The mobilisation

Wins and highlights

Disrupt Land Forces achieved its tactical goal of disrupting the arms fair and the strategic goal of damaging the social license of the harms trade. By the end of the mobilisation, most TV watchers in Straya were aware that a huge weapons fair had happened, with government support and using our money, and that thousands had risked arrest and cop violence to protest it. The entire MCEC carpark was closed for the duration in anticipation of our protests, costing the war mongers heaps in daily CBD parking fees, and exposing them to our voices as they walked to the expo. A major city street was closed for three days and the DFO shopping complex did not sell anything, engage in commerce, or create waste for a day. The charity status of AMDA, the organising entity of Australian harms fairs, is under investigation due to our agitation. The use of terror legislation to police protest is under investigation. Our resistance was noted in both state and federal parliaments. When we started organising to Disrupt Land Forces, few people in the Free Palestine movement had even heard about it. Post DLF, everyone in the movement knows exactly what Land Forces is. Now that we’ve had a red hot go at disrupting it, we can be better prepared for next time.

DLF was a great victory, history making.

Marigold, 54

We captured the attention of the city and we put the perpetrators under the spot light.

Napi, 32

The disruption and the attention to the issues was successful. It was good to see Palestine and other countries mentioned in the media about Land Forces. We succeeded in linking an arms fair in Naarm to multiple genocides. 

Sebastian, 23

The fact they had to use paramilitary tactics to protect the weapons expo is a major disruption in itself. Weapons makers had to scuttle around and pretend they were not war mongers.

Rose, 30

Disrupt Land Forces was a watershed, a landmark in antimilitarist organising on this continent. Some of our collaborators felt significantly changed by the experience, finding that their vision, networks and understandings had expanded. This was especially true for younger folks, and even more so for those who took an active role in the organising.

The whole thing has changed for me.

Lucia, 22

Those moments of feeling the power of the collective were incredible.

Josh, 25 

I witnessed the DLF action through the media, and you all just looked incredibly powerful to the general public. It was a shock to see the police in Nazi helmets and batons, and it was extraordinary to see the passions and numbers and power of the protesters.  Regardless of your shake-down of ‘mistakes’ etc, you were a dramatic action in the history of this country and its ethics and direction.

If you ever need an old lady as a secret weapon, let me know.

Hannah, 75

A central goal of the mobilisation was to push hard for an arms embargo with Israel, following the call from Palestinian unions at the start of the genocide. In tandem with the global BDS movement, we called for Australia to boycott, sanction and divest from the Zionist entity. These top line demands were scaffolded by our existing campaigns to disarm police and to stop training and arming genocidal forces on this continent and in West Papua. Our call for ‘Earth care not Warfare’ synthesises the threefold process we believe necessary for peace and justice: to demilitarise, decolonise and reimagine our world.

During the mobilisation, these calls were drowned out by the sound of the police. We do not expect immediate strategic wins from grassroots mobilisations, no matter how huge or impactful they are. In the aftermath of the mobilisation, however, not one but two weapons industry events were cancelled ‘to avoid possible protests’. (One was a NSW ‘Defence Summit’, the other was a ‘Defence VIP Dinner’ in SA.) When comrades announced a picket at steel manufacturer Bisalloy in Wollongong, the company closed the factory for the day so as not to face ‘Land Forces style protests’.  Land Forces policing cost $60 million, if we believe the government’s figures. Post DLF, weapons event organisers believe they need to factor in a massive security bill to their budgets. The staunch resistance we put up at Land Forces has made weapons industry events much more expensive and far less attractive to run. Big. Win.

Since DLF, the Victorian Labor government has ended its MOU with the Israeli Ministry of Defence and has not renewed its deal with Elbit Systems Australia. These victories belong to the whole movement, including us here at the pointy end. Direct action and grassroots protest can cut to the chase in a way that funded NGOs and government actors cannot; we can call the truth as we see it. We have no doubt that the sight of thousands of people standing up to repression to disrupt an arms fair, while loudly calling out our governments’ complicity in genocide, helped propel the Victorian government towards the decision to cease military deals with Israeli forces.

Lest We Forget the Frontier Wars

Hundreds turned up to the Disrupt Land Forces launch event at Camp Sovereignty, guided by Uncle Robbie Thorpe and featuring First Nations guests Uncle Coco Wharton, Aunty Megan Krakoer and Aunty Gwenda Stanley. Uncle Chris Tomlin came in via video from Mparrntwe. Honouring First Nations resistance to British militarism and the continued struggle against genocide, we stood in the pouring rain and listened intently for hours. Elders spoke of ancestors, the Frontier Wars and remembrance, while calling us to attend to contemporary campaigns for land back, sovereignty and abolition. 

The opening night at Camp Sovereignty was really great, especially the cross-continent contributions.

Sami, 44

The Frontier Wars event was magical. I will still be hearing those voices for a long time.

Tata, 17

The opening ceremony was beautiful in the pouring rain, I loved the Frontline Stories night too. It felt important to have that truth telling and frontline stories at the top of the mobilisation. Those first two nights helped ground people in the reality of militarist impacts and resistance to that.

Marco, 38

Anti-military Motorcade

This was the only event we attempted any ‘police liaison’ for – because cops were harassing one of our organisers over it – and this turned out to be disadvantageous for us (who woulda thunk it?). Instead of facilitating our motorcade, in line with the laws around street protests, cops took the opportunity to harass and humbug any and all drivers in the vicinity. People had decorated their rides with Palestinian, Land Rights and West Papuan flags, banners and streamers, which cops decided was unlawful, and they even fined one person for holding a sign up inside the car. However. The turn out and energy for this event were fabulous. The cops were total shite but our people went ahead and visited six inner-city weapons facilities, causing some to close for the day in anticipation of our ‘protest activity’.

I thought there might be four vehicles. There were forty. It was fantastic. But the police were on us straight away, defecting cars and issuing parking fines before we even started.

Turtle, 60

The repression of the Motorcade was shit [police humbugged drivers and defected cars nonstop during the Motorcade] but I have to say, a mega highlight for me coming out of the Motorcade was the invention of Truthy McTruthy.

Caroline, 55

Frontline stories

This was an event that held space for impacted communities to share their stories with no pressure, parameters or borders. First Nations and other frontline impacted people were invited to use poetry, song, visual arts, spoken word, or any other mode of expression to address the DLF audience. Activists from this continent, Kanaky, Chile, Colombia, Palestine, the Philippines and Sudan spoke of their experience, their organising and their futures. Hundreds turned up to bear witness to their stories. The room was not big enough to accommodate everyone and we had to spread chairs and sound systems into the courtyard. The high attendance at this event shows a strong appetite for first person narrative storytelling in our movements. The words we heard were fascinating, sometimes horrifying, but above all galvanising. People who have never lived outside of the global north can find it hard to make an emotional connection with anti-militarist and anti-colonial struggle. Storytelling events like these give people an opportunity to relate to struggle in a deeper, more personal way, as they connect in shared humanity with the speaker. We should do more events like this.

This was an intimate event and we did not take photos.

The reds

Central Vic Climate Action’s iconic red rebels contributed a funeral procession to the week’s actions, symbolically mourning for all the lives lost to war. There was great communication and collaboration between climate and anti-war activists, both sharing the perspective that war creates human suffering and is also a huge contributor to climate change (which in turn creates yet more suffering). Both were motivators for those involved.

This was a magnificent work of performance art. It was incredibly powerful.

Duncan, 82

The reds wanted this action to remain open to people who did not want to risk arrest, and they reported that the Extinction Rebellion police liaison gave participants confidence to be involved. This made the action more inclusive for people with responsibilities such as young children.

It was really great to have the space to get changed into costumes and to de-brief afterwards (usually reds get onto costumes in public toilets/ behind bushes even!)

There was great care for us during the action. My throat was getting sore from wailing and someone (from the care team?) gave out throat soothing lollies. We even got fed afterwards!

We wanted to bring attention to the issue, without the media interpreting it as violent in any way. Of course they found a family whose day out was supposedly ruined, but they also said that the public was moved to tears about innocent people suffering.

I (and others) found it very therapeutic to wail loudly about the shitty state of affairs: the weapons fair, the environment and the Palestine war!

Elsie, 52

Imperialism on Trial

Anak Bayan put Imperialism on Trial in a creative rally at the doors of the MCEC. Anak Bayan organisers pitched the idea as a contribution to the festival, organised it internally, retaining creative control, but stayed in comradely communication with the COG throughout that process. This communication allowed their action to be included in centralised comms and announcements, and ensured nothing else was scheduled at the same time. Full credit and gratitude to Anak Bayan for this powerful event.

At the “Imperialism on Trial” event I thought that the mock trial was an excellent creative way to capture the crowd’s attention. 

Alan, 63

I went to the rally on the Tuesday organised by Anak Bayan, where they had multiple activists from around the world. That was delivered brilliantly and shined a light on peoples’ struggles around the world and was very symbolic with smashing the effigy.

Pip, 25

The rally organised by Anak Bayan was so great, I appreciated how they platformed frontline activists from West Papua and Philippines. The smashing of the effigy! That was so satisfying.   

Guillaume, 31

At MCEC, Sept 11-13*

By Wednesday morning we’d already disrupted them. The massive police operation was a disruption in itself.

Celia, 60

We successfully took away their social license. The conference was poorly attended. And everyone knew that it was happening.

Maria, 70 

The kids blowing bubbles at the police were awesome.

Rose, 30

My best moments were being out on the street with the young people and with the boat. And seeing people keeping calm through the police attacks, and the chanting and the singing. And dressing up.  

Marigold, 54

The Wurundjeri way occupation was great.

Adam, 65

Clown suit guy was awesome, and played a useful role, pointing to the police who were raising guns, standing between the gun and the people. He managed to prevent even more shooting. He was arrested eventually.

Rama, 27

After Wednesday, there was a big debrief at the mission. Mostly we were tending our wounds, but at the end, every single person put up their hand to come back for Thursday. I was amazed. Our people are so brave.

Caroline, 55

I loved how the skills we practiced for the mobilisation were utilised

Raff, 31

The Quaker sessions during lunchtime were very moving and peaceful, walking along the Yarra with the banner and singing was extremely peaceful & amazing.

Andres, 44

It felt great to support arrested people with pickups and after care. So much community care went into the mobilisation.

Emerald, 35

The canoe push from Collingwood to Land forces was an epic effort, but so worth it. It gave the West Papuan people a context in which they felt empowered to speak.

Bernie, 45

It was inspiring watching some of the pods and it was noticeable how people who have been involved in large mobilisations before carry a set of skills in street tactics that help them to orient and make decisions in the space. I enjoyed following the XR pod during the mobilisation. They tried so many different things, it was amazing. We could see their skill, their work helping with different tactics, as well as rolling out a different bunch of tactics across the week.

Celia, 60

Even when the big group didn’t turn up the second day, a small group turned up and did more disruption on Thursday. 

Axel, 19

Uncle Ned’s speeches were beautiful, they touched my heart.

Sandy, 16

I loved being with the elders on the last day for smoking ceremony. I really needed that.

Tati, 28

* The Wednesday morning picket, attended by thousands, is reviewed in greater depth in parts 3 and 4 of this report.

Hanwha rally

The Thursday rally, marching from Hanwha’s HQ in Bourke St to Batman Park across from the MCEC, was a beautiful, inclusive piece of organising by the Elbit out of Naarm collective. While Hanwha don’t export directly to Israel, the Korean mega weapons corporation has facilitated dozens of lethal arms exports to Indonesia; Hanwha weapons are all over West Papua. Having received a $9 billion contract in Australia to build weaponised vehicles, Hanwha is busy building a factory at Avalon, near Geelong. To our dismay, Hanwha offered Elbit $917 million to partner with them on these new weapons. Speakers and marchers were wonderfully diverse in age, culture, gender and ability, representing the breadth of the anti-genocide movement. The Hanwha rally was a significant moment in the Disrupt Land Forces mobilisation, focusing on the very real, immediate harm the weapons industry is doing in Victoria, with our money, without our consent.

So many organisations had come on board the Elbit/Hanwha rally that I lost count. This display of a politically diverse united front educated the crowd about the importance of building alliances. The trade union participation at the Elbit/Hanwha rally was important too, because it connected the rally to the mass organisations of the working class. It was clear that this wasn’t just a politically isolated rally of only the Melbourne far left.

Said, 30 

The vigil

The vigil on Thursday night at Batman Park started quietly but gradually filled with those leaving the barricades for the night. They came to read the names of Gazan children killed in the genocide. The names were on paper kites, long a symbol of Palestinian resistance and freedom. The kites were arranged as a large installation, which included lists of the names of all the children sorted by age. There were speeches, poems and songs of resistance sung by Palestinian and Irish artists. Children lit candles to contribute to a shrine on one side of the space, the children played and connected. The event was designed to be a space for ‘collective grief and resistance’. 

On the night across the river [at the MCEC], there seemed to be some kind of celebration of the event, with gas burning torches exploding one after the other with light and colour. I guess the warmakers were networking the heck out of the night. We were holding each other. It felt important as a counter to what we were up against.

 Marion, 71

Zombie rave

This event was controversial, with critics claiming the depiction of zombies during a genocide was insensitive. Some comrades asked us to ‘call it off’. The Canberra pod, for instance, said

We felt that the zombie rave was insensitive. Were Palestinian and West Papuans consulted about this event? We felt worried about that event and we didn’t go.

We note that some Palestinian and West Papuans participated in the zombie rave, and that impacted communities are not monolithic; there will be differing points of view among them just as there are in any community. In keeping with our ethic of non-judgement of tactics, we passed on concerns, but as organisers we see ourselves as hosts, not bosses. It was not within our remit to ‘call it off’. What we did was call the event organisers into dialogue and leave them to make the call. The zombie rave went ahead.

This was cathartic for me, to express the horror and also to assert our spirit in the face of all the atrocities.

Zazi, 33

I loved the zombie rave, that was a highlight for me. 

Mateus, 41

It felt like a big fuck you to the cops and the arms dealers.

Marigold, 54

One person suggested that greater clarity and a wider deployment would have made the action more effective.

The zombie rave hung around the police blockade for far too long…I thought we were going to go around the CBD immediately with the boat to get people’s attention to Land Forces. The plan and execution made it unclear who the zombies were meant to be – the unfeeling people in the Land Forces expo? Or Palestinians holding (fake meat) dead body parts? … I think it’s a great idea if it’s planned better around public perception.

Kara, 28

Obstacles and solutions

We learn from every tactic we try, every idea we run, and above all from our mistakes. Some of the obstacles we encountered were predictable, while others took us by surprise. We had a much bigger core team than in previous DLF mobilisations; even so, core organisers were over worked. During the organising period and then during the mobilisation itself, we noticed a lack of confidence or willingness to take initiatives to Disrupt Land Forces. One person reflected

People were going to people who they assumed were in charge and asking permission to do things. I think we need to offer more training in self-managing and organising, so that more people feel empowered to lead. We could organise a set of decentralised leaders, so that there is a scaffold and a network, and leaders are not ‘out on their own’.

Ahmed, 40

A few people were bearing a lot of weight within the organising structure, and this weakened us. People needed more structure and guidance. 

Yiannis, 35

The coverage by mainstream media upset some comrades, focusing as it did on ‘protesters clash with police’ instead of ‘Your taxes are being used to support genocide’. Most of us were unsurprised by the hostile takes of the Murdoch and other right-wing press. While the press invoked the ‘violent protesters’ trope over and over, people could see exactly who was doing the harm on the news reports.

My mate, who is a steel worker, and didn’t end up coming (he has mad fomo and regrets he didn’t go) said ‘You wrenched Land Forces into the spotlight, and made it illegitimate’. People can read between the lines, and everyone who saw that footage was appalled by the cop assaults. This was discussed in his workplace. Picture a bunch of steel shed workers in Western Sydney standing around discussing the fuckedness of a weapons expo on the shop floor. That convo happened because of what we did.

Rose, 30

Within the media team, we were conscious of keeping the core issues – militarisation, dispossession, genocide – in the frame. It was important to us that policing not become the only story. Stop arming Israel is the story. Weapons companies making bank from genocide is the story. The awesomeness of our people is also an important story.

Speaking of awesome, we have to shout out to 3CR. 

3CR was amazing. All the different broadcasters organised to come. 3CR gave huge coverage to the mobilisation,

Celia, 60

The use, or lack of use, of public space was an area many felt needed more development; this issue is also discussed in the picket section. Zazi, who was on the street each day of the mobilisation, expressed

My biggest disappointment was that we continued to predominantly be in the space the police “gave” us to protest. We kept returning to the police barricade to jeer at the few arms dealers coming through. It was better when we took it back around the Normanby/ Whiteman intersection near the Crown cross over. There was lots of access to Land Forces punters there. 

Zazi, 33

Some were disappointed that we didn’t impact the operation of the weapons fair more profoundly. 

We barely inconvenienced the Land Forces expo and the attendees. There was a whole other entrance that had unimpeded access to the expo which was 40m away.

Sami, 37

It was deflating going back on the Thursday morning and there wasn’t heaps of people.

Sandy, 16 

Some comrades found it difficult to find information about mobilisation events from day to day. Organisers relied quite heavily on word of mouth to share the happenings of the day, which was limited, of course. One comrade suggested to hold an info session each day at Seafarers, our home base. Another suggested a daily 6am call, and to use Instagram to share action and event news more thoroughly. 

There was no info available about joining the Red Rebel and Mourners action. During the 3 days I was constantly checking Instagram to try and see where the next “event” was, where the big crowds were, which group needed the most people-power. 

Kara, 28

Organisers had planned to use Telegram to broadcast mobilisation updates, however we found that people were not watching that channel. More signage, communications on socials, in group chats and everywhere would have been helpful. We did not have a dedicated team on communications and this was a gap. There were also suggestions about using more media to publicise Land Forces prior to the mobilisation:

I thought there could have been more use of traditional publicity tactics like stalls, stunts, postering, letterboxing and perhaps even doorknocking. I was only aware of posters being distributed to the crowd at the Sunday rally the week before the event. If posters and leaflets had been announced and distributed to the Sunday rally crowd for months beforehand it would have given us a chance to do some solid promotion of DLF in our local communities. 

Raff, 31

It was noticeable that

We went into this mobilisation exhausted. The movement was already exhausted.

Turtle, 60

Fatigue definitely impacted us all, but probably doesn’t explain the slow or non-existent uptake of many of the tactics proposed. Our communications platforms were enabling in some ways but disabling in others. Alongside the limits inherent to digital platforms, ‘security culture’ seems to foster non-commitment, and it is impossible to grow trust within group chats where anonymity prevails. We acknowledge that security culture is important but also wish to highlight here some of the limitations it creates in its current iteration. The movement is constantly renegotiating the balance between security and effective organising, and because technology changes we will never be “finished” finding the right balance. Our offline meetings had a great rate of idea take up and were much more productive than any online conversations during the organising. There is also a cohort in Naarm who follow old school, cold war lefty precepts in their insistence on serious, sombre interventions, and who regard creative, colourful, artistic or fun tactics as counter-revolutionary. 

My experience in the lead up was that there were lots of ideas but not much of a crew to take up the ideas.  The group chats appeared to be maybe too paranoid for fear of judgement, worried about being cancelled perhaps. I noticed that for different types of actions that were colourful or creative there was not a lot of take up. There was a sort of cancelling which stopped creativity.

Bernie, 45

Other comrades noted that

Signal chats have poor culture for supporting ideas. The intense standards of anonymity can create a lack of accountability for what you say, and people are generally meaner when they are anonymous.

Rose, 30

There are limits on the signal chats as an organising methodology. Group chats tend to thrive on cancel culture, plus there are problems around trust and anonymity. Our group chats form a kind of community, but relying on one communications platform can be a hindrance. 

Turtle, 60

A wave of angry criticism came at us after the mobilisation, as people sought to make sense of the repression we had experienced. Those of us who have been through similar harsh waves of repression recognised this as a stress response; it was still hard on us, however. 

The backlash has been emotionally hard. Perfectionism splits us and divides us.

Tati, 28

There were genuine concerns expressed in that wave, most of which we’ve tried to address in this report. Even so, it is a notable and unfortunate pattern on this continent that the broader movement tends to attack a group when that group experiences heavy repression. Attacks range from blaming the group for police behaviour to claims that the group has ‘damaged the movement’ or ‘made it harder’ for other activists. In some cultures, activists can look forward to generous offers of support after a police ‘crackdown’. Here in the Australian colony, our solidarity praxis is in sore need of stronger foundations.

Security culture is debilitating in some ways and protective in others. The anti-trust nature of encrypted group chats was noted by many. 

We need to remain in contact with people to build relationships and grow. Security culture makes this hard.

Kyra, 27

The issue of black block – is it good for our movement? or not? – came up several times in feedback sessions, as both obstacle and possibility. (Black block involves a group wearing all black clothing, shoes and face coverings, so that identities are hidden, and it is hard to tell individuals within the group apart.) We noticed that use of black block is rising in Naarm, and that our own social media has promoted black block as a protective measure. The ‘no face no case’ idea is strong, in that police can only prosecute a person if they can identify them. With cameras now ubiquitous in public space, and many workplaces hostile to activism, covering the face seems logical. If everyone uses the same, ie black, clothing and face coverings it becomes difficult for security forces to distinguish between us at events. Still, in the DLF feedback sessions, some wondered if black block does in fact serve a protective purpose, or conversely, does it make the wearer a target?

I question the obsession with black block. Maybe it has gone too far and potentially it doesn’t make people safer. Maybe people need to be out and proud of taking action, and own our positioning: this is my face, this is who I am. 

Bernie, 45

Police and Nazis use black block to infiltrate. 

Marigold, 54

Shooting someone in a costume has less social license and can tell a better story, for instance having Free Palestine across your chest, or dressing as a faery. 

Raff, 31

We could have used our messages and flags and colours.

Zazi, 33

I felt like the black block made us too stealthy and undercover and anonymous.

Celia, 60 

Comrades offered reflections about when, where and how to use black block judiciously, rather than ruling this tactic in or out. Sometimes obscuring a person’s identity is necessary because of their work, family or visa circumstances, although block doesn’t need to be black to achieve this.

I think it might be good to troubleshoot a sort of mobile safe zone, for actions where we hopefully are better able to hold space for longer. If we can create privacy screens so black block people at the front lines can eat and drink water without being identified.

Nour, 27

Whether it’s black block, grey block, tradie block or silly block, block is a tactic, and like any tactic there are spaces where it works and times where it doesn’t. It’d be great to have those conversations around strategy. 

Turtle, 60

There are good reasons for using bloc. Some of us can’t afford to be identified while protesting because we are members of over-policed communities, are on visas, or because of our work situation. This is where ‘no face no case’ is pretty important.

It’s not that we are not proud of who we are politically, it’s more that many of us don’t want our faces plastered all over media while doing something potentially arrestable. For those of us doing anti-fascist work it’s even more important, because the far right are always looking to mark us out for violent attacks.

As a tactic, black bloc can backfire when used on a very small scale, but I think it definitely has its place. I think it works well in larger numbers, particularly via a network of affinity groups, backed by a decent, disciplined comms strategy.

Judith, 45

The solutions offered by comrades all revolve around increasing the time we spend together offline. Trainings and workshops are vital for community and for successful actions yet are notoriously under-attended. To have the time and space to freely exchange ideas and build collective knowledge feels almost impossible, but this is the key learning many of us took from Disrupt Land Forces. We need to be able to think together, train together, rehearse tactics together and have the deep conversations that bring vision into being. As global capital and the military industrial complex accelerate in the wholesale dispossession of First Peoples and destruction of our world, we will need each other. The more time we can find to grow understanding, solidarity and tactical skill, the stronger we can be when mobilisations like Disrupt Land Forces come around. 

Read more:

• Part 1 – Organising
• Part 3 – Resisting
• Part 4 – Enduring

To comment on, edit or add to this report, email disruptwars@proton.me