2006 Trot Guide Update #1

The 2006 Trot Guide requires a few small additions/corrections:

There’s been a split!

Nah, just kidding. A few points of clarification though:

1) The bloke representing the SLP in Australia would probably respond better to being called DeLeon rather than Lenin. In other words, they ain’t strictly ‘Trots’.
2) Neither is the World Socialist Movement.
3) This is bad news for conservationists. It also means our count goes down, from 57, to 18, to 16. (“Thanks” gray!)
4) But wait! There’s more! I’m now going to turn my attention to the remaining Marxist parties — they have better names and more Byzantine histories than even the Trotskyist groups do. Check it out: the “Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)”; “Committee for a Revolutionary Communist Party in Australia”; “National Preparatory Committee of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Australia”.

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“These are a few of my favourite films…”

All Power to the People!
Barry Lyndon
Berkeley in the ’60s
Breaking the Spell
Broadway Danny Rose
Capturing the Friedmans
Casablanca
Casino
Chopper
Crimes And Misdemeanours
Crumb
Dead Ringers
Devil’s Playground
Dr. Strangelove, Or : How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb
End of the Century : The Story of the Ramones
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
eXistenZ
Festen [The Celebration]
Fucking Åmål [aka Show Me Love]
Full Metal Jacket
GoodFellas
Guerilla : The Taking of Patty Hearst
Happiness
Hsi yen [The Wedding Banquet]
Hulk
Hype!
La Haine
Land & Freedom
Land of the Dead
Lilja 4-ever
Mad Max
Manufacturing Consent : Noam Chomsky & The Media
Masters of Horror
Matewan
McLibel
Mean Streets
Mr. Death : The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.
Paradise Lost
Psycho
Rocking the Foundations
Sanjuro
Secrets & Lies
Sense and Sensibility
Serial Mom
Seven Samurai
Shadowlands
Skinhead Attitude
Spider
Starship Troopers
Taxi Driver
Team America : World Police
The Age of Innocence
The Backyard
The Boys
The Corporation
The Decline of Western Civilization : II & III
The Filth and the Fury
The Fog of War
The Ice Storm
The Killing
The Last Temptation of Christ
The Maltese Falcon
The Saragossa Manuscript
The Shining
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
They Live
Tillsammans [Together]
Todo sobre mi madre [All About My Mother]
Waco : The Rules of Engagement
Waking Life
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Wo hu cang long [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon]
Yin shi nan nu [Eat Drink Man Woman]
Yojimbo [The Bodyguard]
Zelig
Zéro de conduite : Jeunes diables au collège [Zero for conduct]

And a film that I hope will become one of my favourites is The Edelweiss Pirate Film. Read some history and information on the anti-Nazi resistance movement in Cologne during World War II, the Edelweiss Pirates, and the documentary about their struggle here.

The Edelweiss Pirates have become local heroes in Cologne and are due to be immortalized in film. The director Nico von Glasow said he made the film after being surprised to discover the existence of this group. He says like many Germans he knew nothing about the Edelweiss Pirates despite having grown up in Cologne.

“And I wanted to know why I had not heard about them and I asked my friend Jean Jülich and he said something very interesting. He said that if there is one hero in the country then the rest of the country could say they knew nothing about what was going on. But if there is one hero on every street, then it looks bad for the rest of the street.”

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K2

Just one more brief note on the subject of Peter Campbell.

1) Peter is indeed well into his forties: he’s 48.
2) The WPCA was responsible for distributing racist fliers in Toowoomba last year. The latest incident:

Racist fliers left in street with Sudanese family
October 19, 2005
Greg Berghofer
[[email protected]]

THE Catholic Social Justice Commission will report to police that more race-hate fliers have been dropped in city letter boxes.

This time a circular headed White Australian Resistance was distributed in an East Toowoomba street into which a Sudanese family had moved only a few weeks before…

The recent flier depicts two white youths in front of a map of Australia and the words “Youth, Nation, Destiny” and “Save The White Race!” and an Internet address.

3) Peter’s ‘incitement to riot’ appears on Ben ‘Getaway Driver’ Weerheym’s blog. Peter writes:

Okay. No shit, only the facts. My life is communication. I am a Man of many contacts. As well as dealing with many on the high side of life I also have friends in (very) low places, so to speak.
Well, here’s the facts. On Sunday there WILL be many truly hardcore Whites heading out to Cronulla Beach in spite of (or perhaps because of) the warnings against “vigilante” action. Some of these Whites will include some senior membership of the Black Uhlans M.C. These people, including my contacts, are NOT chickenshit sightseers or innocent bystanders. Believe me, all bullshit aside, if these folk arrive at the beach and there is even ONE Arab face in view, there WILL be bloodshed!

Despite Peter’s continual big-noting, he claims:

I KNOW what these people are capable of and I do NOT want to be even on the periphery of any possible action. I am now a family Man and want to grow old with a cleansing ale in my hand.

In a more reflective mood, Peter states:

I got to thinking a bit more about the battle for Cronulla and perhaps there IS some merit to this particular manifestation of “community policing”.

It CAN be done for one simple reason. It has been done BEFORE.

He then proceeds to tell an old war story about violent racial conflict between rival ethnic gangs in Campbelltown, and the eventual triumph of the ‘whites’. The lesson to be drawn from this experience according to Peter?

The conclusion and the lesson? When pressed, and with their backs to the wall a community WILL defend its own people and territory. It is a FACT that this “vigilante” action DID THE JOB!

‘Nuff said.

Peter’s thoughts are also, predictably enough, on the subject of the difficulties neo-Nazis like him typically experience in jail:

…precisely why hateful and ruthless Anti-White groups like FDB will do ANYTHING in their power to put White Nationalists in gaol. Why perverted, vicious, twisted fuckers like “Weezil” and “Darp” burst into spontaneous bouts of masturbation at the very thought of any of us doing time.

They KNOW it is an unusually cruel punishment for Whites in general but an almost certain DEATH SENTENCE for White Nationalists!

THINK about that…

Peter doesn’t appear to be too perturbed at this prospect however. Writing as “People Power! Aussie Style”, inre to ‘Cronulla’, he states:

Their proudest day!

Apart from a few slimy bleeding heart traitors (the usual suspects from the Left) whining on about being “ashamed to be Australian” the White Australian callers to Sydney’s talkback radio stations have so far been almost exclusively supportive of the Cronulla protest.


…and as ‘Anonymous’ he adds:

The only time I am ashamed to be Australian is when they call a gook five minutes off the boat Australian. Let this be a lesson to the bleeding heart red maggots, the majority of White Australians are disgusted with what multiculturalism has bought to the country and now people are doing something about it.

Finally, Peter claims that it was simple love of family that prevented him from joining in on what was in his opinion the beginning of the end for Australia as a multicultural society:

I have spent most of the day beside myself with feelings of guilt and frustration for not attending the Cronulla protest myself. I had family commitments and had to hang around home until mid afternoon when I started phoning my contacts who DID go. Unfortunately I could not get them to answer their phones and I did not want to go into the area without some friends. Also, the media reports were indicating that most major roads into the area were now being blocked.

I must say it was also shameful to see the coppers FINALLY getting out their extendable metal batons and whippin’ the fuck out of White AUSSIES!

Can someone explain why they did NOT do the same on the Sydney Town Hall steps a few years back as they were being spat on by Arabs and hit with flying chairs?

Funny that, innit?

Maybe. But not as ‘funny’ as Peter.

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“I’d like to dedicate this next song to…”


An incomplete list of songs about the love musicians feel for fascism, especially (neo-)Nazism.

Alerta Antifascista – Sin Dios
All You Fascists – Woody Guthrie
Antifa Hooligans – Los Fastidios
Anti-Nazi – Angelic Upstarts
Better Decide Which Side You’re On – TRB
Clampdown – The Clash
Commies And Nazis – Oi Polloi
Crystal Night – The Buzzcocks
Der Fuehrer’s Face – Spike Jones and His City Slickers (From the 1942 Disney cartoon originally called “Donald in Nutziland,” the title was changed after the success of the song “Der Fuehrer’s Face”.)
Emergency – Blaggers ITA
Enough Is Enough – Chumbawamba
Europe After the Rain – Kreator
Fight Dem Back – Linton Kwesi Johnson
Fuck Fascism – The Oppressed
Fuckin’ Nazi – Gus
Fuck Nazi Sympathy – Aus Rotten
Fuck The KKK – The Unseen
Ghosts Of Cable Street – The Men They Couldn’t Hang
Good Night White Pride – Loikaemie
Ich Bin Ein Auslander – PWEI
John Wayne Was A Nazi – MDC
Little Rich Working Class Oi-boy – The Queers
Mr. Hitler – Leadbelly
Nazi Die – Doom
Nazi Head Stomp – Wisdom In Chains
Nazilover – Optimum Wound Profile
Nazi Nightmare – The Oppressed
Nazi Punks Fuck Off – The Dead Kennedys
Nazi Scum – Oi Polloi
Nazi Skinhead – The Oppressed
Nazis Shouldn’t Drive – MDC
Nazi White Trash – Leftöver Crack
New Aryans – Reagan Youth
No Nazi’s Friend – The Dicks
No Nazis In Punk – Antidote
Nuke The Nazis – Oi! Scouts
Oi! Boys (Fuck Your National Front) – The Templars
Patrol – Spitfires United
Premature Anti-Fascist – Man Afraid
Proletarian Hop – Randy
Reggae Fi Peach – Linton Kwesi Johnson
Round And Round Hitler’s Grave – Woody Guthrie and the Almanac Singers
Round Up The Nazis – Atari Teenage Riot
Ska Against Racism – Banda Bassotti
Sometimes Anti Social But Always Anti Fascist – Stage Bottles
TH9 – ADF
The AFA Song – The Oppressed
The Day The Nazi Died – Chumbawamba
The Only Good Fascist Is A Very Dead Fascist – Propagandhi
The Song Of The Nazi Soldier’s Wife – Bertolt Brecht
This Is Free Europe – Attila the Stockbroker
This Machine Kills Fascists – Anti Flag
White, Proud and Stupid – Propagandhi

19.1.06

Honorary mentions: Robert Caby (1905 – 1992); Eugene Chadbourne; Jerry Silverman; Peace Not War; the Edelweiss Pirates (left) and the SWP front Love Music Hate Racism: “There have been now been over 200 LMHR events, from large outdoor festivals to local gigs and club nights. Top artists who’ve performed at LMHR events include Ms Dynamite, Peter Doherty, Estelle, Basement Jaxx, Doves and Kasabian. Just as important are the up-and-coming bands, DJs, MCs and their fans who have performed at or organised their own local LMHR nights.”

A list of ‘White Power? Give ‘Em A Golden Shower!’ bands may be found here. Aussie bands include Broadsword, Dissident, Fortress, Frontline Fighters, Abyssic Hate, Destroyer 666, Spear of Longinus and Streicher. If listening to good music with good lyrics is your preference, however, this sounds good: Spain in my Heart : The Songs of the Spanish Civil War.

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Put a Lebanese into Parliament! Vote Australia First!

It may not be easy being green, but for Dr. James Saleam, being a neo-Nazi of ‘non-white’ descent who is simultaneously the public face of a political party — Australia First — dedicated to reintroducing a White Australia is… well, let’s just say ‘difficult’.

Very difficult.

In fact, following closely on the heels of Australia First’s decision to attempt to re-register (which in turn follows closely on the heels of ‘Cronulla’), racists on stormfront have been subjecting poor old Jim to much derision over his inability to prove that he’s ‘all-white’ (and therefore ‘alright’). After all, even a mob as stupid as congregates at stormfront understands that being a White Supremacist generally requires one to actually be ‘white’. (Incidentally, one poor bastard on that forum who discovered that he had an Asian forebear left before he was banned… all the while reiterating his dedication to the cause of wiping himself and all other non-whites off the face of the map (of Australia)!)

Of course, not-being-white is not-Jim’s-only-problem. Your average Aussie punter, let alone your average Aussie racist, also has to contend with the fact that Jim is a convicted criminal who has twice been sentenced to jail for his crimes. And not just any old crimes, either: the shotgun attack on Eddie Funde’s house in 1989 was not only organised by Jim; it endangered the lives of an entire family (shotgun pellets were found at the foot of Eddie’s infant child’s bed). Making Jim not only a very mixed-up man, but a vicious, cowardly thug to boot.

Unfortunately for Jim, his predicament is an intractable one. Either he lies and produces doctored texts which seek to prove his ‘European’ heritage (Jim claims to be of Greek descent), or he simply comes clean and admits that his father was Lebanese, his mother English, and that he himself — logically enough — is the product of race-mixing. On the other hand, Jim has been a fascist activist for well over 30 years now, and there’s really no way he can renounce his political commitments and/or admit to his ancestry without at the same time greatly increasing his chances of experiencing a complete mental breakdown…

For those of us who are less enthusiastic than stormfront at the prospect of a fascist party losing elections, this is something of a predicament. Thus, if Jim retains control of Australia First (or, to be precise, its only real ‘branch’ in Sydney), an explicitly racist and obviously fascist party will be headed by a ‘non-white’, a truly farcical situation… although even a cursory examination of Jim’s political life would suggest that political farce — like the accusation of blood ‘pollution’ — follows Jim around like a shadow. And even if Jim loses in his attempt to remain a figurehead, Australia First still needs to recruit a cleanskin prepared to publically endorse racism and fascism. And for all their whining, it appears that very few ‘proud white Australian nationalists’ are prepared to do just that.

I say: Put a Lebanese into Parliament! Vote Australia First!

TAMMY WYNETTE
Stand By Your Man
(Tammy Wynette/Billy Sherrill)

Sometimes it’s hard to be a Nazi
Giving all your love to just one man
You’ll have bad times
And he’ll have good times
Doing things that you don’t understand

Stand by your man
Give him two arms to cling to
And something warm to come to
When nights are cold and lonely
Stand by your man
And tell the world you love him
Keep giving all the love you can
Stand by your man

But if you love him you’ll forgive him
Even though he’s hard to understand
And if you love him
Oh be proud of him
Cause after all he’s just a man

Stand by your man
Give him two arms to cling to
And something warm to come to
When nights are cold and lonely
Stand by your man
And tell the world you love him
Keep giving all the love you can
Stand by your man

Stand by your man
And show the world you love him
Keep giving all the love you can
Stand by your man

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Special Guest Commentary #2 (1/2)

The Productivity Commission’s review of the Disability Discrimination Act (1992) (published 2004), states that people with disabilities are disadvantaged in nearly every sector of public life; their average income is 44% that of the non-disabled and they are over-represented in prisons.

Recommended:
Harlan Lane
Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA)
Disability in Australia: Exposing a social apartheid

Love,
Aesop.

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Peter Campbell // ‘Kromlek of Asgard’ & the WPCA

:: Peter Campbell angrily flees the scene of battle (artist’s impression) ::

As noted recently, Peter Campbell — aka ‘Kromlek of Asgard’ — has announced his retirement from Stormfront (and, presumably, the other white supremacist/neo-Nazi sites/lists he frequents). Peter’s departure is the latest of several from that diseased forum, and is unexceptional in the sense that his decision to retire appears to follow on from (fear of) public exposure. Peter’s departure is more significant than others, however, as he has played a more important role within far right circles, most recently via the (now seemingly defunct) White Pride Coalition of Australia (of which, more below).

Peter himself is an interesting case study as he’s one of the few remaining neo-Nazi militants from an older generation — Peter appears to be well over 40 — who has maintained a relatively high level of commitment to The Cause, despite having other work and family commitments. (Of course, the fact that Peter — unlike many of his comrades — has thus far escaped imprisonment for acts of racial violence is also a factor.) Finally, Peter is significant insofar as he’s one of a number of figures on the far right who seem to have a COMPULSIVE HABIT of issuing THREATS and making MANLY DECLARATIONS made all the more manly BY THE USE OF BLOCK LETTERS.

By Peter’s own admittance, his intimidatory tactics have even extended to paying a visit to one antifa’s house in Sydney (an incident for which the wheels of justice are still slowly turning). In fact, according to Peter — and since confirmed by other sources — “Much mileage has been clocked up… driving back and forth across [Sydney] to physically check the bona-fides of many leads and to confirm information supplied [by] others. I have compiled extensive dossiers and detailed profiles on many of the key players.”

In short, Peter combines some very unattractive features: a history of fascist militancy, a loud mouth, wild ambition, and political naivete. As he sees it, a “Cold War of sorts has been raging in [Sydney] for the past few months[,] primarily between, on one side, the WPCA and [our] immediate ‘circle of trust’,* the [Patriotic Youth League], the Australia First Party, the remains of the old [Australian Nationalist Movement] in WA and, on the other, Fightdemback”.

[*Peter’s (mis-named) ‘intimate circle of trust’ appears not to extend much beyond a handful of other individuals associated with the WPCA: Trevor Lewis, Alex Fogerty, Jim Perren (“Stug111”), Terry Davis (“Whiteprideco”) and of course the human urinal himself, (the Right Reverend) Patrick O’ Sullivan.]

Of course, Peter lays much of the blame for his forced(?) retirement from his open endorsement of neo-Nazi politics at the feet of the seeming victors in this ‘Cold War’: Fightdemback. And in point of fact, FDB — in conjunction with Jeremy Jones, B’nai Brith, ZOG, ‘Tim Heggarty‘ and possibly even renegade members of the Freemasons — has done a very good job in compiling information inre Peter’s involvement in such stupidities.

ding DONG ding DONG ding DONG

“I will NEVER give up on my campaign against this Darp creature until he and his fellow maggots are all deactivated.”

Well, either Peter has a very odd definition of ‘deactivated’ — perhaps in Peter’s parlance this means ‘quite successful’? — or he’s simply failed. Still, the list of threats of physical violence and generally oafish behaviour on Peter’s part is a long one, and has its main focus Mat Henderson-Hau // ‘Darp’, a spokesperson for FDB. Given the cosy relationship that now appears to be developing between open neo-Nazis such as Campbell and (unsuccessful) closet cases such as Jim Saleam, it’s interesting to note that, among other things, Peter has stated: “I personally regard [Mat] as the most dangerous entity to emerge from the ZOG funded Left in years… [he] is… even MORE dangerous to the true cause than Jamahl Saleam!”.

‘Jamahl’ — geddit? Jim’s no Whitey, according to Peter… Well, not until such time as Peter decides it’s in his own best interests to cultivate Jim as an ally anyway. After all, it’s not like other neo-Nazis are exactly flocking to his banner. As he himself once complained:

This Lefty maggot will sneer at us and laugh its fake tits off unopposed because WE cannot muster even a HANDFUL of people, FAIR DINKUM blokes with gonads swingin’ between their legs, to oppose him! What? You people want to bend over, grease up your ring piece and have this filth fuck you up the arse?

Like many others on the far right, Peter seems to have an absorbing interest in men’s rude bits. In one piece of hatemail (again addressed to Mat), Peter begins: “Dear fist-fucking, shit-dick scum… I hope I made you choke on that glass of your lover’s enema water.” He then continues:

…Going to school in Bankstown in the Seventies, I am something of an [amateur] pugilist myself. I relish the prospect of skinning my knuckles on your half-bred head.

You can consider yourself warned that the WPCA lads are an ENTIRELY different prospect and you bring your shit to OUR door at your peril. But hey, you ARE a real hard case ain[‘]t you? I heard you are a boxing instructor who teaches Abos [sic] how to box? THAT’S responsible isn’t it? About as responsible as teaching Arabs the finer points of bomb-making. What? You want them to be able to bash white kids for their lunch money more EFFICIENTLY?

In summary, Peter has openly expressed his hatred for Mat, FDB, queers, Australian Aborigines (“Abos”), Arab(-Australian)s, anarchists, leftists, Jews (“Kikes”), Asians … in fact, pretty much anybody who fails to meet his strict requirements for membership of the human (read: ‘white’) race. Specific targets of Peter’s tirades have included Tom McCosker (Greens Councillor in the Ryde municipality in Sydney); The Toowoomba Chronicle; Mark Copland (of the Catholic Social Justice Council) and The Daily Telegraph. Peter has even openly expressed his great admiration for ‘the (white) people’s revolt’ in Cronulla; even to the point of encouraging violent racists to attend the December 11 rally. In fact, it’s possible that Peter’s level of stupidity is exceeded only by his verbosity:

I would be PROUD to hammer the fuck out of you Henderson-Hau. My conscience would be clear.

He MUST be stopped and he WILL be stopped. We simply can NOT allow such a dangerous enemy to arrogantly strut about laughing in our faces and continue to score point after point on our movement with impunity and IMMUNITY!

…Those that know me well could have, and indeed should have, easily predicted what would happen when someone fucked with my life as Darp and his fellow travellers did. That the fucker would be THRICE fucked by the fuckee and with extreme prejudice.

But revenge, as the old adage goes, is a dish best served cold, and once I recovered from the initial shock and shame at having been so comprehensively outplayed by the Darpists through their superior skills in I.T. technology I settled down to planning and scheming my ultimate revenge. And it will be so sweet as to be sickly. I have become consumed by a (some might say unhealthy) slow burning rage against this vile creature. I think of little else these days. But if it is true that one gets out of something what one… puts in then I am due to reap a bumper harvest indeed. I fully intend to prove to all that it has never been an idle boast when I have said that one does NOT want ME on their case! I can be so single minded, so focused, so motivated, so determined when it comes to the evening of scores. Most of my waking hours have been occupied with researching, writing letters, designing counter-propaganda etc. to combat the aforementioned maggots.

…Consider also that so far it has only been ME, Ben Weerheym… [t]he PYL and, like it or not, Jim Saleam who has really taken the fight TO him with some aggressive responses to his campaign.

…I am trawling the archives of the Red’s websites, scanning phone data bases, digging and digging for self-incriminat[ing] statements from the Reds and writing detailed and lengthy letters to the Darpist[‘]s more mainstream and semi-respectable establishment connections.

D’oh! Talk about being unable to discern one’s friends from one’s enemies! As Mat points out:

Aspiring racist activists take note. Writing aggressive and downright batty letters to our supposed “establishment connections” is an ideal way to lose your anonymity and to draw the attention of people and agencies who are best steered clear of. These “establishment” type folk have access to people and resources that we lowly activists can only dream of. This whole “Kromlek saga” is another perfect example of another “own goal” for the fash. Even more so when you take into account the fact that FDB had nothing to do with the final nail in Kromlek’s coffin. It was all him baby, we just provided an easier means for the people with the hammer to do their background research.

In “conclusion”, then:

MY MATES from the White Pride Coalition of Australia dropped me a line this week over our coverage of their Harlaxton PO Box (which seems to belong to a Crows Nest man).

I should say from the outset the envelope had a return PO Box to Wentworthville, NSW, and was stamped `CONFIDENTIAL’ on both sides. However, anyone who sends me venomous, racist propaganda should be aware that such confidences won’t be respected particularly if the author is too gutless to back up their position with an actual name. Instead, WPCA co-founder `Kromlek’ wanted to set me straight on a few things after we picked on his poor, defenseless branch for distributing race hate pamphlets in our community.

Kromlek opened his note with the assertion that this editor works for a state sanctioned and controlled media and goes on to accuse me of being hysterical on the issue.

“The controlled Media’s handling of this subject matter is almost invariably emotive, hysterical, ill-informed, sensationalised and self-righteous. But the sheer dogged ferocity with which this particular minor episode has been pursued is breathtaking and exceeded only by its incompetence and puerility. But we White Nationalists have refused thus far to be intimidated by the corrupt system. Do you seriously believe your inept efforts will have any lasting impact on the White resurgence? Despite your hysterical (there’s that word again) claims about ‘racists’ and ‘haters’ the WPCA has only ever intended to inform and provoke thought in the minds of White people with the hope they will throw off the hated shackles of Globalism and Multiculturalism. We too have a right to exist as a distinct and separate Racial Cultural entity as much as any other minority group.”

This goes on…and on…and on…but I suspect, dear reader, you get the idea. What I don’t get is the gross hypocrisy [that] accompanies this sort of zealot idealism. If WPCA stands to foster a “White resurgence” does that by its nature not mean non-white races will be pushed asunder? And if WPCA intends only to inform and provoke thought, why did Kromlek enclose one of the group’s brochures showing an African man with a machine gun holding the severed head of another man? This nasty little piece of work was headlined, “Get AHEAD with Multiculturalism. Coming soon to a suburb near you!” Someone pass me a dictionary so I can look up racial vilification.

Kromlek signs off his note [by] reckon[ing that] I don’t have the “gonads” to reply and “If experience with your type has taught me anything at all, it is that we White Nationalists are up against closed tiny minds.”

Well Kromlek, I am replying, I’m doing it openly and I’m putting my name to it.

I believe in tolerance and understanding and multiculturalism. I don’t believe in skulking around internet chat rooms.

I don’t believe in cheap photocopied filth anonymously distributed to decent Australians.

I believe in a better future and also believe it will include the absence of views such as your’s.

Ditto.

Toowoomba Chronicle, [July 2005]

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Southern Trotskyist Death Cult?


Below is an extract from Dennis Tourish’s essay on leftist political cults. It concentrates on examining the organisational methodology of “a prominent British Trotskyist grouping (variously known as the Committee for a Workers International, Revolutionary Socialist League, Militant Tendency – henceforth referred to as CWI)”, or in other words the British equivalent of the Socialist Party here in Australia.

Ideological intransigence, democratic centralism and cultism: a case study from the political left
By Dr. Dennis Tourish
Professor Dennis Tourish*
Aberdeen Business School
Robert Gordon University
Kaim House
Garthdee Road
Aberdeen
AB10 7QE
[email protected]

* Address for correspondence

Abstract

There is a dearth of literature documenting the existence of cults in the political sphere. This paper suggests that some left wing organizations share a number of ideological underpinnings and organizational practices which inherently inclines them to the adoption of cultic practices. In particular, it is argued that doctrines of ‘catastrophism’ and democratic centralist modes of organization normally found among Trotskyist groupings are implicated in such phenomenon. A case history is offered of a comparatively influential Trotskyist grouping in Britain, which split in 1992, where it is suggested that an analysis of the organization in terms of cultic norms is particularly fruitful. This is not intended to imply that a radical critique of society is necessarily inappropriate. Rather, it is to argue that political movements frequently adopt organizational forms, coupled with ‘black and white’ political programmes, which facilitate the exercise of undue social influence. This stifles genuinely creative political thought. Issues which this analysis suggests are particularly pertinent for those involved in radical politics are considered.

Introduction

Cults embrace the fields of psychotherapy, religion, new age, self help, business training – and politics (Hassan, 1988). Thus far, the latter area has attracted little attention. One reason may be that the frantic activity and intense feelings of party loyalty which often characterises political life makes it difficult to differentiate between ‘normal’ political involvement and that which qualifies groups to be regarded as a cult. This is particularly true of fringe political groupings, on the extreme left and right. This paper argues that the phenomenon of political cultism is more widespread than is normally assumed. In particular, it focuses on the ideological and organizational dynamics of left wing groupings which fall within the Trotskyist tradition, and argues that these predispose such groupings to cultic practices. Accordingly, those criteria which it is authoritatively agreed constitute diagnostic criteria for the classification of groups as cults are reviewed. This is then refined into specific criteria which are particularly pertinent to the activities of political groups. Flowing from this, a case study approach is adopted. A prominent British Trotskyist grouping (variously known as the Committee for a Workers International, Revolutionary Socialist League, Militant Tendency – henceforth referred to as CWI), which acquired significant political influence in the 1980s is discussed. Sources utilised in the study include interviews with ex-members, journalistic accounts, internal documents and open publications.

Members of the CWI had a long standing tradition of working within the British Labour Party, a policy known as ‘entrism’. It also, beginning in the early 1970s, built small groups of supporters internationally, including within the United States. By the late 1980s it controlled the British Labour Party’s youth wing (since dissolved), counted three Labour MPs among its approximately 8000 members, employed 200 full time staff, had a national headquarters in London, published a 16 page weekly newspaper, and led large movements on some issues which at times dominated the domestic British political scene. In short, the CWI became probably the most successful Trotskyist organization in the world since the 1930s.

However, a huge dispute erupted within its ranks during 1991 over whether to remain inside the Labour Party. This led to a split in early 1992, during which the organization’s original founder and many others were expelled. They instantly set up a new Trotskyist international, still committed to entrism. The CWI reconstituted itself as a new ‘open’ party named ‘Militant Labour’, since relaunched as ‘The Socialist Party’ in early 1997. The evidence is that both groups have since sharply declined, and that the remains of the CWI in particular may now number no more than a few hundred members. Its theoretical beliefs, organizational practices and the 1992 split are assessed in the light of the extent to which they match the criteria under discussion. The data is also reviewed from the standpoint of Lifton’s (1961) suggested criteria for what he termed ‘ideological totalism.’ Finally, the implications for the ideological underpinnings and organizational cultures of political organizations (particularly those on the left) are examined.

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Q.What do the following all have in common?

Anti-Nowhere League ~ Archers of Loaf ~ Atilla the Stockbroker ~ Bad Brains ~ Bikini Kill ~ Billy Bragg ~ Brutal Truth ~ Butthole Surfers ~ Conflict ~ Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy ~ D.O.A. ~ Fugazi ~ Green Day ~ (International) Noise Conspiracy ~ Jello Biafra ~ Jesus Lizard ~ Killdozer ~ Lush ~ Bob Mould ~ Mudhoney ~ Nomeansno ~ Pitchshifter ~ Rage Against the Machine ~ R.A.M.B.O. ~ Ramones ~ Rancid ~ Sacred Reich ~ Gil Scott-Heron ~ Sepultura ~ Snuff ~ Sonic Youth ~ Stereolab ~ Supersuckers ~ The The

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Update on Melbourne accused…

I’m still catching up on this one.

Recently:

Australian terrorist trials face lengthy delays
By Mike Head
12 January 2006

It is now more than two months since the largest joint federal-state police raids in Australian history resulted in the arrest of 20 Islamic men in Sydney and Melbourne. The heavily-publicised arrests were followed by lurid claims by government leaders, police chiefs and the media that the raids had prevented an imminent and “catastrophic” terrorist attack.

The November 8 operation bore all the hallmarks of a politically-motivated campaign to whip up new fears of terrorism and justify the introduction of police-state measures. These were contained in anti-terrorism bills that were being pushed through federal and state parliaments on a bipartisan basis by Prime Minister John Howard’s Liberal-National Coalition government and the state and territory Labor governments.

The raids were launched less than a week after Howard had declared a terrorist “alert” and convened an emergency session of the Senate to pass the first instalment of the new legislation, which allowed the police to arrest anyone on terrorist charges without having to prove that any specific terrorist act was being prepared.

Hunger strikers ‘have right to pray’
From: AAP
By Jamie Duncan and Shelley Markham
11 January 2006

TEN terrorist suspects on a hunger strike in a high security jail should have the right to pray together, a prominent Muslim leader said today.

The men, devout Muslims who are being held in the maximum security Acacia unit at Barwon Prison near Geelong, began the hunger strike on Monday.

The 10, arrested in pre-dawn raids in Melbourne and Sydney in November, are facing charges including being members of a terrorist organisation.

Islamic Council of Victoria President Malcolm Thomas said he was concerned the men had not been found guilty of any crime yet had been barred from following their beliefs.

Prison authorities denied the men permission to hold a short Friday afternoon group prayer session.

The men also complained about prison conditions and the amount of food they receive.

It is understood six of the men are allowed out of their cells in pairs from 9am to 2pm each day.

But four others, believed to include alleged leader Abdul Nacer Benbrika, are locked down 23 hours a day.

Mr Thomas said group prayer was a key part of the Muslim faith.

“We can’t forget that these guys are on remand and while solitary confinement is a decision that is made by the powers that be, they should be able to practise their religion,” he said.

“Our religion is not a religion of terror, it is a religion of submission to God and communal prayer brings people together to get the maximum benefit from prayer.”

Their lawyer Rob Stary said it was unlikely any harm would come from group prayers.

“It seems to me that in the Acacia Unit, which is the maximum security unit, every one of your communications are monitored, you’re videotaped or audiotaped,” he said.

“And if they did anything untoward or said anything in an untoward way, one would assume the authorities would segregate them again.”

Mr Stary said the men were regarded as exemplary prisoners, they respected prison staff and had not been charged with crimes of violence.

But Corrections Victoria Commissioner Kelvin Anderson today said he would not bend, despite the hunger strike.

“Prison authorities have worked closely with Muslim leaders so alleged terrorism suspects have special food, prayer times and places to pray,” he said in a statement today.

“Individuals charged with terrorism offences have been separated from each other for security reasons.

“No religious festival could ever have priority over our risk assessment arrangements.

“Our hand will not be forced by a hunger strike. We will not compromise public safety.”

The men were receiving medical supervision, he said.

Nine of the men were arrested in Melbourne during coordinated ASIO, NSW Police and Victoria Police raids in Sydney and Melbourne on November 8 last year.

The 10th man was arrested in Sydney and later extradited to Melbourne.

All were charged with being members of a terrorist organisation.

The group’s alleged leader, Muslim preacher Benbrika, 46, was also charged with directing a terrorist organisation.

The others nine are Ezzit Raad, 23, of Preston; Aimen Joud, 21, of Hoppers Crossing; Fadal Sayadi, 25, of Coburg; Amer Haddara, 26, of Yarraville; Ahmed Raad, 22, of Fawkner; Shane Kent, 28, of Meadow Heights; Abdulla Merhi, 20, of Fawkner; Hany Taha, 21, of Hadfield and Izzydeen Atik, 25, from Williamstown.

Eight of the men, excluding Kent and Haddara, have been charged with financing a terrorist organisation. All are due to reappear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court for committal mention on April 11.

No Xmas joy for Vic terror suspects
[AAP]
December 27 2005

Melbourne’s 10 terror suspects are spending Christmas in solitary confinement, dressed in “Guantanamo Bay orange” and banned from touching their loved ones.

Rob Stary, a lawyer for the Victorians arrested in a series of anti-terrorism raids last month, said the men’s spirits were breaking in Barwon Prison’s maximum security Acacia unit.

“It’s very soul-destroying for them,” Mr Stary told AAP.

Although the men are Muslim, spending this time of year in jail was nonetheless difficult as they see Christmas as a traditional time for celebration with family, he said.

“They have got a great reverence for the Christian religion,” Mr Stary said.

“They’re quite reverential … and respectful of that, which is not what I sort of expected.

“They do see it (Christmas) as a season of celebration.”

The men are accused of being members of a terrorist organisation.

Eight are also charged with financing a terrorist organisation, and Muslim preacher Abdul Nacer Benbrika, 46, of suburban Dallas, is accused as well of directing a terrorist organisation.

Four men have applied for bail and all have been refused by Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.

Mr Stary said it was “inconceivable” they were being held in Acacia without conviction.

“I don’t mean to sensationalise it, but it has to be marginally better than Guantanamo Bay,” he said.

The United States’ Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba holds suspected combatants captured in Iraq and Afghanistan, including South Australian man David Hicks and, until his release, Sydney man Mamdouh Habib.

Mr Stary said his 10 clients had no complaints about their treatment by staff in Acacia but the conditions were hard.

“They’re in solitary confinement… they’re wearing Guantanamo Bay orange, they’re shackled in the same way Guantanamo Bay people were,” he said.

Mr Stary said the men were allowed no physical contact with family and could only speak to loved ones through glass.

He said the men were political prisoners and Australia was breaching its obligations to treat them fairly.

Two of the men, Shane Kent, 28, of Meadow Heights, and Amer Haddara, 26, of Yarraville, are charged solely with being members of a terrorist organisation.

The pair failed to win bail this month but appeared relaxed and chatty together in court.

“I think they were just enjoying the fact that they could be in each other’s company… and they could see people in court,” Mr Stary said.

“That was a novel experience.”

Ezzit Raad, 23, of Preston, Aimen Joud, 21, of Hoppers Crossing, Fadal Sayadi, 25, of Coburg, Ahmed Raad, 22, of Fawkner, Abdulla Merhi, 20, of Fawkner, Hany Taha, 31, of Hadfield, and Izzydeen Atik, 25, of Williamstown, all face a second charge of financing a terrorist organisation.

Merhi and Taha have also launched failed bail bids. Taha is appealing in the Supreme Court, and Kent and Haddara are also expected to appeal.

Mr Stary expects trials to take several years to begin and said there was no chance the men would be moved from Acacia to less imposing cells.

“When I saw them in jail they were dispirited. In two years’ time they’ll be broken,” he said.

“The Muslim community in Australia would have a legitimate sense of grievance to see the way they’re treated.”

From a little over three weeks ago:

No bail for accused terror pair
By Jamie Berry
December 23 2005

A MAN who allegedly investigated the promotion of a violent jihad against the West, and the execution of prisoners of war, was yesterday refused bail.

The Melbourne Magistrates Court also heard that Shane Kent, who allegedly trained with al-Qaeda and pledged allegiance to its leader, Osama bin Laden, trawled the internet for firearms and assault vests.

Police claim Kent used his training at a camp in Afghanistan in 2001 to teach members of a Melbourne terror group, of which he is alleged to be a member.

The court heard yesterday that Kent visited websites that promoted violent jihad, discussed the “true meaning of jihad” and contained information on when it was permitted to execute prisoners of war.

Kent’s co-accused, Amer Haddara — who was allegedly found with a book discussing the legitimate killing of innocent people — was also refused bail by magistrate Reg Marron.

While Mr Marron said it was not an offence for Kent to download, access and view the material, he agreed with the prosecution that Kent, 29, of Meadow Heights, and Haddara, 26, of Yarraville, should not be granted bail. Both are charged with being members of a terrorist organisation.

The court heard that the charges related to behaviour between July last year and last month when the pair, with eight others, including the group’s alleged head, Abdul Nacer Benbrika, were arrested in Melbourne.

Police say the 10 men are part of a terror group operating in Melbourne. All except Kent and Haddara are charged with making funds available to a terrorist group.

When Haddara was arrested, he was found with two letters, police allege. One was a letter of introduction, in Arabic, that was similarly worded to letters from terrorist training camps. The other was from his sister, who urged him not to do “anything stupid”.

Kent and Haddara will remain in Barwon Prison’s maximum security Acacia Unit, where they have spent the past 46 days.

Mr Marron said he was not satisfied there were exceptional circumstances for their release on bail.

But he was concerned about the amount of time spent in Acacia, which he said amounted to “solitary confinement”, and said their condition should be carefully monitored.

“They are incredibly oppressive circumstances in which they find themselves,” Mr Marron said.

“It is a concern for me that a refusal of bail would mean they would continue in those particular circumstances.”

Mr Marron said the Crown case was a “work-in-progress” and only a handful of transcripts of recorded conversations had so far been tendered.

Kent’s lawyer, Rob Stary, told the court on Wednesday there were “gaping holes” and a “paucity of evidence” in the prosecution’s case against Kent.

Two other Melbourne terror suspects, Abdullah Merhi, 20, and Hany Taha, 31, also lost their bids for bail last week.

For a review of Australia’s “anti-terrorist” (sick) legislation, see:

‘Balancing National Security and Human Rights: Lessons from Australia’
borderlands e-journal
volume four number one 2005
George Williams
(University of New South Wales)

To learn more about Australian — hopefully British — citizen David Hicks’ struggle for justice and a fair trial, see Fair Go for David. And to support Jack Thomas in his quest, see Justice for Jack.

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