Palestine
Members of Socialist Alliance have every reason to be proud of Kim Bullimore and Rihab Charida who have left the safety of Sydney to enter the most dangerous regions of the Middle East to report to the Australian public about the desperate and dangerous situation that daily confronts the Palestinian people in Gaza, Beit Lahia and Jabaliya.
Kim is doing a splendid job in the International Women's Peace Service in Palestine, Rihab is also rendering great service in other parts of Palestine.
We wish them both a safe return. Their courage and commitment merits our highest commendation.
Bernie Rosen
Strathfield, NSW
Great rally
Congratulations to all involved in the organisation of the Release Craig Johnston rally. Reckon there were around 10,000 people there. Not bad given the demonisation of Craig in the press and the lack of support from the national office of the AMWU. Just goes to show not everyone believes what the Herald Scum, Steve Bracks and 3AW have to say. I never thought I would put a Labor premier and those other two in the same sentence — but there you go.
Steve Bracks said after the event that justice had run its course and that this is what happens in a "democracy" and that he wasn't going to release Craig. He didn't mention that the three Supreme Court justices chosen were the most conservative possible. Democracy my arse; old boys' club more like it.
And finally to Steve Bracks: I hope you say hello to the Anglican priest and businessman-type looking down their noses at the rally from the second floor of the Melbourne Club when you are in there next telling them how you protected the business elite from the working class. Who says religion and politics don't mix.
Richard Duffy
Coburg, Vic
Abortion
Lisa Macdonald wrote in last week's Our Common Cause column (GLW #607): "The Socialist Alliance applauds federal Labor leader Mark Latham's statement that the choice about whether to terminate a pregnancy is up to the woman and her doctor."
We should make it clear that what pro-choice activists welcome is only part of this statement: that it is up to the woman. The decision to seek abortion is so often thwarted by anti-choice doctors that we can't afford to imply at any level that the decision to terminate a pregnancy is up to a woman's doctor.
(Dr) Kamala Emanuel
Glenorchy, Tas
Terror
Unconfirmed reports from the United States claim that the CIA is compiling a dossier of all citizens and residents of that country who are opposed to the recent point-blank shooting of an unarmed, wounded Iraqi combatant — an event that was televised.
"We can justify this action in exactly the same way as we justified the whole invasion of Iraq: Self-defence", an unnamed US intelligence official said. "It does not matter one bit that the man was unarmed. Just like Saddam, he could have acquired weapons at a later stage", the official explained.
The official explained further that all Americans who were troubled by this action "should be known to the government" as such sentiment was evidence of dangerous non-patriotism that had to be guarded against.
"Just like [George] Bush said, you're either with us, or you're against us. And you've got to realise that the kind of people who would oppose an American marine shooting dead an unarmed foreign combatant would also be highly likely to oppose the invasion of a largely unarmed country — and that's a problem. This is a war on terror, the US of A reserves the right to kill any person we want (provided they are not white, Christian or English-speaking)", the official concluded.
Rohan Gaiswinkler
Hobart
Egon Kisch
Max Watt's review of a new book on Egon Kisch (GLW #606) draws our attention to his extraordinary life. What is not recognised is that Kisch is often referred to as the father of modern journalism because he consciously developed a style of reportage which we would thereafter associate not only with Wilfred Burchett (as Max Watts suggests) but also with John Pilger.
Unfortunately for the English speaking world, not much of Kisch is in translation. However, his record of his famous journey here, Australian Landfall (1935), was translated and published locally in 1969. I recommend this out of print book to anyone who wants to read a highly incisive commentary on Australia during the 20th century. Its chapter on the ALP is particularly worthy of a read because its analysis is still very relevant today.
Heidi Zogbaum's book on Kisch — which Max reviewed — is dedicated to bagging the movement he was a proud part of and to sterilising Kisch of any contemporary political relevance to Australian audiences. In reprinting three chapters of Australian Landfall in the appendices in this new work she has chosen not to include the still potent chapter on the ALP.
I suggest you hunt the book down for yourself and don't rely on Zogbaum's warped take of what Kisch stood for.
Dave Riley
Brisbane
Canberra convergence
I must write to thank all those who organised the Canberra Convergence. It was not reported as it deserved to be, but we are used to that. The mainstream would not be the mainstream if it did not ignore popular protest.
Merlin Luck seemed to echo John Pilger when he quoted Gandhi; "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you. Then you win", when he spoke at Hyde Park before the invasion of Iraq.
That leads me to congratulate Austin Whitten on his excellent review of Tell Me No Lies — Investigative Journalism and its Triumphs, edited by John Pilger. When I came here, John Pilger was justifiably one of the best known journalists in Britain. I believe he still is. He is brave and hard-working, with integrity that matches his talent. But Austin is right: he is blacklisted here. Who do we have instead? Henderson by the acre, McGuiness, Devine (both of them), Kelly, Sheridan and other assorted stenographers to power. An embarrassment of wankers.
In these times of shame, we need to support real journalism, campaigning journalism, such as Green Left Weekly more than ever. Habib and Hicks must be released, together with the refugees locked up here and on Nauru, including the stateless people, Peter Qasim and 12 others, in Baxter. Who will begin to rebuild the institutions that Howard has debauched? Labor? Hardly! It is up to us.
Stephen Langford
Paddington, NSW [Abridged]
From Green Left Weekly, December 1, 2004.
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