BY CHRIS SLEE
MELBOURNE — The Victorian Peace Network (VPN) decided at its meeting on September 9 not to organise a rally to coincide with US President George Bush's visit to Australia. However the meeting, attended by 21 people, agreed to fund buses to planned October protests in Canberra and Sydney.
The network has been discussing whether to call a rally against the occupation of Iraq to coincide with the October 25 march on Washington for weeks.
A number of groups and individuals, including the Australian Democrats, the Mornington Peninsula Peace Group, Sheik Issa Mussa, Cam Walker from Friends of the Earth, the International Peace Pilgrimage, Women For Peace, the Geelong Anti War Coalition, Tim Gooden, who is the assistant secretary of the Geelong Trades and Labor Council, the Committee in Defence of Iraqi Women's Rights, the Worker Communist Party of Iraq, the Socialist Alliance and Books Not Bombs, had signed a call to mobilise on or around October 25.
At the meeting, Margarita Windisch from Action in Solidarity with Asia and the Pacific (ASAP) argued that the pending Bush visit put the onus on the VPN — as Victoria's umbrella peace organisation — to organise a protest. She said that such an initiative could help spark a resurgence of anti-war activity, and provide a new focus for the anti-war movement.
Windisch's motion provoked lively discussion. Shirley Winter from the the Western Suburbs Peace Group, suggested that there was a high level of anti-Bush sentiment, especially among young people, and that Bush's connection with PM John Howard needed to be protested.
Bilal Cleland from the Islamic Council favoured holding a protest against Bush in Melbourne, a view supported by the representatives of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, the International Socialist Organisation, the Communist Party of Australia-Marxist Leninist, the Moreland Peace group and the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP). These groups also supported a national convergence in Canberra and Sydney.
VPN organisers Nic Maclellan and David Spratt argued for a public meeting on Iraq, or a comedy event. Spratt said that some of VPN's affiliates were "sick of rallies" and that, anyway, protests should only happen after educational campaigns on the current situation in Iraq.
Before the meeting, Spratt circulated a discussion piece on the Vic-Peace e-list. In it, he presents a convincing argument against the illegal occupation of Iraq, but despite this, concluded that the VPN should not at this time organise protests demanding an end to the occupation, but advocate instead a "constitutional convention and concrete moves towards a new democratic government with a visible time-line, as the only means of providing a political (as opposed to simply military/repressive) means of building support for institutions of civil order..."
Windisch replied to the e-list, arguing that anti war activists have a responsibility "not to develop a blueprint on how Iraqi society should be rebuilt, but to assist the Iraqis to determine their own destiny (political, social and economic)".
She continued: "If we in this country managed to build enough pressure on the Howard government to force it to pull out the 1000 or so troops in Iraq, that would be a significant political victory for our side and the Iraqi people.
"The truth is that the longer the occupation continues the less likely it will be for the Iraqis to get their democratic right to decide for themselves how they wish to be governed."
At the meeting, Jacob Grech, representing Ozpeace, was pessimistic about another protest, particularly given the small Hiroshima protest, which he described as "a dismal failure". He said that any VPN-organised anti-occupation and anti-Bush rally of 2000 to 3000 people would be an "utter defeat and failure".
Marc Zirnzast from the Uniting Church and Maureen Postma from the Victorian Council of Churches had concerns that a protest against Bush would "personalise the issue", and said that their constituencies needed some "clear political demands" — as if the demand for troops to come out of Iraq wasn't a clear demand.
Bill Deller, VPN chairperson, refused to put Windisch's motion or call for a straw poll, claiming that the VPN could only make decisions by consensus. Non-unanimous votes have been taken in the past.
All supporters of a rally against Bush and for troops to get out of Iraq are meeting on September 15 to form an ad hoc committee. For more information, or to get involved, call Margarita Windisch on 0438 869 790.
From Green Left Weekly, September 17, 2003.
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