Day X approaches: Your silence is compliance
Feb 15, 2024![Julian-Assange. Image: Flickr / Author / Anarchimedia /Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación i (CC BY-SA 2.0) Digital Artwork of Julian Assange.](https://johnmenadue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Julian-Assange-e1683425497371.png)
Where are all our rock stars? The battle for your freedom is raging. Led by Australia’s own Julian Assange, from behind his grey cell walls. Day X, Julian’s final appeal (20-21st Feb 24), is just around the corner and the global community rally behind him to make sure his keepers know the whole world is watching. Yet there is one section of this community on mass that seem to be missing – the youth.
Never fear, the arts are here. Bringing the message to the hordes of ravenous youth, that have returned to rocking it up in the free world with sold out festivals and gigs once again. It’s almost reminiscent of the Woodstock days, only dare I say … corporatised.
That’s ok, we can work with that, unless it’s a gag order stealing the essence of what the huge gatherings of bohemians once stood for – Peace!
Truth Not War, a grass roots campaign for Wikileaks and Whistleblowers – has launched the easiest action in the world. The #SpeakUpForAssange campaign! Ironically following in the footsteps of our very cool Australian MP’s.
#SpeakUpForAssange is directed at the Rock Goddesses, Rock Gods and Rock Thems of the world and in particular Australian musos. To do exactly this, speak – up – for – Assange. It requires simply, a selfie video to be released the socials.
Where are all our rock stars?
Hundreds of encrypted emails, contact forms, Facebook, X and Instagram messages, voice mails, posts and comments all sit in the inboxes of every rock star in Australia. Or almost every one. However, it’s the management that are the gate keepers for this opportunity. It’s not an obligation. Although, in the age of morality and sorry’s, to not stand with Julian Assange, especially when it’s free and the stars have millions of fans but especially in an era when silence is compliance. Then one could never say nothing could have been done.
If freeing Julian Assange seems menial against the eerie backdrop of a genocidal actions against Palestinians, being documented by the dying on TikTok. Then get educated and don’t fall victim of the #MoralDisengagement. Wikileaks took immense risks in foreshadowing today’s horrors in the hope this would have been avoided and in the hope that we in the west would act … or do something.
Our youth need to know we are in the living presence of our own ‘William Wallace or the Martin Luther King of’ our time.
So on the topic of who else can get the word out to our youth. It’s triple J’s own Hack. An epic journalistic platform primed and crafted diligently to reach every young person across the land. WikiLeaks was an extraordinary journalistic feat that combined peace activism and its revolutionary IT genius. So please, let Hack know you want our groundbreaking journalist Julian Assange’s case files kept up to date.
Note: To be extradited from anywhere to the US for embarrassing the US military translates as a blatant global authoritarian rule by the US … let that land!
What screams late-stage capitalism more than eye ball piercings and radio listeners ring ins letting us all know they’re partying as hard as they can? Especially if it’s set against a back drop of debates about conscription, journalist sackings for those who investigate fabrications of antisemitism, the flood of nostalgic war films in our ABC’s iView apps and the jailing of military whistleblower, David McBride.
So where are all our rock stars?
If the military want more staff, then install integrity within. Let’s demand not only Julian’s freedom but offer him the portfolio of Home Affairs and promote David McBride to be the minister for Defence.
No more pussy footing around!
If the MP’s in their droves can mobilise themselves into speaking up for Assange. If a global community of lawyers and most definitely all the unsold journo’s have come out swinging. If the film makers and the visual artists are getting behind Julian Assange and inevitably a free press, then surely the rock industry and the muso’s will gut-up for Assange. If it’s a contractual embargo by the Goliaths then be a bunch of David’s, if you’re ‘not allowed’ to get political then get humanitarian! If you fear breaking your Modus Operandi, then smash it. Step into your role with your fist in the air, be the counter culture cliché, be the revolutionaries the art’s has always been, be the anti-propaganda to the propaganda of the war machine.
Because seriously to the rock stars, what’s the point to all your fame, your glory, your stupendously fun life of high end parties and your fan fed mega phones if the war criminals that hold Julian Assange hostage are running the show from within?
So let’s see all of our rock stars up on the front line and let Voltaire’s most famous line, “With great power comes great responsibility” sink in.
For the artists:
https://www.truthnotwar.com/aussie-bands-4-assange
- Dive down the Wombat Hole and become an expert on Julian Assange.
- Send some fan mail to your favourite rock star requesting their support.
- Increase the MP’s who support Julian Assange from 20% up to 100% with the Assange Campaign.
Wye Von – Investigative Artist