The war in Afghanistan is not liberating anyone from terrorism. A reported 971 Afghani’s were killed in fighting during August. 22 Australian troops have been killed, almost half this year. Documents just released through Wikileaks expose how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, and that the Taliban are becoming increasingly deadly.
While 61% of Australians think we should withdraw from A...fghanistan – on the whole we’ve been a very silent majority.
On the 9th anniversary of the start of this war, we are inviting people to spontaneously “die” in public places, to reflect the real deaths of this war.
When:
Saturday 9th October
12.30pm Corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets, just inside or outside the station.
1.00pm Bourke Street Mall, near GPO.
1.30pm State library lawns, corner Latrobe and Swanston Streets.
1.40pm Speakers @ State library
What:
Go to the appointed place a few minutes before the exact time. However do not gather in groups. At the exact time you will hear a siren sound. When you hear the sound, fall to the ground as if dead. Remain silent and do not engage with any passers by. There will be a couple of people handing out leaflets and engaging with anyone around.
You may wish to hold a small A4 sign with your own message – such as “no more deaths in Afghanistan”. We will also provide placards that will be placed on “dead” people. You could wear a Burqa, Army camouflages, or your normal clothes. The point is that all sorts of people have been killed by this war.
After 2 minutes, get up, and walk in different directions to the next spot. After the final die-in, you can resurrect to listen to the speakers.
Australia's involvement in the war in Afghanistan has never been justified on moral grounds, by logical argument, or on substantial evidence available to public scrutiny. Parliamentary debate has been blanketed by a strangely unified but never properly explained "bipartisan support" from the major parties; public debate has been minimal because of the parliamentary gag and because press coverage has been relatively superficial and skewed by political "spin" and "embedded" journalism, so issues like these have never seen the light of day. If Bob Brown can finally force our politicians to show their hands and justify what they have done - and what they are doing - he will have taken the first significant step in restoring political accountability to the Australian people Kellie Tranter, ABC online
For more about flashmobbing see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_mob
http://www.flashmob.com/)
http://bit.ly/db3FN5
For more about the Afghanistan war see:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/afghanistan/casualties.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/25/afghanistan-war-logs-militar...
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2992752.htm
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/contributors/a-soldiers-right-to-say-no...
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/140823.html
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=18611
http://www.angus-reid.com/issue/C57/