On the way to my Shiatsu course, on the pavement of Swanston
Street, the police pushed me into the occupy movement. I stopped in
front of a wall of police, and when I turned around, I got pushed
forward, unaware of the fact that the police decided to herd anyone
on the entire width in Melbourne's city centre towards north.
I got really angry, hurling abuse and demanding my right to go to
the next tram station. I saw many rallies, but the experience of a
human wall forcing everyone around them against their will into a
specific direction was new and truly bizarre. I use my hands and my
Ki when I practise Shiatsu, and felt incapable of doing my job after
this invasion of arbitrary police violence into my life. I stayed in
town and saw a crowd of people vanishing into Trades Hall, with the
army of police it looked like a trap to me.
As I don't use TV or newspapers as primary source to stay
'informed', I researched a bit more what this global occupation
movement is all about. The common global consent, so it seems to me,
lays mainly in the commitment to non-violence. When people remember
the process while they act within the movement, it opens the avenue
to collective creativity, with the tastiest fruits harvested by
consent.
Of course, within a growing movement the knowledge of and
experience with the process, the ability to learn, accept and apply
it, differs among individuals. I met enough people to convince me
that the global thing happened also here in Melbourne. I joined the
First Aid and Care work group, and benefit each time immensely from
the wealth of different expertise coming together on a peaceful lawn
in a peaceful park on a sunny sunday afternoon.
Don't get deluded, it's not a talk fest happening here – in a
time of civil war against basic human rights like freedom of assembly
and freedom of speech many casualties occur. It takes a lot to
organise the safety and health needs of a community of sometimes
hundreds of people, especially when even people wearing First-Aid
vests get clubbed by police while trying to care for pepper-sprayed
peaceful protestors.
Even those who only witnessed the police brutality have been left
traumatised, often reliving in their minds the memories of a
terrifying assault on their believe in justice. The more stories I
hear while debriefing the victims of the ongoing psychological
warfare against a peaceful movement, the more I feel outraged about
the utter disrespect for human life that happens right now in the
city of Melbourne.
I chose as my occupation to teach and heal people, after spending
some time of my life working as IT specialist mainly for the banking
industry. The absurdity of the situation, the constant harassment,
nearly daily new eviction orders were issued and executed, means that
our team needs to build up an external network to cope with the cases
too severe to deal with safely within our capacity.
First Aid usually serves as some sort of insurance policy, good to
have around, but depending on the circumstances, hardly ever needed.
The circumstance for Occupy Melbourne... well, let's call them
sub-optimal from a health care perspective. Melbourne City Council
removed shelter from rain and sun, access to water and sometimes the
kitchen from Treasury Garden, not only increasing the psychological
pressure for the permanent occupiers, but also actively endangering
their immediate health.
Some of the occupiers have special needs, like Brandon, whose
poetry you can listen to on the frontpage of
omdigest. Even Brandon
got served an eviction notice and was moved the meat wagon of the
police. Others have difficult family backgrounds, and feel safer from
violence in the occupation than at home. Many are exhausted from
their job as occupier, yet the smallest creature comforts bring with
it the threat of immediate eviction.
The re-occurring raids of the police made the First Aid gear
evaporate. Just being prepared and equipped for good-case scenarios
(prevention material like sun-screen, insect repellent, ponchos and
blankets) becomes a logistical challenge. Not even having a minimal
sheltered space for treatments available makes our task even more
difficult. No time for leadership debates available, and
self-organisation provides a level of First Aid and Care that would
cost a lot of money if sourced for a commercial event.
Why do I occupy? I want to live in a world where we respect each
other, where we care for each other, for all of us. I feel this
vision resonating when I collaborate with the occupy movement, and it's
happening all over the world right now. Let's organise horizontally
and see where it'll lead to.
