Thank you again for your comments. I think your last line was sarcastic, right? I'm ambivalent about disruptive actions. I wonder if they are as ineffective as tradition protest. I am familiar with Micah White's book The End of Protest. I've become more aware of direct action since my new bf is very into putting his body in front of anyone building the Kinder Morgan pipeline, just north of you (if you are in Seattle). I have to save up some bail money. http://www.forceofnaturealliance.ca/kinder_morgan_legal_and_direct_actio
I think direct action has its place. the Rachel Corrie thing bugs me; I think she was out there to demonstate her power as a White Girl and the Israelis crushed her because they didn't realize she was a White Girl. Then everyone lost their shit because she was a White Girl and the Israelis doubled down because they weren't about to let the world think that they were going to treat the Palestinians any differently, White Girls or no. And here we are, fifteen years later, and she still stands as a testament to "direct action" because she's a White Girl. It's frickin' Natalee Holloway as martyr. I wish the Kwantlen the best of luck. It might work, it might not. Pine Gap? Protesting Pine Gap for their involvement in Middle East drone strikes is like protesting a dairy for medical testing. Yeah, there are animals. Yeah, they probably aren't being treated great. But there's a dire imprecision there that undermines the message. If you want to protest the warlike United States in Australia, you don't need to go play violin in the outback.