Dear lovely anti-racist folks of Melbourne (and gday to those further afield),

It’s less than 24 hours until a motley crew of fascists, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, extreme nationalists & racist ‘patriots’ plan on assembling in Coburg. Why? Well, fuck knows. Based on what they’re saying on facebook, it’s pretty much to whinge about the existence of brown folks; demonstrate their support for Australia’s policy of torturing refugees & asylum seekers through our network of privately-profitable concentration camps; and to pretend that communists secretly run the country.. or something.

Though this piece is a bit old now (it was published last year in the lead up to the July 18 Reclaim Australia rally @ Parliament), we reckon it’s still a useful read if you’re planning on coming along to tell the fash to get the eff outta Coburg tomorrow. We think now as we did then that everybody should be empowered to make informed decisions about how they participate in antifascist activities, without being told by others what they must do.

But we’re not just writing this blog entry to plug something we published nearly a year ago; even if we think it’s useful, encourage you to go read it & would appreciate it muchly if you shared it around! In addition, and as a matter of some urgency, we want to put forward some ideas about the stakes involved in tomorrow’s mobilisation.

Old mate slackbastard, as usual, summarised the situation pretty well:

The suburb of Coburg and Moreland generally is home to a diverse range of communities: ethnic, cultural, linguistic, national and religious. Many of these communities are ones that the UPF and Co. would like to see eliminated. The presence of an organised group of neo-Nazis, fascists and racists poses an immediate danger not only to locals but, if left unopposed, will further embolden these groups and individuals to continue to prosecute their divisive, racialised and reactionary politics.

Coburg has a proud history of resisting fascist intrusions into public spaces. It’s important to carry on that tradition and to let local fascists know that they are not welcome. Please attend the rally on Saturday, let others know about the rally, and be advised that a small group of fascists will be in the area, looking for opportunities to attack it and other targets.

We are not here to say that the Moreland Says No To Racism rally tomorrow is bad, or wrong. Indeed, nothing could be further from the truth. Leaflets distributed in the Moreland area in the past month by militant antifascists explicitly encourage people to attend the rally. As we have stated in the past, we broadly support all efforts to fight racism, and firmly oppose the notion that there is any one “right” way to do things.

However, we think that the intention of fascists to invade a fiercely & proudly diverse working-class neighborhood like Coburg is quite alarming, and that if they are not firmly persuaded to not try such things again, this will constitute the beginning of a new ‘march & grow’ strategy for Australian nationalists.

We believe that it is obvious that a diversity of tactics is the only way to meet the twin objectives of allowing the anti-racist community event to go forward on the one hand; and countering longer-term fascist strategic aspirations on the other. We see these goals as inseparable parts of the same struggle, and in that spirit, respectfully make the following three points.

1/ Pretending that the fash don’t exist is both a deeply flawed political position & an irresponsible way of dealing with a (potentially) volatile situation. If you are going to ask people to come out onto the streets in support of your campaign, you have a responsibility to communicate with them honestly about the the prospects, both good and bad, of the action.

It is critical that people are informed about the far right in a way that neither overstates nor diminishes the potential threat they pose. We reckon knowledge is power, and that any serious antifascist campaign should strive to spread this knowledge as widely as possible. Indeed, we believe it is incumbent upon antifascist organisers to do so.

2/ Pretending that a police force engaged in every day acts of physical & structural violence against Indigenous, migrant, queer and working-class communities can be used as a tool to challenge racism is both bad politics & a fundamentally flawed strategy.

We say this, primarily, because the assertion that the cops will ‘deal’ with the far-right is a claim with no basis in reality – as anyone who has had Victoria Police turn a chemical weapon on them in the last year can attest.

Time & time again, we’ve seen the police bend over backwards to facilitate provocative fascist marches, despite the fact fascist organisers have been arming themselves with tasers, knives & in one case an actual handgun.

Time & time again, all we’ve seen the police do in response is deploy completely disproportional force against anti-racists, whether those anti-racists have been attempting to confront Nazis or merely holding a placard at a rally.

The photo above of the riot cop high-fiving a member of the UPF on July 18 last year is merely the tip of the iceberg. Quite simply, the ridiculous “patriot” movement that has consumed so much of our time & energy in the last year simply would not have continued to exist without VicPol’s commitment to letting them spread their bigotry & nonsense freely. Pointing this out has nothing to do with loving or hating the cops, it’s simply the reality of the situation.

3/ We believe that, whilst we cannot rely on the government or the police to challenge racism, we can rely on each other. Indeed, Melburnians have shown again and again in the course of the last year, in all sorts of different campaigns, that when we work together we can achieve a lot.

The fact that the Herald Sun in particular, news outlets more generally, the police & the government seek to slander & discredit progressive social movements at every opportunity is nothing if not testament to the fact that people getting organised & taking to the streets threatens their haughty power.

If we don’t listen to the Herald Scum any other day of the week, why do we suddenly care so much about what they have to say when they’re reporting on a protest or demonstration? And, for that matter, aren’t they largely responsible for inflaming the very racialised divisons & hatreds we’re trying to resist?

Put it this way: far apart from their role in perpetuating and maintaining forms of racist violence & oppression, if the cops or pollies or the media or whatever had any desire to “deal with the UPF”, do you not think that they would have acted to do so already? They’ve had more than a year to act.

Even if you hope that this rather bleak situation can be changed by lobbying the government, voting or writing letters to the paper – and though we clearly don’t believe this to be sufficient, we’re not trying to stop anyone from doing it – we don’t understand why the blossoming of grassroots community organisation & campaigns against racism would be anything other than an asset to that approach.

You don’t have to agree with us, and you certainly don’t have to do anything you are uncomfortable with doing / unable to do. All we ask is that the same solidarity & good faith we extend to you be granted to us. People from all over Melbourne are coming to support the Moreland Council rally by telling the fash to fuck off. It’s really actually just that simple.

Of course, the task before us is daunting. It’s fine to be nervous or afraid. That’s natural. As we see it, it’s our task to support one another through this fear & doubt & whatever may be thrown at us along the way. Divided, we can easily be controlled, intimidated, harassed or attacked.

But together, even against an adversary that wants to make us feel as if they’re so much bigger & tougher & stronger than we are, we can win.

We believe that though the many strategies employed by activists organising against racism differ significantly, they are mutually complementary, even if we disagree with the priority given to a particular course of action or the effectiveness of a particular approach.

When we say ‘remembering means fighting’, please don’t think we just mean physical confrontation. To us, fighting means (among other things):

Acting together. Organising collectively. Turning up on time. Looking after one another. Not giving into fascist threats. Not giving into their demands. Refusing to be intimidated by them. Standing up for our communities & the many different kinds of people who live in them. Not letting the Nazis have the streets & certainly not letting them be ignored.

We do whatever we can on the basis of what we can contribute, and that’s all we can do. Nobody is “weak” for being unable to fight, and nobody is “as bad as them” for being prepared to confront the fascists. In the words of the late, great Gil Scott-Heron “nobody can do everything; but everybody can do something.”

The guide we have linked to above is just one of the contributions to the debate we’ve made over the course of the last year, not to antagonise the pointless sectarian divisions that already hamstring progressive political forces in this country, but in the hope of demystifying antifascist practice & encouraging more people to get out there and act.

What we think is on the record, and if you disagree that’s fine, but please let’s disagree substantively, with reference to all the factors at play, and not simply on the basis of whichever niche political ideology you happen to subscribe to.  We don’t have any interest in telling people what to do and certainly not what they ought to think. We do however consider these questions to be both empirical & historical. It’s not a matter of sectarianism & certainly not a matter of heaping shit on others who are doing different things. It is simply us reflecting on the lessons we’ve learned in the last year, considering what worked & what didn’t work, and striving to do better.

What unites us is much greater than that on which we differ. We believe it a matter of urgent necessity to encourage more people to realise their own power, their collective potential & their responsibility to act. We want, as we’re sure many others do, the most people possible to get out there & participate. Not only because it’s the right thing, not only because it’s important but also because we believe that through this experience, we can empower people to begin organising in their communities to confront the very real problems we all face; and not just spend all our time chasing Nazis off the street.

Only together can we make the world a better place.

Let’s get on with it.

¡No pasarán!

With love, rage & solidarity,

Some antifascists; living, working & organising on stolen Wurundjeri Country

On Sunday, the fascist grouplet “Party for Freedom”, an openly xenophobic, islamophic and racist organisation held a demonstration outside the Halal foods Expo in Flemington, Victoria.

The group comprised mostly of late 20’s-mid 30’s men dressed themselves in different traditional Islamic garb of both sexes. The ones not in ‘costume’ wore shirts saying ‘RAPEfugees NOT WELCOME.’ Largely activists from Sydney, they were continuing their career as professional protesters from the North Shore. They were joined by a number of local racists, of both garden and skinhead variety. Even a couple of vegetarians turned up, because Halal is obviously far more evil than racism.

The group chanted insulting slogans, waved flags and placards, and stood over, abused, and taunted any number of families, women and children attending the event.

A small police escort watched over the events, with a detachment of PORT nearby waiting, several cars of police making rounds keeping a watchful eye, and a line of mounted cops standing in the background. None of these intervened of course. Freedom to harass and persecute minorities being the inherent human right of any white bloke in Australia, after all.

Then out of nowhere, our heroes from the lovely North Shore were having a fucking bad day.

A number of antifascists attacked from all sides. Fights immediately broke out, and almost all the fascists’ flags, placards, and banners were gone, all within two minutes. A number felt quite sore, and one bloke had to be taken to hospital after having copped his own flagpole in the eye. We’re still not sure how, but it wouldn’t surprise us if he was stupid enough to hit himself.

The police had no idea what to do, two people were temporarily detained but managed to bugger off, and the cops largely stood around in the horse shit their useless mounted unit provided. They’re still so confused they think everyone ‘jumped off the tram.’ Nick Folkes, the Party for Freedom’s chairman immediately got out his phone cam and provided a video of himself, on the verge of tears, decrying the actions of “An-tee-fa.” With no tools left, and their mates bruised and battered they had to pack up and fuck off back to their posh homes in Sydney to wank with bougie tears over how much they hate the multi-cultural working classes of ‘Straya. (Of course, everyone from An-tee-fa is on the dole, or Lee Rihannons paycheques, remember.)

However, the far-right were not the only group rather upset.

There has been plenty of outcry about the actions of the small groups attack on PFF.

“You’re as bad as each other.”

“You’re just dickhead blokes out to look tough.”

“It’s racist because you didn’t consult the concerned community.”

Maybe we are as bad as each other. But only to liberals. Fascism is a violent, authoritarian response to crises in capitalism, where members of all classes join together over an identity based around nation and ethnicity, excluding and persecuting minorities in order to shift the blame away from the real causes, and maintain a sense of solidarity in fear. When these movements grow, they are exploited by the folks at the top of the chain, to keep the rest of us in place. Fascists hate poor people. They might carry on about ‘caring for our own first’, but you never see them lift a finger to actually help. With one breath they will cry; “Feed the Aussie hungry first!”, then with the next “Fuck the dole bludgers, let them starve.” The fascists would divide us over religion and skin colour to satisfy the needs of the rich, and screw the rest of us.

Maybe some of us are dickhead blokes who are out to look and act tough. But you know what, we’re also just stupid working class people who will never have the enlightened views of our betters. We could apologise for thinking that it’s fucking horrible that people are allowed to get away with abusing minorities in our communities, and that we made a decision that we would stop it. But we won’t.

You know what else? We’re definitely not all blokes. Maybe what’s sexist is to assume that women don’t participate or organise in militant anti-fascist circles. I guess you wouldn’t know that women participate, because thankfully you don’t know who participates at all.  It’s the same for claims that it’s all white blokes. If anything, the people from these marginalised communities who may have participated have every god damn right to feel indignant enough to fight back. If you’re attacking militant antifascism on the grounds that it’s racist, be very careful.

Seems like all that black clothing and the facemasks work.

It’s not a tactic for every time, and it doesn’t replace the work that militants do in other spaces to help build positive things in their community. But the anonymity allows that to continue, and it’s effective in stopping fascists.

Some may say that to take such militant action without the consent of the rest of the ‘movement’ is vanguardist and unaccountable. This may be correct if we were attempting to lead the revolution, or to impose our ideas upon others. But we were not. The context of anti-fascism means this was the defense of our communities.

The fascists attempt to capitalise on discontent amongst communities that are exploited by the system, and blame minorities. The left wants to capitalise on discontent amongst communities, and fight the ruling class. Let’s not pretend as the Left we do not have our own interests in beating the fascists out of our communities. Let’s not pretend that victory is just out-numbering them and having the ‘moral high ground’ of non-violence. We know that violence is a tactic, that it is not to be fetishized but neither is it to be condemned when it’s appropriately targeted. Sometimes part of winning is organising and building the movement. Sometimes the victory is sending them fucking running, leaving them without resources to organise and looking like the fools they are.

Sunday achieved all of these last three objectives.

Maybe Nick Folkes and the Party for Freedom were an easy target. But they are still part of a very broad idea in Australia that Halal is somehow a violation of our rights, and that it’s okay to blame Muslims. Only last week the United Patriots Front unfurled a banner at a Collingwood/Richmond football game that said “Stop the Mosque!” One brave young comrade confronted them, and others rallied to support her. When we let the legitimisation of racist discourses go unchecked, we have failed.

The action in Flemington was successful. The Campaign Against Racism and Fascism demo in the city was successful, and Collingwood Football Club and it’s supporters told the United Patriots Front and other racists to piss off. On a day when the slogan was raised; ‘You’ll always lose in Melbourne’, it was made sure of.

The concerned mums and dads of Reclaim Australia and the UPF made it so clear on Sunday Night with Kent Brockman that they are very, very, very super duper concerned about getting their chance to speak their minds and do that freedom of speech thing our constitution is so super keen on. In keeping with that, we’d like to give a voice to the forgotten Patriots. Because, what with the recent spectacular implosion of the UPF, a few Patriots have been getting a bit antsy. Those comments that haven’t been ignored or buried have been deleted by those pesky left wing social justice warriors, I mean, the UPF. Here, to fix the imbalance, is the Melbourne Antifascist Info special feature, VOICES OF THE UPF. Presented in four parts without commercial interruption in portable, slick PDFs.

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G’night Patriots.

We’ve already been through a few rounds with both the UPF and Reclaim Australia, and now we’re back at it again in Bendigo. The 10-10-15 ‘Global Day of Action Against Islam” is being used by the patriots to continue to have a whine about the mosque in Bendigo. As we’ve said before, if you’re planning on going out to oppose the “United Patriots Front” this weekend, it’s totally legitimate to feel a bit anxious or worried about what the day might have in store. The last time the UPF did outnumber us in Bendigo, and while we stood up against them they claimed the victory. This time it won’t be so easy for them.

Bendigo residents have formed a devoted group called Bendigo Action Coalition that’s done a ton of useful on the ground organising to spearhead local resistance to the thugs. As usual the UPF have been making noises about violence and confrontation, and conflating this with their own tricksies of creating fake anti-fascist propaganda to stir up resentment for the antifascists.

Being nervous or concerned by nonsense like this is perfectly understandable, particularly if this is the first time you’ve done something like this, but even those amongst us who are more experienced, these feelings aren’t uncommon. They’re natural and having them doesn’t make you a bad antifascist. They can, however, be managed & overcome in a few ways. We hope that this quick primer will provide you with a few tips and resources about how to be keep one another safe, how to be effective and (hopefully) have a bit of fun running the racists out of town.

Get organised:

If you’re not already involved in organising against UPF there’s still time. Search for the counter rally page in your city (Bendigo Action Coalition in Bendigo, Campaign Against Racism and Fascism in Melbourne), read up about what’s going on and consider making contact with the organisers to answer any questions you might have.

Here is a copy of the BAC call out for the day. Please share these around, feel free to download, print it off, hand it out, post it up etc.

For those of us in Melbourne, the following places have a bunch of information you might want to check out:

• The Bendigo Action Coalition on Facebook
• Melbourne Antifascists on Facebook
• Slackbastard on the web, Facebook & Twitter
• The Campaign Against Racism and Fascism Facebook page
• The Melbourne Street Medic Collective on the web, Facebook & Twitter
• The Melbourne Activist Legal Support blog & Facebook page
• The Fitzroy Legal Service‘s Activist Rights website

Talk to your friends, your family and anyone else about what you want to do, and get them to come along with you. The more of us there is, the easier & more fun this is all going to be. The more safe we will all be, too.

Have a plan:

1. Check out the transport options, figure out with your friends how you’re gonna get there on the day and then stick to that plan. Getting out of bed on time really matters on days like this! Rule number one of antifascism; don’t have a hangover! Also sort out how you are going to get home in advance, and have a backup plan in case of changing circumstances. There are limited trains out of Bendigo, so make sure you check the train times. Including backup times in case we’re around for longer than planned.
2. Know where you’re going & what the protest area looks like. Look at a map & try to memorise the layout of the streets around it. Figure out how you will move between transport & the rally area.
3. Dress appropriately for the conditions in your city. Hats, sunglasses and sunscreen are going to be useful as it’s going to be quite hot and were going to be outside all day. Added bonus is they can also help protect your identity (if that’s something you are concerned about }. It’s also a good idea to stash a change of top in your back pack, in case you want to change it up on your way home. Given the recent developments in policing these rallies, clothing that covers your body well, scarfs, sunnies etc are extra useful in protecting yourself from pepperspray too.
4. Consider removing piercings, jewellery & avoiding where possible loose clothing that can be grabbed. Also, if you have long hair, keep it tied back and out of your face.
5. Bring water, low GI snacks that are easy to eat on the fly (fruit, nuts, muesli bars, pack some sandwiches), sunscreen, umbrella/raincoat, a bit of cash, photo ID and any medications you require.

Get informed:

There’s plenty of really useful stuff on the internet about preparing for an action like this. At the very least, it would be worth checking out Fitzroy Legal Service’s Activists Rights Handbook for basic stuff about your legal rights when on a political demonstration or action.

We also think this guide from South London Antifascists is useful, although not all the points they raise are relevant to activists in Australia.

Also important to have a look at is the Melbourne Street Medic Collective’s website. They have an extensive list of resources available covering many different aspects of political action including preparation, staying safe & self care.

Safety & strength in numbers:

This is pretty common sense really but it is worth repeating.

Any time you got out on an action, no matter what sort, we reckon it’s worth buddying up. This will not only help you communicate, co-ordinate and get things done on the day, but it will keep you all safe. Pick a buddy, stick with them, and co-ordinate amongst a broader group of people so everyone can check in & be accounted for.

Whatever dangers do exist when dealing with the far-right can be effectively minimised on the day provided we stick together & look out for one another. If you don’t have a buddy or a group of contacts to coordinate with, then ensure you to get to the event before the scheduled start time, stick with the crowd & try to make some friends.

Remember that solidarity is contagious. If you are feeling nervous, chances are someone else is too. Speak up, reach out & support one another.

A few points about Nazis:

The UPF are the latest core of nazi thugs organising these rallies, but they’ve gotten support from the Australian Defence League, and made ties with local “Rights For Bendigo Residents”, meaning a turnout of local folk possibly looking for a scrap. Bendigo has experience organised anti-mosque agitation for a while. It is important to consider the potential threat posed by hardcore nationalists without overstating it. Though they claim to be the “master race”, and love to act real tough, they’re rather less impressive in person. Some are individually dangerous but it’s easy to avoid this danger with a few simple precautions. The most important precaution is to stick together, work together & look after one another!

1. Know your enemy. If you check the Melbourne Antifascist Info page, there are a few ‘collectors cards’ identifying the main fascist thugs.
2. The “United Patriots Front” are meeting at “2.30pm.” The UPF are all about trying to start a ruck, and should be treated as serious and confrontational. The locals on their side may also be keen for a punch on, but they might also be more hesitant and confused as they have less experience. Also, don’t risk pissing off local supporters because you misidentify them, but remain aware that right-wingers might try and integrate with our crowd, too.
3. Different towns in Australia have different levels of far-right activity, so it really depends where you are as to what flavour of racist bonehead you might be dealing with. Some general rules still apply though: if you’re walking down the street and a gang of boofy blokes wearing flag-capes comes towards you, consider walking somewhere else.
4. Fascists on the attack? We will film them back! The UPF have consistently attempted to distance themselves from the overt Nazis in their group (like old mate Swastika head), even by lame propaganda like kicking ‘Ross the Skull’ off their bus from Sydney last time. We are well aware of the company they keep. Unfortunately, this information doesn’t seem to matter much to his followers, but it is still important to identify the Nazis on the day, both to keep people safe, but also because every nail in the coffin helps.
5. That being said, if you’re taking photos of anti-fascists don’t go posting it online without the consent of the people you’ve photographed. Avoiding identification is really important to some anti-fascists more at risk, and depending what you capture you could be aiding the police. Remember, historically the police crackdown harder on anti-fascists than racists, and that trend isn’t about to change.
6. I know we’ve said it a few times already, but really the most important thing you can do to stay safe is to look out for one another & stick together. There is no more important time to do this than when the rally breaks up & everyone goes home. Fascists are bullies, but they’re also cowards & some may hang around in the city to look to pick a fight. This happened last time so make sure you’ve arranged plans to get home safely. We can protect ourselves from this threat by making sure we move in a group (to the station etc), with purpose & with a clear idea of where we’re going. Know the location, know the exit routes & stick to your plan.

Be careful around the police:

It doesn’t matter what you actually think about the police, love em or hate em, you will definitely have to deal with them on the day. The Activists Rights Handbook is a much more rigorous & comprehensive guide for dealing with the law than we have room for here, but here are a few tips:

1. They are likely to be the definitive force on the day. Last time they mobilised large numbers from Melbourne, and they did play nicer than on July 18, however it’s worth noting they pulled out the capsicum spray again and though it was aimed at the UPF, it could just as easily be us. They have consistently facilitated the fascists rallies and if our intention is to No Platform the UPF, we are immediately at odds with the Police. Don’t expect them to be playing nice this time around.
2. Don’t talk to them unless you are detained or arrested. You don’t have to speak to the cops, and no matter how nice they are, the reason they speak to you is to gain information that they may attempt to use against you or someone else. Better to be safe and say nothing at all.
3. If you see someone in a mask, don’t give them shit. It’s their choice and their safety and anonymity is important. It’s just as valid as whatever tactic you have chosen to employ. People have a lot of good reasons for masking up, you can read a piece here where we deal with it. Some antifascist mates of ours from Bendigo have also produced a sweet leaflet we host here (bonus; it explains reasons some people may/have chosen to burn the flag) dealing with the same issues.
4. Elect a police liaison to negotiate on your crew’s behalf. Instead of allowing the cops to decide who they want to put pressure on, choose a confident person whose job it is to communicate with the plod if/when it is necessary. Don’t do it unless you absolutely have to – go to the BAC/CARF marshals first and find the police liaison.
5. Use your common sense, keep focused & don’t do anything silly. By all means defend yourself & your friends if attacked, but initiating a toe-to-toe boxing match with the boneheads somewhere public is a less than wonderful idea. Collective action is what makes antifascism effective, not individual bravado. Remember, the UPF exist pretty exclusively to come “smash” us “traitors”. Denying them the opportunity to do this on their terms drives them batty & causes them to do all sorts of silly things. We can’t rely on the police to keep us safe, but we can laugh our arses off when they start getting nicked for kicking off with the coppers.
6. On that topic, we’re not telling you what action you can and can’t take… but remember, if you get arrested in another city, that’s really hard on your comrades who have to wait around and bail you out.
7. On top of that point, the most important political point right now is that we help galvanise support in Bendigo for a serious, confrontational anti-racism that will No Platform hate speech. Helping BAC pull off a good rally is the priority.

Have fun:

For the most part, the kind of muppets who will drag themselves along to a rally about the “evils of Islam” are pitiful, pathetic and ridiculous, not to mention misguided. Make good use of that fact. It’s likely that most of their attendees are so attached to their silly conspiracy theories that they are well beyond rational debate. But they are not beyond ridicule! Blast them with music, sing them songs, chant them down. Dance your ass off to anti-racist tunes, explain to passers by why they’re plonkers, bring along a vuvuzela.. whatever! As BAC are pitching the rally; this is going to be a loud and colourful event!

The most effective forms of resistance involve everyone participating how they’re best able, so bring your skills, creativity and your friends and let’s make a go of it!

Stand together, stay safe, ‘¡No pasarán!

See you on the streets,

Melbourne Antifascists (///)
(This stay-safe guide has been gratefully adapted a couple of times by Melbourne Antifascists from a piece published in the lead up to the first Reclaim Australia rally.)

There’s been a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth lately about the sight of masked protesters at anti-fascist demonstrations. Common complaints or concerns we’ve heard leveled against masked protesters is that they make other demonstrators feel unsafe, they bring the tone down or that they seem as though they must be looking for trouble. It’s true that masked protesters are hard to ignore at anti-fascist demos, but I would argue that their presence has more to do with the prevention of violence than its promotion. If you’re critical of masking up as a tactic, or feel unsafe when masked individuals pop up from time to time, please read on. I hope to allay your concerns, but in doing so I may need you to join me in accepting one or two uncomfortable truths. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though…

Bandana cat watches you while you Nazi.

“They make me feel unsafe”

Yeah, I get it, people running around in masks amid a cacophony of shouting, colours, banners etc. It is confronting. It is frightening. It is also reality and it isn’t going anywhere by you disapproving of it. If you’re paying attention to the UPF and you don’t feel unsafe yet then that says two things to me. One: You aren’t paying enough attention, and Two: Maybe you should have a think about why that is. Putting their violent ideology to the side for one moment, the UPF is run by violent thugs who have managed to consolidate other groups of violent thugs into a big, happy, violent thug menagerie. Let’s make no bones about it- these men are violent, they are dangerous, and they are very, very public about both of these things. That’s the reality that we and (I hope) you are organising in. We are dealing with scary frigging people, trying our best to look lovely and friendly and approachable isn’t much of an option. Keep thinking about why masked protesters make you feel more unsafe than Nazis, because it might come up later.

“Masked protesters are looking for trouble”

Not really. If you take the time to really pay attention to the behaviour of most masked demonstrators on the day, you won’t notice much in the way of spectacle. While it’s true that biffs break out on the ground between Nazis and anti-Nazi demonstrators, you’ll tend to notice that the people who get involved are neither all masked nor all unmasked at the time (including Nazis). For every photo of a masked protester throwing a projectile through the air, there are a dozen people in masks not up to much at all, holding signs and milling about like everybody else. In fact, if you respect masked protesters like you would any other partner in a struggle, they’ll respect you and if you keep an eye out for them, they’ll keep an eye out for you. After all, wearing a mask does give an activist the agency to be able to extricate a comrade from a shit situation swiftly, and without compromising their identity…

“I knew it! The only reason their identity needs protecting in that situation is so the police can’t bang them up when they act like hooligans!” you gasp, in that unflattering way you have.

Again, not really. People are rarely arrested at anti-fascist demonstrations in Melbourne, but even so, if the police are determined to strike, a mask won’t stop them picking people out of a scrum. Remember back in my first point, when I told you the Australian far right are a violent and credible threat? Of course you do, you’re a quick learner. Well, here’s what activists face online when Nazis even speculate that it’s them wot done it (whatever it is that day).

How would you like to read the above and realise it’s you they’re after?

Now, the easy way out of thinking about this is to point out that the above are all keyboard warriors. There’s no way of knowing if that’s true or not, and the UPF et al’s online membership comprises most active street-level neo-Nazi thugs in Melbourne. Even if the people above are just twiddling their thumbs in the basement, they’re giving out the names, photographs and sometimes home suburb information of activists accused summarily of usually minor indiscretions (flipping the bird, being gender-non-conforming, shouting) but also sometimes the kind of shit that really gets patriots hot under the collar (women hitting men who can’t hit them back, shoving, flag singeing etc). This information is accessible to the kind of chaps I introduced you to earlier. But y’know, it’s not like a neo-Nazi keyboard warrior ever hurt anybody…

Loose ends

Remember when I asked you to think about why masks are scarier than Nazis? Good. I’d like to posit that it’s because you’re not in danger yourself. I don’t want you to feel bad about that, I hope you’re not in any danger. You seem nice. But many of the activists who work tirelessly to oppose fascist street-level organising aren’t so lucky. They don’t all have cars that keep them off the streets, they often live in the same suburbs as the neo-Nazis themselves (i.e. not very nice ones), some of them have the kinds of crappy jobs or houses they could lose at any moment, some of them aren’t white. What I’m trying to say is that activists are putting themselves in harm’s way all the time opposing fascism, and that harm comes from credible sources of violence. You have to understand that.

Masks aren’t a license to fuck shit up, they’re a license to go home at night and crawl into bed without checking under it first. You don’t have to wear one, but if you see somebody who has decided to, respect their decision. Don’t insist that they take it off, lest everybody look bad. Don’t ask them, why?, and don’t shove cameras in their faces.

See you at the next rally. I’ll be the one wearing… oh, never mind.

(The following account was written & first published by an active antifascist & member of Anarchist Affinity)

It seems obvious that the main conflict and debate that is raging in the immediate aftermath of the latest round of Reclaim Australia isn’t even about the fascists, but about the police, though the two points are obviously linked. Many people are shocked by the level of violence and aggression displayed by the police, and plenty of people are condemning those on the left for physical confrontation as much as they are the fascists. I think both of these views are mistaken.

For a start let’s deal with the police. It’s important that our media explains that the cops aren’t on our side-  but let’s not pretend to be surprised either. Many people see the police through the traditional liberal lens- that they exist to protect society from crime.  For the many people who copped pepper spray, saw the police pepper spray medics, took random punches to the face and received cursory “fuck offs” from the police on Saturday, that notion is not going to gell particularly well with their feelings at the moment. Marxist or Anarchist theory will point out to you that the police exist to protect private property and the state, and little else.

Yesterday was one of the more open ‘iron fist under the velvet glove’ moments we’ve had in Australia in a while. Certainly the most since I’ve been an activist. Believing that cops exist to protect you probably means that you’re from a somewhat more privileged background, whereby the police are more friendly/less violent towards you. Try asking some of the blackfellas from Redfern why they don’t like cops; or the Grocon workers who have had their pickets smashed by riot cops because they went on strike to defend safe workplace conditions. The police are the armed protection of a stratified class society, and when they defend and facilitate fascist rallies based on the liberal ‘free speech laws’, what they’re doing is defending movements (i.e the racist fascists) whose growth will smash civil, political & workplace rights won through decades of struggle.

Compounding this is the long history of racism within the Australian police force. Countless black deaths in custody that no one has ever been charged for provide the clearest example of how the police, as an institution, serve to perpetuate, legitimate & in a visceral sense enforce racist notions of cultural/white supremacy. It’s also worth mentioning that the Australian police are not in any way exceptional, their acts of oppression and racism are similar to that of the police forces in other nations; simply consider the response of police forces around the “United States”  to the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement to mention but one example.

It’s actually very simple: control and oppression just come with the role of being a police officer. The psychology of police can be debated by other people, I don’t doubt that there are police who genuinely take the job thinking of the ‘positive’ social roles (the rhetoric of ‘protect & serve’ for example), but that’s not inherently what the role of the police force is. That is why people use slogans like ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards). Not because they’re so ignorant to think every individual police person is necessarily an absolute bastard, but because they recognise that, even with the best will in the world, you cannot improve an oppressive institution by joining it, nor is it noble or desirable to do so. Part of building a revolutionary movement will mean, at some stage, confronting and dismantling the police institution and replacing it with something that’s actually responsive to community needs, is actually democratic & is actually about mediating/avoiding the causes of conflict, rather than just doling out punishments & asserting control.

So, the police pulling pepper spray was ‘in response to violence from the left’, apparently. Maybe this is true, I certainly saw some of it. But I sure as hell will not condemn anyone for it*, especially when known Nazi squads deliberately wandered into our crowd provoking a fight. Violence should never be a first resort or even an ideology, and by the same token neither should non-violence.  They are simply strategies employed for political purposes.

We are not living in a fantasy world, where everyone is going to ‘respect’ everyone else and just stand around in the streets and have a big debate over cupcakes or tea or something. I had friends there on Saturday whose rage I think was/is entirely justified; whose family members have been the subject of racial abuse and attacks for years. Of course they were going to be really fucking angry. Yesterday they wanted to defend their themselves and their communities, and what they faced was an active racist and fascist movement on the streets, with the police backing them up.

You can only take so much abuse before you fight back.

Some reading of the history of fascism will point out to you that fascist politics is entirely about physical domination of the streets and their opponents. Whether Hitler’s ‘Brownshirts’, Mussolini’s ‘Blackshirts’, the British National Front or the Greek Golden Dawn, Nationalist street movements share a similar pathology. Clearly, we are dealing with much more than our local fundamentalist anti-abortion Catholics here. Reclaim, the United Patriots Front and their fellows on the far-right aim to use their cries of ‘free speech’ and  their ‘politically acceptable’ rallies to start building political space and a movement that will grow to allow them to dominate.

At times, the first call of response has been violent confrontation – we know the anarchists and communists of 1930s Germany used physical confrontation in the streets as a tactic, and maybe if our ‘liberal friends’ had supported them, the NSDAP may not have seized control of the Weimar Republic. The Battle of Cable Street (East London, 1936) provides an example in the opposite direction, where the strength & militancy of the community response to Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists not only routed the Blackshirts in London, but effectively destroyed their ability to recruit, expand & influence the (extremely volatile) political situation in Britain for a generation. Anti-Fascist Action, active in the UK in the 80’s-90’s can be seen as a continuation of this legacy; the fact that the British National Party are a rump, joke organisation is due almost exclusively to the fact they were never allowed to grow on the streets.

We obviously hate to quote the guy below, but he really does sum up the political argument best:

“Only one thing could have broken our movement – if the adversary had understood its principle and from the first day had smashed with extreme brutality the nucleus of our new movement.” – Adolf Hitler, 1933 Nuremberg Nazi Party rally.

Evidently, we’re not going to challenge white supremacy across this stolen continent by simply scrapping with Nazis when they try and attack us on the streets. Dismantling the systems of domination & oppression that maintain our status quo will take much more than that (a topic on which we hope to write more later), but for now, let’s do away with the illusion that being prepared to defend ourselves & our communities from fascist provocation somehow makes us ‘as bad as them’.

Touch One / Touch All

Melbourne Antifascists

(///)

*I was pepper sprayed twice yesterday, the first time was because I was attempting to pull away a fascist who had a) punched a friend in the face and b) attempted to choke another. At that stage, he hadn’t been attacked by the left. Then the cops attempted to arrest me. It was quite clear to me and everyone else yesterday that we weren’t the ones, and never were going to be the ones to be protected. Thanks again to the comrades who pulled me out of that situation.

If you’re planning on going out to oppose “Reclaim Australia” & their fascist brethren the “United Patriots Front” this weekend, it’s totally legitimate to feel a bit anxious or worried about what the day might have in store. Especially considering the time & energy the UPF have devoted in the last 6 weeks to making ridiculous videos about how they’re gonna “smash the lefties” etc.

Being nervous or concerned by nonsense like this is perfectly understandable, particularly if this is the first time you’ve done something like this, but even those amongst us who are more experienced, these feelings aren’t uncommon. They’re natural and having them doesn’t make you a bad antifascist. They can, however, be managed & overcome in a few ways. We hope that this quick primer will provide you with a few tips and resources about how to be keep one another safe, how to be effective and (hopefully) have a bit of fun running the racists out of town.

Get organised:

If you’re not already involved in organising against Reclaim Australia/UPF there’s still time. Search for the counter rally page in your city, read up about what’s going on and consider making contact with the organisers to answer any questions you might have.

Here is a copy of our call out for the day. Please share it round, feel free to download, print it off, hand it out, post it up etc.

For those of us in Melbourne, the following places have a bunch of information you might want to check out:

• Melbourne Antifascists on Facebook
• Slackbastard on the web, Facebook & Twitter
• The Campaign Against Racism & Fascism counter-rally event page & Facebook page
• The No Room For Racism counter-rally event page & Facebook page
• The Melbourne Street Medic Collective on the web, Facebook & Twitter
• The Melbourne Activist Legal Support blog & Facebook page
• The Fitzroy Legal Service‘s Activist Rights website
• The Twitter hashtag #NoRoomForRacism (particularly good for updates on the day)

Talk to your friends, your family and anyone else about what you want to do, and get them to come along with you. The more of us there is, the easier & more fun this is all going to be.

Have a plan:

1. Check out the transport options, figure out with your friends how you’re gonna get there on the day and then stick to that plan. Getting out of bed on time really matters on days like this! Also sort out how you are going to get home in advance, and have a back up plan in case of changing circumstances.
2. Know where you’re going & what the protest area looks like. Look at a map & try to memorise the layout of the streets around it. Figure out how you will move between transport & the rally area.
3. Dress appropriately for the conditions in your city. Whatever the weather, hats and sunglasses are going to be useful if you’re standing outside all day & they can also help protect your identity (if that’s something you are concerned about). It’s also a good idea to stash a change of top in your back pack, in case you want to change it up on your way home
4. Consider removing piercings, jewellery & avoiding where possible loose clothing that can be grabbed. Also, if you have long hair, keep it tied back and out of your face
5. Bring water, low GI snacks that are easy to eat on the fly (fruit, nuts, muesli bars, pack some sandwiches), sunscreen, umbrella/raincoat, a bit of cash, photo ID and any medications you require (in their original packaging so the cops don’t give you shit)

Get informed:

There’s plenty of really useful stuff on the internet about preparing for an action like this. At the very least, it would be worth checking out Fitzroy Legal Service’s Activists Rights Handbook for basic stuff about your legal rights when on a political demonstration or action.

We also think this guide from South London Antifascists is useful, although not all the points they raise are relevant to activists in Australia.

Also important to have a look at is the Melbourne Street Medic Collective’s website. They have an extensive list of resources available covering many different aspects of political action including preparation, staying safe & self care.

Safety & strength in numbers:

This is pretty common sense really but it is worth repeating.

Any time you got out on an action, no matter what sort, we reckon it’s worth buddying up. This will not only help you communicate, co-ordinate and get things done on the day, but it will keep you all safe. Pick a buddy, stick with them, and co-ordinate amongst a broader group of people so everyone can check in & be accounted for.

Whatever dangers do exist when dealing with the far-right can be effectively minimised on the day provided we stick together & look out for one another. If you don’t have a buddy or a group of contacts to coordinate with, then ensure you to get to the event before the scheduled start time, stick with the crowd & try to make some friends.

Remember that solidarity is contagious. If you are feeling nervous, chances are someone else is too. Speak up, reach out & support one another.

A few points about Nazis:

Given that every nationalist, white-supremacist & neo-Nazi organisation in the country (including the Australia First Party, the Australian Defence League, the Southern Cross Soldiers & a bunch of other patriotic acronyms) is being encouraged to attend the Reclaim Australia rallies, consider the following points:

1. It is important to consider the potential threat posed by hardcore nationalists without overstating it. Though they claim to be the “master race”, and love to act real tough, they’re rather less impressive in person. Some are individually dangerous but it’s easy to avoid this danger with a few simple precautions. The most important precaution is to stick together, work together & look after one another!
2. Know your enemy. For folks in Melbourne, this handy little bingo card of fascist mugshots may come in handy. Additionally, be aware of the fact that two separate organisations will be rallying in Melbourne on the day: “Reclaim Australia” at 11am & the “United Patriots Front” at 1pm. Generally speaking, expect the “Reclaim” crowd to be less confrontational & more interested in making itself palatable to the right-wing politicians & media outlets from which it emerged in the first place. The UPF on the other hand are all about trying to start a ruck, and should be treated as the more dangerous of the two rallies.
3. Different towns in Australia have different levels of far-right activity, so it really depends where you are as to what flavour of racist bonehead you might be dealing with. Some general rules still apply though: if you’re walking down the street and a gang of boofy blokes wearing flag-capes comes towards you, consider walking somewhere else.
4. Current fuhrer of the Australia First Party (formerly the Australian Nazi Party) “Dr” Jim Saleam has issued a series of dictats to his swastika-licking mates about how they ought to behave themselves on the day. They’re encouraging people to leave the nazi getup & sieg-heiling at home, wrap themselves in the Aussie flag (presumably to cover up any fascist tattoos) & spread the word about good ole Adolf in a gentle, less threatening way. Basically, they’re going to try to be on their best behaviour.
5. Fascists on di attack? We will film them back! Though self-appointed leader of Reclaim Australia United Patriots Front Shermon “shit on a mosque” Burgess is trying to play down his connections to racists, fascists and boneheads around ‘Straya, we are well aware of the company he keeps. Unfortunately, this information doesn’t seem to matter much to his followers, but it is still important to identify the Nazis on the day, both to keep people safe, but also because every nail in the coffin helps.
6. I know we’ve said it a few times already, but really the most important thing you can do to stay safe is to look out for one another & stick together. There is no more important time to do this than when the rally breaks up & everyone goes home. Fascists are bullies, but they’re also cowards & some may hang around in the city to look to pick a fight. We can protect ourselves from this threat by making sure we move in a group (to the station etc), with purpose & with a clear idea of where we’re going. Know the location, know the exit routes & stick to your plan.

Be careful around the police:

It doesn’t matter what you actually think about the police, love em or hate em, you will definitely have to deal with them on the day. The Activists Rights Handbook is a much more rigorous & comprehensive guide for dealing with the law than we have room for here, but here are a few tips:

1. They are likely to be the definitive force on the day. Reclaim round one was an absolute PR disaster for them, and that loss of legitimacy was only compounded by our victory over the UPF at Richmond Town Hall in May. Expect an awful lot of them, and don’t expect them to be playing nice this time around.
2. Don’t talk to them unless you are detained or arrested. You don’t have to speak to the cops, and no matter how nice they are, the reason they speak to you is to gain information that they may attempt to use against you or someone else. Better to be safe and say nothing at all.
3. Elect a police liaison to negotiate on your crew’s behalf. Instead of allowing the cops to decide who they want to put pressure on, choose a confident person whose job it is to communicate with the plod if/when it is necessary. (Melbourne AF understand the counter-rally organisers have already organised police liaisons, but it’s worth considering for your own smaller group too.)
4. Don’t waste your time trying to reason with them about why Nazis shouldn’t get to parade around in public. They either don’t care, or it’s their job to not care. If you consider the way Victoria Police bent over backwards to faciliate the UPF’s failed attempt to rally at Richmond Town Hall in May, it should be pretty clear that an organisation as corrupt and institutionally racist as the police force cannot be used as a tool to confront racism.
5. Use your common sense, keep focused & don’t do anything silly. By all means defend yourself & your friends if attacked, but initiating a toe-to-toe boxing match with the boneheads somewhere as public as Spring Street is a less than wonderful idea. Collective action is what makes antifascism effective, not individual bravado. Remember, the UPF exist pretty exclusively to come “smash” us “traitors”. Denying them the opportunity to do this on their terms drives them batty & causes them to do all sorts of silly things. We can’t rely on the police to keep us safe, but we can laugh our arses off when they start getting nicked for kicking off with the coppers.

Have fun:

For the most part, the kind of muppets who will drag themselves along to a rally about the “evils of Islam” are pitiful, pathetic and ridiculous. Make good use of that fact. It’s likely that most of their attendees are so attached to their silly conspiracy theories that they are well beyond rational debate. But they are not beyond ridicule! Blast them with music, sing them songs, chant them down. Dance your ass off to anti-racist tunes, explain to passers by why they’re plonkers, bring along a vuvuzela.. whatever!

The most effective forms of resistance involve everyone participating how they’re best able, so bring your skills, creativity and your friends and let’s make a go of it!

Stand together, stay safe, ‘¡No pasarán!

See you on the streets,

Melbourne Antifascists (///)

(This stay-safe guide has been gratefully adapted from a piece published in the lead up to the first Reclaim Australia rally by our comrades at Anarchist Affinity)