Pro-Palestinian Protest in Brisbane

[Gary MacLennan <g.maclennan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Saturday I attended a protest in King George Square Brisbane on the
current brutalisation of the Palestinians. I have been protesting in the
square on  all the great issues for over quarter  of a century.  I
sometimes like to think that one day after the revolution that the
revolutionary generation of tomorrow will pull down the royal statue and
rename it Protest Square or something to commemorate that there were people
who did try however inadequately to oppose the Evil Empire.

I had heard of this particular demo from my good friend and comrade, Jim
McIlroy, of the DSP.  I had said to him that we must do something about the
terrible slaughter being perpetrated by the Israeli State, and he had told
me of the protest.

I had been a member of a pro=Palestinian group in  the early 80s that came
into existence after the massacre at Shabra and Shatila. We held a number
of events which were quite successful in their way but none of them really
broke through the narrow circle of the Left.  The core of our organising
group were two Palestinians brothers and a number of Iraqi students at the
university.  The Palestinians were particularly good in their insistence on
the secular nature of the struggle.  They resolutely refused to Islamicize
their propaganda. they were also critical of Arafat and tended to support
George Habash, though Arafat's picture was displayed at some of our functions.

The brothers returned to Palestine; the students to Iraq and our solidarity
movement dissipated.  So it was something of a surprise for me to hear of
the event in the square and I was eager to turn up.  When I got to the
square the rally was already in progress.  There were between 300-400 in
attendance. There were very few non-Arabs in attendance. A group of older
men sat  in the centre opposite the speakers and around them were groups of
women and then a sprinkling of young men.

What was most apparent though was the Islamicisation of the movement.  The
central emphasis seemed to be on the Holy shrines and the Al Aqsa mosque in
particular.  The first speaker also spoke a lot about how Muslims were not
terrorists, and that Islam was a religion of peace. A Palestinian did speak
of his experiences as a refugee and it was very moving to listen to his
tale of a murdered father and a life of hunger and dispossession. He
concluded his speech though with prayers and throughout there were cries of
Allah Akhbar.

An Imam then spoke on behalf of the Australian Islamic society.

I rehearsed in my mind what I would have said if I had been asked to
speak.  I would have said that the struggle was not about religion but
about land.  A speaker from the DSP was then announced.  He was expected to
talk about media manipulation but instead addressed himself to exactly the
topics I had thought were important.  He called it a struggle for
self-determination and land.  He attacked the notion that it was about a
conflict between two religions.  I have to say that his speech did not
appear to go down very well though there was applause at one juncture.

I thought then and since that this was almost a paradigm case of how the
Marxist Left intervenes in a national struggle.  It seeks to turn it to the
correct line.  This is of course the inevitable and necessary thing to
do.  But there is a problem with the approach.  It is that we come to other
struggles with the correct analysis already in our heads.  we think that if
only other people can find out what we know then all will be well.  As a
result we Marxists are probably the worst listeners in the universe.

To say that the struggle is Palestine is about land is correct but
abstractly so. For the people at the rally the principle motivation was
that the Israeli state had stopped Muslims from praying at one of their
sacred shrines.  This was a monstrous act and an attack on freedom of
worship and should be absolutely condemned.  That is where the speech I
thought of delivering should have begun.  It then needed to seek other
points of agreement.

My final impressions of the rally were sealed by the announcement that the
faithful were to begin their prayers on a large tarpaulin which they
stretched out in the square.  I am much more tolerant of religion than I
was ten years ago.  But the word is still 'tolerant' rather than
accepting.  Though my sons are convinced I am going to the dark side on the
religion question.  Basically I mourned the loss of the Palestinian Left
and the secular moment that it so bravely represented. However I will stay
with this issue.  I will try and make contact with the rally's organisers
and I did speak to two of the main speakers.  They were very friendly and
grateful for my presence. There is much work to be done.

regards

Gary