GLW issue number 840

'Not another Tampa election' - thousands to rally for refugees

Thousands of people are expected to join the World Refugee Day rallies around Australia between June 19 and June 26. In Melbourne, the rally - to be held on Sunday June 20 - has the theme “Not another Tampa election”. Patrick McGorry, Australian of the Year will speak at the Museum Square to refugees, asylum seekers, human rights agency staff and volunteers, refugee advocates and activists before the marchers move off to the EMERGE FESTIVAL at Fitzroy Town Hall.

Sam Watson: Heads must roll in Qld police

Brisbane, June 18, 2010 - “The only way to find out the truth about the behavior of the Queensland police hierarchy in the cover-ups that followed the November 2004 killing of Mulrunji on Palm Island is to institute an independent commission of inquiry run by a respected interstate figure,” Sam Watson, well-known Murri rights activist and Socialist Alliance lead Senate candidate for Queensland said today. “In the meantime the Queensland Police Service (QPS) hierarchy, beginning with commissioner Robert Atkinson, must be sacked.”

Australian News

Electricians’ union bans uranium

The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) has banned its members from working in uranium mines, nuclear power stations or any other part of the nuclear fuel cycle, AAP said on May 31. The union says uranium is the new asbestos in the workplace. The ban will apply to ETU members in Queensland and the Northern Territory and breaching it could lead to expulsion, said ETU Qld secretary Peter Simpson.

Unions act to isolate Israel

The movement for Australian union action against Israel is gaining strength after the apartheid state’s latest murderous attack on the unarmed aid flotilla to Gaza. The South Coast Labour Council (SCLC) and the New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory branches of the Australian Services Union have joined the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union in committing to the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against the aggressive Israeli state. Australian unions and peak bodies have also called on members to attend the many protest actions.

Further Australian News

International News

Cornered Israel bares fangs

Moshe Dayan, Israel’s most celebrated general, famously outlined the strategy he believed would keep Israel’s enemies at bay: “Israel must be a like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother.” Until now, most observers assumed Dayan was referring to Israeli military or possibly nuclear strategy, an expression in his typically blunt fashion of the country’s familiar doctrine of deterrence.

Loewenstein: Boycott, divest from and sanction Israel

Sydney-based journalist and author Antony Loewenstein is an outspoken critic of Israeli policies and author of the best-selling 2006 book My Israel Question. He is the co-founder of advocacy group Independent Australian Jewish Voices and is a board member of Macquarie University’s Centre for Middle East and North African Studies. Articles and commentary by Loewenstein can be found at Antonyloewenstein.com.

Further International News

Comment and Analysis

Gender pay gap at highest level since 1994

Forty years after the first equal pay test case, the gap between male and female wages continues to widen. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on May 20 put the pay gap (as of February 2010) at 18%. Women on average now earn $239.30 a week less than men. The pay gap has increased 0.5% over the quarter (from 17.5%) and 1.5% over the year (from 16.5%). The gap is now at its highest level since August 1994.

Circumcision and the rights of children

On May 28, it was reported that the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists was considering allowing a certain form of female circumcision, involving “ritual nicks”. RANZCOG later said it was a misrepresentation, and that “anyone suspected of performing such genital mutilation should be reported to authorities”, the Sydney Morning Herald said the same day. But if we reject all forms of female circumcision, why is it that male circumcision remains so acceptable?

Further Comment and Analysis

Editorial

Editorial: Greens threaten two-party system

In recent weeks, the big mining companies have spent millions on propaganda against plans to make them pay more tax. But the results of a June 1 Newspoll showed they have hardly made a dent on public opinion. Both big parties are losing ground, the poll said. Labor’s primary vote dropped two points, to 35%. The Coalition went down by the same margin, from 43% to 41%. But the bombshell was the record Greens vote — up four points to 16%. This is not a new trend. Support for the Greens has risen steadily over the past decade.

Obama, Rudd must break ties with Israel

The world was shocked by Israel’s latest act of barbarism — an act of high-seas piracy that ended in slaughter. Israel’s excuse of “self-defence” is so ludicrous it is hard to believe anyone is expected to take it seriously. On May 31, Israel raided the six boats of the Freedom Flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip has been subjected to a siege of growing intensity by Israel since 2006. The flotilla contained people from more than 37 nations.

Letters

Write On: Letters to the editor

Israel’s latest atrocity After yet another terrible massacre by Israel, this time against mostly foreign nationals in international waters, it must be said that several Western countries bear a lot of the responsibility for this and previous Israeli crimes. These nations, principally the US, Britain and Australia, have constantly tolerated Israel carrying out atrocities without any condemnation or repercussions. In fact they usually make pathetic excuses for Israel’s actions, and stop criticism of Israel in the UN and other forums, granting Israel impunity.

General

Retraction and apology to Paul Howes

On May 30, 2010, Green Left Weekly published an article titled “Australia expels diplomat but remains ‘firm friend’ of Israel”. It contained the untrue and defamatory suggestion that Paul Howes, National Secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union, was thrilled by the killing of Palestinian Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhoh in Dubai in January this year.

Publication schedule

Green Left Weekly is taking a break. Our next printed edition will be dated June 23. Stay tuned to this website for breaking news and analysis.

Resistance!

Resistance condemns Israeli terrorists

The socialist youth organisation Resistance unequivocally condemns the outrageous, illegal and murderous attack by the Israeli Defense Force on the civilian flotilla carrying aid to Gaza. Israel's assault kills twice. The theft of urgently needed humanitarian aid that was destined for the starving people of Gaza, and the murder of at least nine innocent people by the Israeli commandos, is inexcusable.

Manifest the power

Put Rudd on a boat so that he can see what it feels like to be a refugee trying to run from imperial slaughter, on a leaky boat in shark-infested waters How can these arseholes be so heartless? — lock people up in bureaucratic darkness They say they're Christian, but where’s the compassion? They put Aboriginal people back on rations It’s the Lib-Lab; hypocrisy reigns supreme, they've got their redneck corporate Australian dream they want to make you think you're playing on the same team as them as they are skimming off your share of the cream

Cultural Dissent

Is Buddhism compatible with Marxism?

This must be a momentous occasion. According to the May 22 Sydney Morning Herald, the Dalai Lama — a major leader of a major religion — has declared himself “half Marxist half Buddhist”. First we must ask questions about Buddhism itself. Is Buddhism a single religion, or even a religion? Would the two main streams constitute a schism? The Dalai Lama is the largely undisputed global figurehead of Mahayana Buddhism. There is no equivalent figurehead in the other dominant stream, Theravada, which stretches from South Asia to South-East Asia.

Chuck D on the fight in Arizona

In April, Arizona passed SB 1070, a controversial law that encourages police officers to harass residents they "reasonably suspect" to be undocumented migrants. Chuck D, from hip-hop legends Public Enemy, spoke to sports journalist, broadcaster and author Dave Zirin about SB 1070. Abridged from Zirin’s website, Edge of Sports . * * * DZ: Why did you choose to record “Tear Down this Wall?”

Further Cultural Dissent

Fighting Fund

Green Left fighting fund: Help keep alternative media alive

In these days of growing media concentration, Green Left Weekly is a vital voice committed to human and civil rights, global peace and environmental sustainability, democracy and equality. By printing the news and ideas the mainstream media won't, GLW exposes the lies and distortions of the power brokers and helps us understand the world around us. In the words of multi-award-winning investigative journalist John Pilger, "Without GLW, freedom of press and public truth-telling in Australia would be gravely ill."

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