Tony Iltis, Melbourne
One hundred and twenty people rallied in the Footscray Mall around the slogans "Stand up for multicultural communities!" and "Howard's racism will not divide us: say no to attacks on Muslims!".
The May 20 rally, organised by the western suburbs branch of the Socialist Alliance, gathered a wide range of support. Speakers included Maribyrnong acting mayor Michael Clarke; the Greens' Colleen Hartland; the ALP MP for Footscray, Bruce Mildenhall; the Imam of the Mary Mother of Jesus Mosque, Sheik Isse Musse; Flemington and Kensington Community Legal Centre solicitor Tamar Hopkins; and the Socialist Alliance's Margarita Windisch.
Isse Musse conveyed warm greetings from the Islamic community, which he said was very distressed by politicians dividing the population rather than bringing it together. He said he rejected the racist "Australian values" being promoted by politicians and called for unity based on the values of justice, freedom and the removal of fear.
Isse Musse explained that many Muslims did not attend the rally because they feared repercussions from ASIO and the police. He called on the media to stop spreading propaganda equating Muslims with terrorists. Australian Muslims are good citizens who bring their skills and knowledge to benefit the country, he said.
Hopkins described some of the horrific instances of racist violence by police officers against African youth in the Flemington area. She told of how young people had been beaten while handcuffed, had their heads bashed in, and were stopped by police up to five times a day and frequently strip-searched. The victims are refugees who have already been traumatised before settling in Australia.
Hopkins called for "zero tolerance" of police racism and violence, and said that disciplinary and criminal sanctions against the perpetrators are needed.
Windisch, the Socialist Alliance candidate for Footscray in the state election later this year, spoke about the multiculturalism that unites us in the face of Howard's attacks. Tony Abbott and Peter Costello speak about "our values", she said, but the pogrom at Cronulla last December, the wars based on lies, the locking up of refugees, the attacks on workers' rights, inadequate social services and the denial of Indigenous land rights are "their values, not ours".
Windisch said she was glad to see ALP members on the rally platform and noted that they had a hard task to change their party's policies, which currently make the ALP part of the regime of surveillance and torture.
A "rally for multiculturalism", initiated by the Sydney West branch of the Socialist Alliance, will be held on June 3 in Auburn. For details, see page 23.
From Green Left Weekly, May 31, 2006.
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