Throwing shoes for free speech!

Issue 
'Shoe away the war criminals', Sydney, November 8. Photo: Peter Boyle

Being a political activist can be fun. About 15 of us enjoyed throwing shoes in a Sydney Stop The War Coalition action on November 8 outside the US Consulate.

We were protesting against the AUSMIN war talks with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Melbourne. Protesters threw shoes at cardboard cutouts of Gates, Clinton, PM Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.

The AUSMIN talks discussed Australia hosting more US military bases, more joint training exercises on Australian soil, greater access to Australian ports for US ships and planes, and more joint military patrols throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Gates said that a new “bilateral Force Posture working group” would start in January 2011.

Against the warmongering, the shoe throwing was fun, but not as much as getting one up on the overzealous police.

Before this peaceful, symbolic anti-war action could happen, the police tried to impose bizarre conditions.

“Under no circumstances are participants to throw any object towards any person, building, structure or thing”, the organisers were told. “Under no circumstances are participants to throw any object into the air.”

According to police, any such acts would be an “arrestable offence”. On the face of it, this would have made juggling an arrestable offence.

On advice from civil liberties lawyers, the anti-war activists refused to agree and went ahead with their action. They were prepared to be arrested, but on the day the police backed off and the peaceful protest passed without incident.

The lesson of this story is simple. If we don’t speak out against injustice, it will get harder and harder to do so.

We can’t take for granted the freedom to protest. In many parts of the world, if you protest against the ruling establishment you risk getting beaten, arrested or killed.

Forty years ago, when I first became a political activist, the police did not respect the right to have a peaceful street march. It had to be won, and many activists suffered beatings and jail time to win this right.

New activists are often shocked when they first come up against police repression. The police can be very intimidating, especially when they deal with you in isolation.

This is where a project like Green Left Weekly plays an important role. Not only does it champion the right to protest, it helps share the experience of generations of fighters for freedom and justice.

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