15-09-2024: Melbourne, the city of the world’s worst “Covid” lockdowns, is again the site of state repression, this time against self-proclaimed anti-war protestors objecting to the holding of a military hardware expo. From the 11^th to the 13^th of September, held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Victoria, Land Forces 2024 posits itself as the “premier platform for interaction between defence, industry and government of all levels, to meet, do business and discuss the opportunities facing the global land defence markets”.[1] In other words, it is a showcase for the military industrial complex to sell its wares to Western governments in a world which is teetering on the edge of World War III. Such an event, held in the centre of a large Australian city, is a provocation and an attempt to normalise the drive to war. Working people, progressive regional and international anti-war and environmental activist groups certainly should protest the holding of such a weapons exhibition, raising the alarm of elite warmongers potentially igniting an unthinkable nuclear conflict.

The “disrupt” tactic

Unfortunately, the protests against Land Forces 2024 are being coordinated by Disrupt Land Forces 2024 (DLF). DLF plan not just to protest against Land Forces 2024 but to “disrupt” it, or even to physically shut it down and prevent it from being held. Around 50 activist groups and left parties have endorsed Disrupt Land Forces 2024, including the Socialist Alliance, Solidarity, Freedom Socialist Party, Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group, Friends of the Earth, School Strike 4 Climate, Extinction Rebellion, Bayan, Anakbayan, Wage Peace-Disrupt War and multiple pro-Palestine solidarity organisations.[2] DLF describe Land Forces 2024 as a “one stop genocide shop”, which is rather apt. However, the “disrupt” tactic has emerged as a spillover from the launch of Extinction Rebellion (XR), which exploded onto the scene in 2019[3] with disruptive climate actions such as the blocking of roads and bridges usually heavily patronised with traffic.

As we have argued, XR’s disruptive tactics of blocking traffic, in an effort to shock people into doing something about climate destruction, are counterproductive and can even turn people against what is generally accepted to be a just cause. Blocking the traffic flow of major cities in practice blockades the working class going about its daily business, instead of targeting the capitalist corporations and governments who are actually at fault for the rapid deterioration of the biosphere.[4] XR’s turn to the “disrupt” tactic is arguably a result of despair in the face of an environmental movement that has been bought off by corporate funded “green” NGOs (Non-Government Organisations), subordinated to careerist Union officials tied to the state, and abandoned by left parties welded into a reformist lobbying trap. Climate collapse certainly needs political action, but what XR and its supporters brush away is the need to convince working people to take action before any attempt should be made to take on the state. Despite their aversion to “politics”, this does mean a political strategy and a political direction will need to be formulated. Otherwise, the capitalist state can easily use the disruption caused by XR to potentially ban climate protests altogether.[5]

When it comes to “disrupting” a war weapons expo, it is even more dangerous to attempt to shut it down than blocking a freeway. This is because the full force of the state is automatically deployed to protect it, and to ensure it proceeds. For Land Forces 2024 in Melbourne, the Victorian government has agreed to provide police with between 10 and 15 million dollars in extra funding to deal with the protests led by DLF.[6] This represents the largest mobilisation of police in Victoria since the protests against the World Economic Forum (WEF) there in the year 2000, 24 years ago. Ironically, some of the protestors against the WEF from those times today do not oppose the WEF and its global role which was especially highlighted when they effectively merged with the capitalist state with the lockdowns imposed during the fraudulent “pandemic” from 2020 to 2022. The so-called left flipping the script from the 20^th century when they stood against corporate power, at that time, to end up reinforcing the state in the 21^st century – is a massive contradiction which must be overcome.

DLF say they “disrupt” as war creates refugees, war causes famine, weapons companies are making profits with public funds, and weapons are used for the repression of civilians.[7] All of this is true, but one must perform a basic calculation before sending activists into battle in an attempt to close down something which the capitalist state is prepared to spend $15 million defending! In reality, DLF do not expect to be able to actually prevent Land Forces 2024 from taking place, and even state at times that the protests will also be peaceful. Some have done so, but others have hurled bottles, horse manure and a can of baked beans at the police, while setting some bins on fire. Police have responded with pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets.[8] Unsurprisingly, the government and the media have been able to label the protestors “hypocrites” for protesting against war, but using violence to do so.

Anti-War ?

On top of mistaken tactics, DLF display mistaken politics, which detracts from the claimed message against war they wish to portray. DLF proclaim that “From Palestine to West Papua, these companies facilitate murder, displacement, land desecration and colonisation in the name of Western imperialist interests.”[9] If DLF and much of the so-called left offered consistent opposition to Western imperialism, we could agree, while disagreeing with the “disrupt” tactic. Alas, DLF and associated organisations are very selective about which parts of Western imperialism they oppose, while remaining silent or even endorsing Western imperialism in other conflicts. For example, the elephant in the room currently is NATO’s (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) proxy war on Russia via Ukraine. The US (United States of America) government and UK (United Kingdom) government, together with other European ruling classes, are constantly pushing the world to a potentially civilisation ending nuclear war against the Russian Federation, a world nuclear power. To do this, they are arming and funding Nazis in Ukraine[10] which have been integrated into its (now war torn) state. In the face of this, DLF and the so-called left remain as silent as a church door mouse. This is because many of them actually stand with NATO and its deadly war on Russia, but this cannot be stated openly.

DLF prominently display Palestinian flags and loudly proclaim they oppose a genocide in Gaza. There is no doubt that the Israeli state has enacted a massacre against Palestinians since October 7 last year, and that there should be protests in response. At the same time, there is abundant evidence that the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) had detailed prior knowledge[11] of what Hamas planned to do during its terrorist assault on that day. It is also widely known that the Israeli state created Hamas, and that Israeli President Netanyahu in particular has ensured that Hamas receives more than enough funding[12] to continue its role in the conflict. The ostensible left quietly acknowledge this, and yet hardly mention Hamas when marching for a “Free Palestine”. They carry out a defence of Palestine in a vacuum, seemingly unconnected to the Middle East and the West’s diabolical plans for regime change wars on Iran, Russia and China. Yet all of this is intricately connected – especially when the Israeli state bombs Syria[13] and conducts assassinations in Iran.[14] The so-called left again remain silent when Israel targets those genuinely resisting imperialism but jump up and down when Israel strikes Palestine.

The faux left is trapped in a nationalist narrative with Palestine and Israel, and this leads them into a position of powerlessness. Nationalism is an ideology compatible with capitalism and imperialism at its final stage. If there is to be a liberation of Palestine, it cannot come about through the prosecuting of a national war of all of Palestine against all of Israel. Only death and defeat will be the result. It means either lobbying the United Nations (UN) for something it is unable to enforce, or, at the other end of the spectrum, an all-out military war. Not only is this militarily impossible given that imperialism arms the Israeli state, it is also unfeasible as imperialism simultaneously ensures that Hamas has funding and arms to continue a cycle of violence (via the Qatari monarchy[15] or the Israeli state itself). In addition, the justifying or apologising for the terrorism (the taking of innocent life) of Hamas in practice endorses more of the same going forward. While it is the case that the IDF uses state terror against Palestinians, the left cripples itself if it implies the solution is more war and more terrorism.

West Papua

DLF claim that the Indonesian government’s “oppressive strategy to crush independence movements in West Papua is well documented and unconscionable”.[16] While it is the case that the Australian government supplies military hardware to the Indonesian government, the notion of a noble cause of self-determination for West Papua is an inverted reality. What has occurred over the last 40 years in the NKRI (Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia) is large scale transmigration from the heavily populated islands of Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and others to the Papuan provinces, which have abundant land. It is the case that non-Papuan Indonesians now make up about half of the population of what is known in the West as West Papua. Yet it is also the case that indigenous Papuans have themselves benefited from the influx of economic activity and commercial development, along with significant infrastructure[17] that the Papuan land mass has never seen before. In fact, the Papuan population of the Papuan provinces effectively doubled in the period from 1971 to 2010,[18] quashing occasional claims by liberals in the West of a “genocide” in West Papua. The “independence” movement in West Papua is actually an armed insurgency against the transmigration of non-Papuans into the area, by armed separatist militias. These armed groups carry out murderous terror against Papuans and non-Papuans who do not support separation from Indonesia. In April and May 2021, armed Papuan militias burned down three local schools, after approaching the homes of two teachers and shooting them dead in cold blood.[19]

In response to such wanton violence, the Indonesian state necessarily responds by sending in the police and the military to protect the local populations. As much as liberals and “socialists” in the West try to avoid admitting it, the armed West Papuan “independence” movement is based on anti-internal migrant hostility, which often takes the form of ethnic tension. The political wing of the West Papuan “independence” movement in practice recognises that it will not be possible to militarily defeat the Indonesian state. Hence, they engage in serious efforts to lobby parliamentarians of the capitalist West, particularly those of Australia, the US (United States of America) and the UK (United Kingdom). In fact, an “independent” West Papua will not be independent at all, but rather heavily dependent on Western imperialism. Either way, the left shoots itself in the foot if it comes behind an “independence” movement which is predominantly based on ethnic violence and terror. No wonder many today yearn for the left of the 20^th century, which made its name in opposition to war.

Against violence and war

What is required is a left which is genuinely opposed to all wars, and all forms of violence. This means that it must oppose imperialism itself, rather than posturing and virtue-signalling as anti-imperialists. While DLF mention opposition to AUKUS (Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America), an alliance for a catastrophic war on the People’s Republic of China (PRC), many of them subscribe to the fantastic view that the PRC is somehow “capitalist” and even “imperialist”. This nobbles the beginning of attempts to rally the working class to oppose the drive of the real AUKUS imperialists to break up or overthrow the giant Asian superpower. The PRC advances from strength to strength on the back of its nationalised land, public ownership of the major means of production and a planned economy despite the handicap of conservative Stalinist political rule. Likewise, the self-described left also advance wild claims about “Russian imperialism”, playing into the very hands of the deep states of the West who funnel even more weapons to Ukraine even as it is being destroyed.

A real left would demonstrate against Land Forces 2024 with demands such as an end to weapons shipments to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. This would make clear determined opposition to regime change wars against Russia, Iran and China. It would demand the abolition of NATO and the abolition of AUKUS. It would defend Palestine while making it clear that wanton terrorism cannot be part of a resistance. It would aim for unity across the Asia-Pacific rather than endorse ethnic tension and conflict. Imperialism’s appalling drive to World War III can be upended and reversed by providing the working people of the world with a clear line of march towards public ownership of the banks and all major industries, held in trust by internationally linked workers’ republics. Such leadership can be offered by authentic Marxist vanguard parties, which must be forged as a matter of critical exigency.


Workers League

www.redfireonline.com

E: workersleague@protonmail.com

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[1] www.landforces.com.au (11-09-2024)

[2] www.disruptlandforces.org (11-09-2024)

[3] www.rebellion.global/press/2019/12/30/xr-2019/ (11-09-2024)

[4] www.redfireonline.com/2024/03/25/xr-right-issue-wrong-tactics/ (11-09-2024)

[5] www.redfireonline.com/2019/10/20/xr-threaten-workers-democratic-rights/ (11-09-2024)

[6] www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/police-to-get-up-to-15-million-to-deal-with-anti-war-protests-this-week-20240910-p5k9co.html (11-09-2024)

[7] www.disruptlandforces.org/why-we-disrupt/ (11-09-2024)

[8] www.sbs.com.au/news/article/police-pepper-spray-activists-as-protest-against-melbourne-weapons-expo-escalates/4en9xquy1 (11-09-2024)

[9] www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/terrorism-threat-raised-as-hundreds-tipped-to-protest-2024-land-forces-international-land-defence-exposition/news-story/745c2c1a0bb7a656ef3838c9164e9fff (11-09-2024)

[10] www.forward.com/news/555676/azov-brigade-ukraine-nazi-extremism-jewish-criticism/ (11-09-2024)

[11] www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-06-18/ty-article/report-new-evidence-reveals-idf-had-detailed-prior-knowledge-of-hamas-plan-to-raid-israel/00000190-2afb-d2de-af9e-6ffbdf700000 (12-09-2024)

[12] www.cbc.ca/news/politics/netanyahu-israel-gaza-hamas-1.7010035 (12-09-2024)

[13] www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/civilians-military-killed-after-israeli-strikes-aleppo-syrian-army-says-2024-03-29/ (12-09-2024)

[14] www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-teams-terror-group-kill-irans-nuclear-scientists-u-s-flna241673 (12-09-2024)

[15] www.politico.eu/article/west-search-truth-qatar-israel-hamas-war/ (12-09-2024)

[16] www.disruptlandforces.org/west-papua-calling/ (12-09-2024)

[17] www.setkab.go.id/en/govt-speeds-up-infrastructures-development-in-papua-w-papua/ (12-09-2024)

[18] www.apjjf.org/2017/02/Elmslie (12-09-2024)

[19] www.redfireonline.com/2021/06/07/west-papua-armed-separatists-wage-terror-in-puncak/ (12-09-2024)

Image: Protestors and police face off at Land Forces 2024 in Melbourne. http://www.headtopics.com.au