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Bill’s
award at the Palestinian Breakfast: 18.06.06
At the end of the Iraq war in 1991, a handful of people in Liverpool
thought the anti—war movement should not disband. Bill Hunter was
one. Already in his 70’s, he was still turning out for demos. When
the war opened, we were outside the Victoria monument by the Army Recruitment
office, and Bill turned up, unannounced. Someone passed him the megaphone.
Bill unleashed a torrent of news from Spain and Italy - where millions
of workers were out against the war. He always saw the world through the
eyes of the international class struggle.
The dissidents continued meeting in Bill’s house, trying to figure
out how to continue a campaign now that the war was supposedly over. The
upshot was Palestine, from an anti—Zionist perspective. But the
space for that attempt, already narrow, vanished with the 1993 Oslo Agreement.
Bill would not have been surprised. His support for national liberation
movements was never uncritical. The moment passed, Bill went on to Workers
Aid for Bosnia, and then the dockers, somehow finding time to write his
autobiography.
But with 9/11, the Middle East was back and so was Bill. Always seeking
to deepen the discussion, and finding the class questions. He and Mona
El-Farra had a lovely conversation in the Everyman.
Bill’s greatest strength is his open minded curiosity, and his
willingness to discuss with those around him, not to score points but
to explore, learn from each other, and of course if at all possible to
persuade you of the error of your ways.
Carry on Bill - you’re great! |