> > through denouncing the kids who threw chairs at
> > police as "traitors to the cause". In Melbourne,
> > there was a determined exclusion of any
> > Palestinian issues and presence. In both cases
> > (the kids in Sydney being mostly of Arabic
> > backgrounds and the Palestinian groups in
> > Melbourne), the coalitions were and are determined
> > to exclude the most radical expressions of
> > non-Australian nationalism that exist in those
> > cities as a condition of this unity. When an
> > organiser of the Vict
 orian Peace Network was asked
> > on radio prior to the last round of large protests
> > about the breadth of 'the movement,' he effusively
> > replied that the movement included "everyone", "
> > ... Labor, the Greens, Democrats and even One
> > Nation."
> >
>
> God, and I thought having to worry about Trots and Islamists dominating
> the anti-war movement (as in South Africa) was bad.
>
> What you're describing, though, shows that "the movement" is incredibly
> varied, which isn't at all surprising. We had a small demo in Cape Town
> on Saturday, which was about a 50/50 split between (mostly middle class)
> Muslims and activists from township social movements. The organising
> committee is made up of stale old Trotskyists and a few Muslims, which is
> basically the people who have been bothered and able to get to organising
> committee me
 etings. The Muslims bring in the Palestinian issue big-time,
> the Trots the 'worker issue' of the day (currently a baggage handler
> strike). My personal contribution (which has been limited by illness and
> over-work) was reprint some stuff from Occupation Watch and WCP Iraq, and
> highlight the need to build concrete links across borders (the question
> of the various refugees from African conflicts that are mistreated in SA
> was raised at org. committee meetings but not followed up as yet).
>
> Anyway, the point for me is that "the movement" is seriously dodgy in
> some very important ways, and I feel no loyalty to supporting this. I'm
> not in the anti-war "movement" to advance the movement - I'm there
> because endless war is part of the organisation of what I'm fighting
> against. Personally, I feel that the left has some chip on its shoulder
> about "building unity" which is p
 robably derived from an understanding of
> unity that is centred on some notion of transcendence - the ultimate
> "rightness" of a left programme (although the "masses" might go along at
> this point without understand their "true interests").
>
> Ok, enough ranting...
>
> >
> > I'd be happy to see the antiwar coalitions
> > sacrificed to an agenda which prioritised stopping
> > the war/occupation.
> >
>
> Yeah, that sounds kinda right! But besides that, enough of this symbolic
> action.... there are so many practical things that can be done,
> everything from highlighting and supporting struggles in
> Iraq/Afghanistan/etc to organising solidarity network (visits, news
> exchange, etc) to supporting refugees... its a small world and things are
> 'over there', 'beyond reach'. There is no need to focus the anti-war
> movement solel
 y on 'appealing' to politicians!
>
> Peter
> --
> Peter van Heusden pvh@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Tel: +27 (0)83 256 0457
>
>
>
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>



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