By Joe Montero
Thousands ate expected in Melbourne this week. They will be participating in a week of activities designed to disrupt the Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition. This is a major arms dealer show designed to sell instruments of war. It will take place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 11-13 September.
An alliance of up to 50 organisations has come together to organise the response. They say that the events in Gaza highlight how the armaments industry and government work together to supply weapons that are used against civilians.
On Sunday, a group from climate organisation Extinction Rebellion blocked Montague Street in South Melbourne, which happens to be near the Convention Centre. There have been other events.
There are plans for picket lines around the event, starting on Wednesday morning at 6 am. Efforts will be made to have conversations with attendees, to let them know that there is a lot of opposition, and that taking part is not all right.
Other activity will include theatrical performances, and speeches. There will be a march from defence company Hanwha’s office to the convention centre.
Police say they are planning, and there is some fear that there will be an overreaction coming from political pressure to take a tough stance. The unprecedented scale and persistence of the pro-Palestinian movement in Australia, and particularly in Melbourne has government and parliament jittery, and this translates into political pressure on the police to act tough.
Leave has been cancelled and police shipped in from other states to build the numbers. The event’s venues are already surrounded like a war zone. Fences have been put up. This is the biggest police operation in decades. They have been armed with special [powers under anti-terror legislation for aggressive identification and search methods, and broad powers to turn protestors away. Everything is being readied for a confrontation.
The police minister, Anthony Carbines, warned those who planned to cause trouble at the South Wharf event would be dealt with by the full force of the law.
Although few want ugly confrontation, the stage is set for a crowd determined to have its voice heard, and it will not accept attempts at silencing by those are embarrassed by the exposure of what is going on. Recent times has seen a sad rise in attempts to silence inconvenient opinion.
Melbourne has experienced marches every Sunday for peace in Gaza and for Palestinian rights for about 8 months, and these have attracted from tens of thousands to more than 100,000 participants on some occasions. Australia has never experienced anything on this scale, and it rattles those who stand on the other side of this issue.
This expo will feature more than 800 companies, which will be selling anything from tanks and heavy-duty military trucks to automatic assault and smaller guns, tech equipment, bombs, ammunition, and other types of war toys will be three to be sold by the merchants of death. A considerable quantity of this will be destined to be used by Israel in its ongoing assault on the Palestinian people.
The Land Forces International Land Defence Exposition deserves to be shut down.