Some lessons from student anti-war networking

by Bob Briton

Noam Chomsky once said that the prompt appearance of peace protests during 
the build-up to the first Gulf War marked an improvement in public morality 
compared to the early years of the Vietnam War. Looking at the 
international response to the latest escalation of US aggression against 
Iraq, the build up of opposition is many times faster and larger than ever 
before.

Australia has not been left behind. People have staged vigils and mounted 
pickets and other actions, often without any prompting or coordination.

One example among hundreds is the Adelaide Hills couple that started their 
own protest outside the Stirling electoral office of Foreign Minister 
Alexander Downer soon after the announcement of the invasion of Iraq.

Internationally, big name celebrities have used the Academy Awards to 
criticise the aggression. Documentary maker Mike Moore's acceptance speech 
appeared on the front page of last week's Guardian.

Locally, Heath Ledger and Naomi Watts were at the head of a march in 
Melbourne on March 20.

Visiting US band Pearl Jam and the UK's Massive Attack took time out of 
their performances to condemn the war.

However, the massive presence of the anti-war movement on the streets has 
most to do with the organisational skills of the movement and the use of 
new technologies.

Last week, students followed up their other recent successful 
demonstrations by supporting strikes and rallies across the country.

In Adelaide 8000 turned out, in Brisbane 1000, Canberra 300, Hobart 300, 
Launceston 150, Mullumbimby 300, Newcastle 350, Melbourne 2000, Burnie 30, 
Lismore 700, Geelong 300, Perth 2000, Sydney 10,000, and in Wollongong 100. 
All up, around 25,000 students took their demands to the streets 
nationwide.

Many of the students taking part are still in secondary schools and even 
primary schools. They would have had to negotiate permission from parents 
and school authorities to attend in most cases. Many parents and teachers' 
organisations support the students' efforts.

The Victorian Branch of the Australian Education Union asked its members to 
read a prepared statement on the war with Iraq. The recent student protests 
have seen a rapid deployment of many young anti-war protestors. How are 
they doing it and what lessons are there for the broader anti-imperialist 
movement? The traditional means such as leaflets, stickers, posters, street 
stalls, media releases, endorsement from sympathetic politicians and the 
left press are all being used. The difference this time — by comparison 
with the first Gulf War — is that all these methods are being backed up by 
the now ubiquitous Internet. There is a growing number of web sites devoted 
to opposing the war on Iraq. Students can find links to other sources of 
information and tap into the organisational networks for peace, 
environment, anti-globalisation and many other issues. Are the authorities 
worried about these developments? You bet they are! Even before last week's 
huge student protest in Sydney, NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Dick 
Adams tried to discourage parents from allowing their children to attend.

He claimed that police were in possession of "radical-style" literature 
that ". calls on demonstrators to act out and bring down the government".

His remarks betrayed hostility to the student movement.

Sure enough, the following day the protests were marred by scuffles and the 
much reported throwing of chairs.

Much of the media coverage left out the fact that a young Muslim student 
had her hijab violently torn from her head by a Police Tactical Response 
Group (TRG) officer and that this was the trigger for most of the 
disturbance among protestors.

Police retaliated and trapped protestors between two lines of TRG officers 
in Phillips Street for over one hour, denying them access to toilets, 
water, and most importantly, the freedom to go home.

The media is playing its part in the campaign to split and divide, and 
squash the student movement. In typical sensational fashion, the front page 
of the Daily Telegraph carried the headline "Hijacked by hatred".

"With bottles and knives in their hands and hate in their hearts, a mob of 
violent troublemakers yesterday ambushed a student anti-war rally to lead a 
vicious rampage through Sydney streets."

The media added quotes from Police sources about young "Middle Eastern" 
males, to stir the racist pot.

Yes, the powers that be are keen to snuff out this remarkable social 
phenomenon, using every trick in the book.

To counter deliberate police provocation and intimidation there is need for 
student and rally organisers generally to ensure that actions are well 
planned and marshalled.

Civil disobedience will grow as the horror of the US war comes home.

Carefully planned civil disobedience is much more effective than impulsive 
actions which have the effect, together with the rampage of the media war 
lobby, of causing divisions in the broad anti-war movement and will also, 
in all probability lessen the response of students as well.