About The organisers bringing this convergence together
About AMAN:
AMAN أمان (Anti Militarism Action Network) – with أمان (Amān) meaning ‘safety’ in Arabic – is a decolonial, decentralised, anti-capitalist, and anti-militarist collective of grassroots groups organising against U.S. imperialism and the ongoing militarisation of australia. The collective loosely operated under the banner of ‘Stop Arming Israel’ in response to ‘israel’s‘ latest and ongoing genocidal efforts in Palestine since 2023, but has expanded its focus in a broader anti-militarist direction. Beyond cutting ties with israel and the U.S., AMAN also calls for a stop to AUKUS, to close Pine Gap, for Land Back and economic sovereignty and justice to First Nations custodians/peoples, and various other efforts* as part of a growing movement against the militarisation of society.
In the last few years, AMAN has used diverse tactics and theories of change such as direct actions, community pickets, public education (leafletting, writing articles, various media appearances), and organised rallies. This ‘anti-war’ activity has culminated in a disturbing increase in police raids, police brutality, the establishment of expensive and wasteful anti-protest taskforces by the government, costly fines and court appearances, surveillance and monitoring, and increased efforts to deter people from acting against a global war machine which is causing irreparable harm to the planet and its peoples.
Besides ‘public-facing’ activities, AMAN also collaborates with other aligned groups to run workshops, upskill people, and ‘grow the movement’.
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About Mparntwe for Falastin:
Mparntwe for Falastin is a group that formed following October 7, 2023 and the beginning of Israel’s acceleration of the genocide of Palestinians. The group was created by people who oppose US and Australian imperial violence, the cutting of funds for critical social services while money flows for weapons factories and military bases, and the militarised and racialised surveillance and policing of Aboriginal people in the NT.
Intelligence-sharing from the Pine Gap intelligence facility to Israel is one of the key ways that the Australian government has participated in Israel’s holocaust in Gaza. Thus, publicising the base’s known activities and the reasons we know it shares intelligence with Israel, taking direct action to stop work at the base, and advocating for the dismantling of the base and the return of the land to Arrernte traditional owners, has been a core part of Mparntwe for Falastin’s efforts to contribute to the national and international Palestine solidarity movements.
The group’s activities have included vigils to mourn the Palestinians slaughtered daily over the last two years, as well as to commemorate the Nakba of 1948 and acknowledge its ongoingness, a banner drop at the gates to the Pine Gap genocide base on the Global Day of Action to Close Bases, three blockades of the road leading to the Pine Gap genocide base, solidarity events for those charged with blocking the road to the base, a webinar broadcast to a national audience on Pine Gap and Gaza, fortnightly rallies on the road leading in to the base, protests at the local ABC headquarters for the state broadcaster’s role in producing consent for this genocide, weekly protests outside our local Labor MP Marion Scrymgour’s office, agitation against our Territory government’s fascist criminalisation of Aboriginal children and hyper-carceral agenda, support for the local First Nations-led anti-racist rally in response to Nazi attacks on Camp Sovereignty and wider fascist mobilisations on this continent and in solidarity with Warlpiri mob fighting for justice for Kumanjayi White.