For Melbourne Stop the War Coalition, the G20 summit meeting was an important opportunity to mount a protest at which public opposition to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan could be expressed.

This is because the gathering to discuss how to improve the profits margins of the world's richest economies was bringing together some of the biggest war criminals in the world today including Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank, and Gordon Brown, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The G20 leaders agree on and promote neo-liberal and militaristic policies to increase their wealth and power. These people are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in the killing fields of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as millions of others across the globe who die needlessly from starvation, human-induced climate disasters and preventable diseases.

Since the G20 collective didn't have plans for a mass rally and march during the summit, the Stop the War Coalition initiated a discussion with them about organising one with a focus on ending the war in the Middle East, ending the war on workers and ending the war on the environment. While there were differences in approach, it was agreed to incorporate the political focus suggested by Melbourne Stop the War.

It struck a chord: the turn-out of 3000 is proof. The G20 collective's Carnival against Capitalism was only going to appeal to a narrower layer - people who defined themselves as anti-capitalists. We felt that the opportunity to mount a serious rally that could bring out masses of people who are against the wars in the Middle East and against the war criminals was too important to waste. And given that the blockade tactic, that was effective at S11 in 2001, was not going to work this time, we argued that the mass rally should march to the G20 summit site.

The mood was peaceful, but angry and determined The speeches were very political, and covered the range of issues that people feel passionately about today.

There was nothing stopping the 3000 people from confronting police with direct actions or trying to get over the barricades. The fact that the vast majority didn't is an indication that most people felt that this form of direct action was not a useful tactic, in this particular instance, to get our message across.

The misguided and counterproductive actions at this protest of a small group of people, centred around the ``arterial block'', found no resonance among the 3000 protesters. But it played into th e hands of the corporate media, putting an otherworldly spin on what was actually very successful political protest. We also don't think that in current Australian political context wearing masks at protests is either necessary nor useful.

The actions of a tiny minority have subsequently made it easier for the police to escalate their harassment of progressive activists. The very next day, police attacked a peaceful protest at the museum, seriously injuring a woman. They are also carrying out arbitrary arrests and witch hunts of activists.

Stop the War Coalition condemns police violence and harassment, and the media witch hunts stemming from the G20 protests. But we do not agree that the tactics that the ``arterial bloc'' decided on helped to make the protest a success. This is not just because of the media focus on them exclusively. It is because most protesters expected to be taking part in a peaceful protest.

The need to be public about our opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is as urgent as ever, especially now that Bush, Blair and Howard are increasingly being exposed as war criminals

Increasing the strength of the anti-war movement to the point where it manages to win its main demand, that the troops be pulled out, relies on the correct tactics to involve greater and greater numbers of people: those actions in which huge numbers of people feel that they have a voice, and it is being heard, are the most successful.

31 October 2006
Anti-war protestors to tell G-20 summit "End the Occupation of Iraq"

On Nov 18 and 19 the G-20 is meeting behind closed doors at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne. In attendance will be Paul Wolfowitz who served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defence and is now World Bank President. Wolfowitz was one of the key architects of the US war and occupation of Iraq.

The G-20 meeting is an un-representative meeting of finance ministers and reserve bank governors whose stated objective is to improve trade relations and tackle world poverty. Stop the War Coalition identifies the US, UK and Australia in particular, as leaders of the G-20, as being brutal warmongers.

Stop the War Coalition says, "If the G-20 are concerned about reducing poverty, the first thing its leading members should do is to stop invading foreign countries. The Iraq occupation cost the US taxpayers $255 million per day. This money should be spent tackling poverty"

Thousands of people from Victoria, around Australia and New Zealand will be converging on Melbourne for a week of activity including protests, counter G-20 conferences, music and other events. On Saturday Nov 18 at the main rally of the week's activity the Stop G-20 collective will have a 'surprise' in store for the G-20.

The Melbourne Stop the War Coalition will be co-chairing the rally on Nov 18 and also having a speaker address the demonstration to demand the G-20 tells the US, UK and Australia - "Troops Out of the Iraq, End the Occupation"

The Stop the War Coalition notes that in support of our demand –

* The recent study by the respected medical journal "The Lancet" has determined that over 655,000 Iraqis have died since the invasion in 2003 as a direct result of violence attributable to the occupation.
* October has been the most violent month since 2004 with almost 100 US soldiers killed and estimates of civilians dying ranging between 30 per day and the UN's estimate of 100.
* The head of the British Army, Richard Dannatt has said that the presence of UK troops "exacerbate" security problems in Iraq and they should withdraw "sometime soon".
* The Australian Labor Part itself is now campaigning to withdraw Australian troops from Iraq with Labor's defence spokesman Robert McLelland saying "There's every indication that the presence of Western troops is actually something that inflames the violence itself."
* John Howard says he won't withdraw Australian troops for the sake of our friendship with the US.
* 65% of Iraqis want an immediate withdrawal of all foreign troops.
* 60% of Australians want the Australian troops to be immediately brought home.

For further information please contact Marcus Greville on 0406 965 896 or Mick Armstrong on 0413 932 435.

18 October 2006
TAKE A STAND NOW AGAINST WAR, WORKERS AND ATTACKS ON THE ENVIRONMENT.

Nearly 6 in 10 Australians agree with an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq!

On November 18th and 19th this year a conference of 20 of the most powerful nations in the world will be held in Melbourne named G20. G20 represents the single agenda of neo-liberalism, which is the illusion that capitalism is a fair, humane and benevolent system. Specific to Australia, G20 spearheaded with the Australian government:

* Howard's "WorkChoices" reforms to Industrial Relations.
* Is a powerbroker in the push for international Nuclear Power schemes.
* Initiated Centrelink benefit cuts and recommended the abolishment of the PBS (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme).

In attendance will be some of the most despised Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the world, including one of Bush's neo-con entourage: Paul Wolfowitz (current President of the World Bank), the prime architect of the "War on Terror" and the destruction of Iraq while he was US Deputy Secretary of Defence from 2001-05, demonstrating their consensus of opinion about the war.

As G20 approaches an AC/Nielson poll revealed in The Age on Monday 59% of Australians demand an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and on popular web opinion site worldpublicopinion.org 70% believe all US troops should be withdrawn within a year.

Included in the theme of "Building & Maintaining Prosperity" G20 will be discussing strengthening neo-liberal institutions such as the World Bank and IMF to enable them to "more effectively maintain their exemplary performance". Traditionally right-wing commentators, defenders of the exploitive capitalist system, have unleashed a barrage of criticism on organising in opposition to G20, in particular Andrew Bolt last Friday describing organisers as having "youth to excuse them".

These policies in the past and into the future will seek to motivate war, exploit workers and the environment on an international scale for the single goal of economic "benefit", little of the world will ever see. Come and demonstrate against G20 at a "Stop the G20" protest to tell the world that the decisions that are being made there are contradictory to public opinion.

As Iraq becomes another US quagmire and the war continues to cost $7 billion a month, it has become imperative for individuals and organisations to turn oppositional commentary into action!! Join "Stop the G20" and organise for a better world!

STOP THE G20

12pm Saturday 18th November

State Library

-Stop the war in the Middle East

-Stop the War on Workers

-Stop the war on the environment

16 October 2006
The Worlds Biggest Warmongers come to Melbourne - Don't Let them come without a Protest

The g20 is coming to Melbourne on the weekend of November 17-19th. The G20 is an annual meeting of the finance ministers and reserve bank governors of the world's largest economies alongside international finance institutions such as, The Word Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The meeting will be talking about how to further exploit third world countries through increasing debt and pushing through privatization schemes. Another major item on the agenda is the "de-regulation of labour" in other words how the world’s bosses can smash our unions, drive down our wages and ruin our working conditions.

The g20 is also firmly behind the "war on terror". Peter Costello, the Liberal treasurer who promised us fifty years of war and lower wages, will be chairing the forum. A key speaker will be Paul Wolfowitz, the World Bank president and the former Deputy Defense Secretary of the Bush Administration. He was one of the most articulate proponents of the American invasion of Afghnaistan and Iraq and is now talking about the need for a nuclear attack on Iran . It is estimated that over 665, 000 Iraqi’s have been killed by the occupation. Wolfowitz has the blood of these people on his hands.

It is crucial that Melbourne shows the world that Australians do not agree with wars, poverty and attacks on workers rights. We do not agree with John Howard’s vision of the world and we are prepared to take a stand to show it.

Protest in Melbourne Saturday 18th November – 12pm at the State Library

6 September 2006
Stop the War Coalition response to the Sept 4 Age article, "An Unholy Alliance"

The Stop the War Coalition completely rejects the assertions made in the September 4th Age article "An Unholy Alliance" linking anti-Semitism with criticism of the actions of the Israeli state. The Stop the War Coalition is proud of it's record campaigning against the wars initiated and lead by the United States and it's allies, which includes the aggression of Israel and its most recent assault on it's neighbour Lebanon and the Palestinian territory it continues to illegally occupy. The Stop the War Coalition played a leading role in helping to mobilise thousands of people in opposition to Israel's brutal war

The aggression of Israel towards Lebanon was throughly unwarranted and according to Amnesty International reports, its actions can be constituted as war crimes. To raise criticisms of these war actions is not anti-Semitic, it is not denigrating or vilifying Jewish people and it is not racist. We have a right to criticize foreign policies and actions of any state, including Israel. Does it make us racist if we oppose the actions of the Howard, Bush or Blair governments?

To suggest that anyone criticising Israel and the Zionist project is racist and anti-semitic is a disgusting slur against groups and individuals who are actively and consistently fighting against war and racism. The authors of this piece, Barney Zwartz and Adam Morton state that "The leftists have completely blurred the line between politics and religion", which is a blatantly false accusation but serves the dual purpose of attempting to discredit the work done by the Stop the War Coalition and its allies while also attempts to divide the alliances built between anti-war groups, socialist groups and Islamic community groups.

The truth of the matter is that the apologists for the Israeli government are rapidly losing the argument. In the case of Palestine, Israel has broken more than 30 UN resolutions against it, whilst Palestine has broken none. In the case of Lebanon, Israel was still occupying a portion of southern Lebanon, in violation of a UN resolution when it launched it's attack. The UN counted 10 times more border incursion by Israel than Lebanon since Israel partially withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. Nine days after the Aug 11 UN resolution calling for a cease fire between Israel and Hezbollah, Israel launch a commando attack into the village of Boudai in north-east Lebanon.

These are acts of a State, not the acts of a religion, thus our criticism is directed against Israel, not against Judaism. When a state commits barbarity against any peoples the whole world should speak out and of the entire world polity only a few lone voices dared be heard over the Israeli cheer squad of the US, the UK and Australia. In one of the few examples of positive global leadership over the 6 week blitzkrieg against Lebanon, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez withdrew the Venezuelan ambassador to Israel and called for Israel to face an international war crimes tribunal for its actions.

The Stop the War Coalition has the support of various organisations which include the Socialist Alliance, Socialist Alternative, the Melbourne Palestine Solidarity Network, Committee for Peace and Justice in Lebanon, Islamic Girls and Womens Group, the Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth and others. We are united in our rejection of war, racism and religious vilification whether that be the mainstreaming of anti-Arabic racism and the anti-Muslim attacks led by John Howard and co, or whether it be anti-semitic abuse, real or imagined.

We totally reject and are outraged by the any allegation that any of these groups would engage in or condone any form of racism which includes anti-semitism. We will not let lies and slander divide us in our united project of building a stronger anti-war movement in Australia which opposes all unjust wars and illegal occupations.

Yours in peace and racial and religious harmony,

Stop the War Coalition.

Marcus Greville

0406 965 896
Yarraville, Melbourne, Vic.

2 August 2006
Israel is using depleted uranium in its brutal war on Lebanon. The time to act against war and nuclear madness is NOW!

Thousands of people will be marching in Melbourne, on ‘Hiroshima Day”, Sunday August 6 against war and for a nuclear free future. On August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the historic Japanese city of Hiroshima and three days later on Nagasaki. While this was a military triumph for the United States, for humanity it is a lasting tragedy.

“Unfortunately the threat of nuclear war has returned with a vengeance and is coupled with a real push by the Howard government and the opposition leader Kim Beazley for an increase of uranium mining here in Australia and the possibility of using nuclear power in the near future”, says Hillel Freedman, spokesperson for the Hiroshima Day rally. “ Nuclear power is being promoted by the nuclear industry and Howard as safe, green and inexpensive – this is a blatant lie. The opposite is true; it is dirty, dangerous and prohibitively expensive as an energy source and used in war it has the capacity to wipe out humanity. Howard and big business are not interested in the preservation of the planet – only their profits ”.

Margarita Windisch, spokesperson for Hiroshima Day rally adds that evidence is now emerging that Israel is using United States produced GBU 28 bunker busters bombs which contain depleted uranium warheads in its horrific assault upon the Lebanese people. She continues, “In its illegal invasion and continuing occupation of Iraq the US is not only responsible for a massive loss of life, destruction of infrastructure and theft of resources, it has also fired 500 tons of depleted ammunition into Iraq. – These are war crimes!”

The Hiroshima Day organising committee is very concerned with the developments in the Middle East. “Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine are occupied; Lebanon is being bombarded back into the Middle Ages – who will be next, Iran? The US and its allies Britain, Australia and Israel have to be stopped in their fanatical and murderous war drive, says Windisch, “Hiroshima Day is a day for Peace and that’s what we will be rallying for on Sunday”

Rally and March: Sunday August 6, 1pm State Library, CityMelbourne
Stop Israel’s War on Lebanon and Palestine, Troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, Don’t attack Iran; No Uranium mining, No Nuclear Power!

For more information and interviews contact
Hillel Friedman on 0417506150 or Margarita Windisch on 9639 8622 or 0438 869 790

1 August 2006
MORE VIOLENCE BY ZIONISTS AGAINST ANTI-WAR CAMPAIGNERS

Anti-war campaigners at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney were assaulted today (Tuesday 1 August) by Zionist students.

The Zionists attacked an anti-war campaign stall, attempted to steal anti-war leaflets and pamphlets and in the process assaulted Diane Fieldes, a lecturer at UNSW.

These attacks need to be widely highlighted and condemned. They follow previous physical attacks by Zionist and other right wing students on anti-war campaigners at Melbourne University and ongoing harassment by Zionists of anti-war campaigners at Monash and Swinburne Universities in Melbourne.

If people hear of other such attacks please inform me.

Mick Armstrong
Melbourne Stop the War Campaign

1 August 2006
MARCH ON SUNDAY AGAINST THE WAR ON LEBANON

Following the horrific massacre of at least 54 civilians at Qana in Lebanon, it is vital that we take a clear stand against this terrible war.

This Sunday August 6 – Hiroshima Day - you have a chance to show that the people of Lebanon and Palestine are not alone.

Make our message loud and clear to the US, Israel and John Howard: this war must end.

Assemble: 1pm SUNDAY 6 AUGUST

State Library

Cnr Swanston St & Latrobe Sts, Melbourne

Melbourne Stop the War Coalition

27 July 2006
Israel must end its war on Lebanon and Palestine-STOP THE BOMBING, TROOPS OUT NOW

Israel's bombardment of Lebanon and its reoccupation of Gaza must be stopped, Melbourne Stop the War Coalition said today.

Israel, with the support of the US and Australian governments, is flouting successive UN resolutions asking it to withdraw from the Occupied Territories. "The fact that Israel is now bombarding Lebanon, and killing so many innocents, shows its contempt for international covenants and for ordinary people, caught up in its terror attacks", says Margarita Windisch, Melbourne Stop the War spokesperson.

The Israeli government claims to be reacting to the kidnapping of three of its soldiers. But for the last 10 months the Israeli army has been carrying out kidnappings and assassinations of hundreds Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Windisch comments that "Afghanistan and Iraq were invaded by the 'coalition of the killing' based on lies and false pretexts and now the Israeli government claims it is only following the example of the US government in its wars of occupation! This is criminal! Israel and the international community must recognize the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to elect their own government – Hamas or not – and the Lebanese people theirs".

Melbourne Stop the War Coalition calls on the Australian government to condemn Israel's attacks and demand that the Israeli government cease hostilities and pull back from the Gaza and Lebanon immediately.

Melbourne Stop the War supports the "Stop Israel's aggression on Lebanon and Palestine" Rally on Sunday July 30, at 1pm, State Library and is calling on people to come to the Hiroshima Day protest the following Sunday August 6, 1pm State Library

Hiroshima day protest, Sunday August 6:

NO NULCEAR POWER – NO URANIUM MINING

TROOPS OUT OF AFGHANSITAN AND IRAQ

DON'T ATTACK IRAN

STOP ISRAEL'S WAR ON LEBANON AND PALESTINE

For more information or interviews, call Margarita Windisch on 0438 869 790 or Hillel Freedman on 0417 506 150

24 July 2006
Zionist Students assault anti-war campaigners at Melbourne Uni

At Melbourne University today (Monday 24 July) Zionist students physically attacked left wing students from the Socialist Alternative Club who were petitioning against the war on Lebanon and handing out leaflets advertising the anti-war demo this coming Sunday.

The Zionists repeatedly kept coming back to kick over the stall that the anti-war students had set up. Other students were outraged by these anti-democratic attacks and rallied around to help the anti-war campaigners who generally got a very good response.

Opponents of the war should not be intimidated by these attacks. It is just another reason why you should come to the demo to show there is broad opposition in Australia to this war. The Lebanese and Palestinian people need our solidarity.

Rally at the State Library Swanston St, City this Sunday @ 1pm.

Mick Armstrong

20 February 2006
Anti-War Group Condemns Bracks' Commonwealth "Clean-Up"

As the Commonwealth Games creep closer, the Bracks government has claimed it is going to "clean up the city of Melbourne." Extra cleaners have been employed to take down all anti-war and political posters within just 2 hours of them being put up.

This move has been condemned by the Melbourne Stop the War Coalition, which has resolved to defy the crackdown.

Alison Hogg from Stop the War Coalition said today: "More people in Melbourne are against the war than those interested in the Commonwealth Games. This campaign to clean up the city is an attack on freedom of speech and our right to organise against the much hated war."

"Over 180,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the US led occupation" Hogg continued. "With opinion polls showing most people think Australian troops should leave Iraq, the supposedly anti-war Bracks government should not be trying to silence the peace movement".

Melbourne Stop the War Coalition will continue to promote the "Troops out" protest called for the third anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. The rally, part of a global weekend of action, will be held on Friday March 17, 5.30pm at the State Library.

For comment or further info, contact:
Alison Hogg: 0403019430
Tim Doughney : 0413156808