It seems the Melbourne May Day Committee has a strong prejudice against
anarchism and anarchists. In their December 2001 bulletin the May Day
committee have published a report and a resolution from their November
general meeting that denigrates individualism and anarchism and
associates it with the bombing of New York and Washington on September 11.
To quote :
"individualist or anarchist actions as took place on September 11th on
Washington and New York."

I think it needs anarchist and libertarian organisations and individuals
to write to the May Day Committee to complain about this vilification
and inaccurate association. Email address is not available but write to
their postal address:
Secretary
Melbourne May Day Committee
C/- Melbourne Trades Hall
Victoria St
Carlton VIC 3053
Australia

In using this language the report shows an ignorance of political
philosophy in regards to individualism and of anarchism, and a poor
understanding of history including of the origins of May Day both in the
United States and in Australia. It is also at variance with the known
facts: that the plane hijackers were from Saudi Arabia and Egypt and
were moslem fundamentalists - their actions and motivations have nothing
to do with individualism or anarchism.

I would have thought this committee had more sense and intelligence than
to label the terrorist acts in New York and Washington as 'anarchist
acts'. The wording is inaccurate, misleading and perpetrates the
denigration of anarchism as a synonym for chaos and terror.

Just as the anarchist labour agitators in Chicago in 1886 were framed
and railroaded to their execution, so it seems the present Melbourne May
Day Committee maintains the ruling class initiated campaign of
vilification against anarchism and anarchists. Vilification of
anarchists is not constructive of working class solidarity or building
an anti-war movement. Many anarchists are active in the workers movement
and the anti-war movement, both in Australia and overseas.

Below find the May Day committee report and resolution in full from a
new website being built on Melbourne Mayday:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/melbourne.mayday/mayday_present.html
The Mayday Present webpage states:

IN CONSIDERING THE 11TH SEPTEMBER BOMBING.
It should not be overlooked that imperialist oppression, exploitation
and military action by USA, British and other big powers, has given rise
to world wide resistance, opposition, hatred and in a number of
countries, guerilla armed action. Throughout the world, imperialism has
bombed, militarily invaded, treated with contempt the sovereign right of
nations, imposed reactionary and fascist governments on nations, have
caused the '' disappearance' death, torture, imprisonment of tens of
thousands of people. Such actions have taken place in Iraq, Iran,
Palestine, Yugoslavia, Latin America and Africa. The Third World
countries have taken the brunt of this imperialist activity.

Close to Australia, people of small nations have shown such resistance,
such as West Papua, East Timor, Bouganville, Philippines, Fiji and
others, these countries have a wide variety of beliefs. Muslims are only
one fifth of the world population. Neither religion or nationality are
the real issue. IMPERIALISM OPPRESSION IS THE ISSUE.

These historical facts cannot be overlooked in seeking the cause of such
individualist or anarchist actions as took place on September 11th on
Washington and New York. This form of individualist action is a petty
bourgeois trend and is not acceptable to the working class.

It often results in government restrictions of democratic rights,
freedom of speech, association, assembly and thought, restrictions which
are now being considered by the Australian and American Governments.
Such restrictions are an unacceptable burden on democratic societies.

The working class rejects such acts of individualism and relies on
winning the MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE, FOR SOCIALISM.

Further, the emphasis placed on religion as having some responsibility
for the September 11th bombing places at risk gains made in the
development of a civilised society, by the l8th Century Enlightenment,
when reason and science replaced religion as a dominant fact in the
political life of a nation, when freedom of worship or non worship,
freedom of speech, of assembly, of association and thought, tolerance of
differences and the separation of church from state were achieved.

THESE RIGHTS NEED TO BE STRENOUSLY DEFENDED IN THE PRESENT PERIOD.



MELBOURNE MAY DAY NEWSLETTER, NOVEMBER, 2001

RESOLUTION CARRIED AT THE GENERAL MEETING OF THE MELBOURNE MAY DAY COMMITTEE

The Melbourne May Day Committee expresses it's revulsion at, and
condemns the September 11th bombing of New York and Washington, killing
many thousands of innocent citizens, American, Australian and other
nationalities. This international crime requires that the criminals be
brought to justice, before a court of law and charges laid and
judgements made based on evidence.

We reject the concept that such individualist or anarchist acts should
be fought with military force against a nation or nations.

The result of such an act of revenge will result in further deaths of
thousands of innocent people, a result totally unacceptable to a
civilised society.

The international history of May Day demands that racism and religious
or other prejudices must be totally rejected. Melbourne May Day stands
for proletarian international solidarity in the struggle for a better
and more just system in the struggle against imperialism and for
socialism. The international proletariat and community in general, must
look deeply for the causes for such criminal acts as the events on
September 11th.

Unlawful military and political interference by powerful imperialist
nations against sovereign states, causing hundreds of thousands of
deaths and injuries must cease. Powerful imperialist nations MUST
RECOGNISE THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE OF EVERY COUNTRY TO CHOOSE THEIR
GOVERNMENT AND DETERMINE THEIR POLICIES WITHOUT INTERFERENCE.

May Day Committee warns that efforts to silence criticism or destroy
struggles for national independence must be strongly resisted. The whole
community needs to be aroused for the defence of civil liberties and the
right of people to struggle for self determination or independence. We
welcome and admire the courageous stand taken by the American anti war
movement and pledge to undertake our share of responsibility to develop
and support a similar movement in Australia.

----------------------------------------------------
For information on anarchism and the origins of May day in Australia try
the following links on my own history site:

The Beginnings of May Day in Australia
http://www.takver.com/history/mayday.htm

May Day 2001, the first Australian Parliament, and the ghost of Chummy
Fleming
http://www.takver.com/history/mayday2001.htm

Biographies of early Australian anarchists of relevance to May Day:
CHUMMY FLEMING (1863-1950): A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
http://www.takver.com/history/chummy.htm
J.A. Andrews (1865-1903) - A Brief Biography
http://www.takver.com/history/andrews.htm
David Andrade 1859-1928
http://www.takver.com/history/andrade.htm
Bernard O'Dowd (1866-1953), poet, radical, parliamentary draughtsman,
and....anarchist.
http://www.takver.com/history/odowd.htm
Larry Petrie (1859-1901) - Australian Revolutionist?
http://www.takver.com/history/petrie.htm
Monty Miller (1831?-1920) - An Appreciation by Angela (Annie) Westbrook
http://www.takver.com/history/monty_miller.htm

For references to Italian anarchists and antifascism on maydays in the
1930s refer to 'The Proletarian migrants: Fascism and Italian Anarchists
in Australia', a groundbreaking study by Gianfranco Cresciani
http://www.takver.com/history/italian.htm

For information on the vilification of anarchism in 1886 and after in
the USA and Australia read: 'Anarchism and State Violence in Sydney and
Melbourne 1886-1896. An argument about Australian labor history.' By Dr
Bob James Published 1986
Chapter One: LATTER DAY WITCHES
http://www.takver.com/history/aasv/aasv01.htm

--
with solidarity
Takver
Takver's Soapbox - Melbourne antiwar activity
http://www.users.bigpond.com/Takver/soapbox/index.htm
Radical Tradition, an Australasian History Page
http://www.takver.com/history/index.htm
Visit Anarres Books - http://www.anarres.org.au