By Lachlan Malloch
SYDNEY — Around 600 people marched here on November 8 to commemorate the November 12, 1991 Dili Massacre in East Timor. After a mass held at St Marys cathedral in the city, hundreds of East Timorese left the church, each carrying a cross bearing the name of one of the 273 peaceful mourners who was killed by Indonesian troops in the massacre.
The lively and colourful march proceeded to Martin Place where speakers called for an end to the Indonesian occupation of East Timor and the genocide of the East Timorese. The march stopped in front of the cenotaph for one minutes silence to remember the 40,000 Timorese killed during World War II while protecting Australian commandos, as well as the victims of Indonesian President Suhartos army.
Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor member Becky Ellis addressed the crowd, condemning the Australian government's diplomatic, financial and military support for the Suharto dictatorship.
A tribute to the strength of the Timorese resistance and the suffering of her people was given by a young Timorese woman, Joanne Fernandes. Fernandes recited a poem of defiance by Fransisco Borja Da Costa which stirred the crowd:
"Barbarous civilisers,
A nation of demagogues.
In the point of your bayonet
is carved the trail of your progress.
In the point of my bayonet
is carved the history of my liberation."