Australian Government and Press Ignore “Hands Off Syria” Anti-War Rally In Melbourne

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post
May 3, 2018

As the Australian government continues to support the war on Syria and the secular government of Bashar al-Assad, even supporting America's recent missile strikes on Syria in defense of al-Qaeda, it is proving that while it may be listening to big business, the United States, and the international Deep State, it is not listening to the very people it is claiming that it wants to defend.

Indeed, in the lead-up to the American strikes, Australia joined in with its other imperialist counterparts to demand sympathy for the alleged victims of an alleged chemical weapons attack that allegedly took place. Bombing of course was conducted before the OPCW inspectors could enter Douma but the cries from governments were of the same narrative that has been played for the last seven years - Assad is killing his own people and the world needs to stop him.

The narrative suggests that the Syrian people are being slaughtered en masse by Assad (for reasons never fully explained by the mainstream media) and that all Syrians are terrified of the government, cheering on the moderate cannibals of America's expeditionary revolution forces. But one trip to Syria will prove that narrative wrong at least, since traveling through the country one will find overwhelming support for the Syrian government. Indeed, when I traveled to Syria in 2017, I did not meet one person who supported the terrorists and everyone I spoke to supported the Syrian government, even those who had disagreements with the government prior to the war. For them, it is not even a choice of which side is better, it is a choice between death and survival. The Syrian government and, yes, Bashar al-Assad himself, represent survival, normalcy, and secularism. America's terrorists represent death, Sharia law, and unimaginable savagery.

This is the same experience others have had when traveling to Syria as well. I highly recommend reading the work of Vanessa Beeely, Patrick Henningsen, Eva Bartlett, Janice Kortkamp, Pearson Sharp, and Tim Anderson for starters.

Nevertheless, when traveling to Syria and speaking to Syrians, Western mainstream media consistently claim that the Syrians independent media journalists speak to are "afraid of being killed by Assad" or that the journalists themselves are being accompanied by security forces who force the civilians to repeat the government line. This is not the case at all as I myself was free to roam the streets of each city I visited at any hour, unaccompanied, and speak to anyone I wished to speak to. Still, they all said the same thing.


Western mainstream journalists are able to do the same thing. However, either they simply neglect to do so or, being unable to find Syrians willing to peddle the narrative set by Western governments, resort to editing, obfuscating, and outright lying. Others simply never talk to a Syrian that is not affiliated with al-Nusra or Nusra's propaganda wing known as the White Helmets.

I received the same responses from Syrian refugees in Lebanon when I traveled there in 2016 and 2017, far from the reaches of Syrian security forces.

But Australians might be interested to learn that Syrians within their own borders have a different view of the Syrian government than what is shown to them on their television screens every night.

A rally which was held on April 30, called "Vigil: End The War On Syria," and hosted by Australian anti-war group Hands Off Syria, was a rather loud and well-attended event not just by anti-war Australians but by Syrians and members of the Syrian community residing in Australia. It was by all means a Syrian rally as one can see by watching the video.

Attendees played traditional Syrian music, chanted patriotic Syrian slogans, and held the Syrian flag high. Clearly, no Syrian security forces were tracking down each person in this large rally all the way in Australia (although Australian media may claim the Russians did).

You can see the rally in the videos below:





Hands Off Syria, along with the Syrian Community in Melboure, stated of the vigil on its facebook page:

The Syrian community and Hands Off Syria condemns the latest aggression against Syria, which punishes the Syrian people for refusing to submit to a regime-change agenda driven by outside powers, and by provoking nuclear-armed Russia, raises the possibility of an all-out global war.

1. We demand the Australian government accept the will of the Syrian people to determine their future, and stop blindly adopting US foreign policy as our own.

2. We demand Australia end the economic sanctions on Syria that punish ordinary Syrians by driving up the price of essentials, and block the flow of remittances.

3. We demand that the Australian government stop all sales of weapons to the criminal regime of Saudi Arabia, the patron of terrorism throughout the region.

4. We demand that the Australian government re-establish normal diplomatic relations with the internationally recognised Syrian government.

5. We demand an independent investigation into the massacre of over a hundred Syrian soldiers in 2016 that the Australian airforce participated in.

Join us in remembering the Syrian patriots martyred as a direct consequences of the horrific foreign policy that our government has shamefully endorsed.

Brandon Turbeville writes for Activist Post – article archive here – He is the author of seven books,Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions andDispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President, and Resisting The Empire: The Plan To Destroy Syria And How The Future Of The World Depends On The Outcome. Turbeville has published over 1000 articles on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s radio show Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. His website isBrandonTurbeville.com He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at)gmail.com.

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