GLW issue number 947

GREEN LEFT TV: Gaza and beyond with Palestinian Shawan Jabarin

Shawan Jabarin is the director general of Al Haq, the first human rights organisation in Palestine, formed in 1979. Jabarin has won many human rights awards, was Amnesty's first Palestinian prisoner of conscience, and has been denied travel outside the West Bank for many years.

Perth rallies for equal marriage

Between three and four hundred people marched through the streets of Perth on November 24 in the latest rally for marriage equality. Speakers noted that recent votes in federal parliament had not resulted in equal marriage rights in Australia yet, however, internationally and locally the momentum is building.

Australian News

Tony Burke must intervene after sham James Price Point approval, says TWS

The Wilderness Society released the statement below on November 18. * * * Western Australian Environment Minister Bill Marmion’s approval of the James Price Point gas processing precinct in the Kimberley is so completely flawed that Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke can only reject the WA assessment, which breaches the Strategic Assessment Agreement between the two governments in many ways.

PHOTOS: No detention on Manus Island

Activists in Melbourne rallied on November 22 to protest the decision to send asylum seekers to detention on Manus Island. The first group of asylum seekers have been sent to Manus Island as part of the Australian government's expansion of offshore processing. The first group of 19 are family groups and have been escorted via riot police. Photos by Sue Bolton:

Further Australian News

International News

Interview: Tunisia's 'unfinished revolution'

Abdel Jabbar Madouri has been a militant in Tunisia from his early secondary school days. He was jailed three times (in 1987, 1993 and 2002) because of his political activism. After every arrest, he was tortured, then sentenced to more than 12 years in jail. Madouri spent four years living underground during the Ben Ali regime, which was overthrown in January last year -- sparking the “Arab Spring”. He was also deprived of the right to work or to obtain a passport.

Gaza: Israel targeting sports to destroy hope

Let's start with a fact. On November 16, the Israeli Air Force bombed the 10,000-seat Palestine Stadium “into ruins”. The stadium also headquartered the centre for youth sports programs throughout the Gaza Strip. This is the second time Israel has flattened the facility. The first was in 2006 and the people of Gaza have spent the past six years rebuilding the fields, stands and offices to keep the national soccer team as well as club sports alive in the region. * * *

Further International News

Comment and Analysis

Australia should side with the Palestinians

The violence Israel has unleashed on the Gaza Strip is not a war. On one side there is a highly militarised state, with one of the best equipped armed forces in the world, generously subsidised by billions of dollars in Western military and non-military aid. On the other side there are 1.5 million people, subjects of this state, which has herded them into a walled ghetto on which it imposes a starvation siege.

Despite surplus, UWS to slash staff, course numbers

Staff and students from across all six University of Western Sydney (UWS) campuses protested on November 21, in opposition to university management plans to axe several courses. Among the courses to go are Arabic, Spanish, Italian, the Bachelor of Communication sub-majors in writing, performance and animation, and the entire Economics degree. Along with these, the jobs of 29 academics in the School of Business and a further 25 in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts will be cut.

Further Comment and Analysis

Resistance!

Defend the rights of people on welfare

The federal government has begun “trials” of a controversial new plan for compulsory income management in five places around Australia. This policy began in the Northern Territory as part of the "NT intervention" in 2007, but is now expanding into other states and territories.

Cultural Dissent

Rod Quantock: Comics need a 'united front' on progressive politics

Rod Quantock, the “Australian institution” of comedy, is set to headline a special one-off comedy show in Marrickville, Sydney, on December 8 in aid of the Australian Fair Trade & Investment Network (AFTINET). Quantock ― winner of the Melbourne Comedy Festival 2012’s Director’s Choice Award ― will be joined at the Red Rattler by comedians Matt Wakefield, Alice Fraser, Justine Rogers and James Colley, as well as resident Englishman, Jazz Twemlow for the benefit gig.

Fighting Fund

Fighting Fund: BHP Billiton a Big Global Vandal

BHP used to be called “The Big Australian”. It is now BHP Billiton — a global corporation, the largest mining company in the world and the largest Australian headquartered corporation by market capitalisation. Its CEO Marius Kloppers is described as being one of "the top 20 most powerful people in business worldwide".

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Lib-Lab budgets: Following the dodo on a race to extinction

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