One year ago, on July 7, 2014, Israel began an assault on the Gaza Strip that would last 51 days.
While a permanent ceasefire was brokered between Hamas and Israel on August 26, physical safety and freedom of movement continues to be denied to the people of Gaza. The already rapid deterioration of the economy and infrastructure was only hastened by the seven weeks of aerial bombardment.
1060
One year ago, on July 7, 2014, Israel began an assault on the Gaza Strip that would last 51 days.
While a permanent ceasefire was brokered between Hamas and Israel on August 26, physical safety and freedom of movement continues to be denied to the people of Gaza. The already rapid deterioration of the economy and infrastructure was only hastened by the seven weeks of aerial bombardment.
BRISBANE
Come to a rally: Stand up to Adani on Thursday July 16 at 12pm. Juru and Birri traditional owners, whose lands are covered by Adani’s planned projects, will travel to Adani’s HQ to deliver pledges of thousands of Australians to stop the Galilee Basin mega coal mines. 1 Eagle St, opposite Adani’s offices. Visit act.350.org/signup/stand-upto- Adani.
CAIRNS
Join us at Politics in the Pub: “Whose Australia is it anyway?” on Tuesday July 14 at 6pm. Speaker Kate Galloway, JCU law academic. Green Ant Cantina, Bunda St. Ph Jonathan 0437 790 306.
The recent elections in the Maritime Union of Australia made Bob Carnegie secretary of the Queensland branch.
Carnegie is a committed socialist who has been a union, social justice and community activist in Queensland since the Joh Bjelke-Petersen era. More recently he risked prison, under the then-Campbell Newman government’s anti-union laws, leading a community campaign in defence of construction workers on the Brisbane Children’s Hospital building site.
Green Left Weekly’s Margaret Gleeson spoke to Carnegie about his plans for the union.
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Greece's austerity-and-debt-driven crisis has prompted a humanitarian catastrophe.
The Australia-Greece Solidarity Campaign says half of all young people cannot find work, there is a growing shortage of essential medicines and child malnutrition rates have reached levels not seen since World War II.
“I'd cross the train tracks for this paper.” That was the comment made last week by a friendly man who comes into the Perth Activist Centre every week without fail to buy a copy of Green Left Weekly.
We had to explain to him that he would have to come back the next day, since a courier mistake meant the papers hadn't come in on time. “No problem,” he said. “I'd do whatever it takes, this is the best paper.”
In breaking news, it seems that the Labor Party left cannot agree to oppose a “turn back the boats” policy. So there seems to be no chance that the upcoming national Labor Party Conference in Melbourne on July 24 to 26 will consider opposing the Coalition policy of turning boats back that are attempting to reach this country, so the passengers can claim asylum, a human right.
Q&A to become more watchable
On July 6, the homophobic, climate change-denying minister of agriculture, Senator Barnaby Joyce, was due to appear on the ABC's Q&A program. However, the night before, he announced he would not be appearing because Prime Minister Tony Abbott had ordered all government ministers to boycott the program in response to the June 22 episode in which Liberal MP Steve Ciobo had to deal with a question he didn't approve of from the audience.
A booklet distributed to Fairhills High School students in Victoria made some wild claims about oxytocin and female sexuality.
The booklet, entitled Science and Facts, was used as part of a Christian sex education program at the public school. The program is run by Epic Youth, part of the Pentecostal megachurch “CityLife”.
The ACTU released a statement on June 22 highlighting one impact of the federal government’s White Paper on Developing Northern Australia.
The government’s strategy to boost Aboriginal workforce participation in remote communities means that Northern Australian businesses will be able to exploit free Aboriginal labour.
Geelong Trades Hall election wins for Socialist Alliance members
Geelong Trades Hall Secretary Tim Gooden was re-elected for another five-year term at the Trades and Labour Council meeting on July 7. Gooden, a member of the Socialist Alliance, was re-elected unopposed.
Socialist Alliance member Jacki Kriz, from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Association, was elected President.
Earlier this year it looked as if Labor4Refugees’ amendments to the Labor Party’s platform that specifically reject boat turnbacks might win enough votes from the ALP left and the Catholic right to get through at the ALP national conference in late July.
However, the Labor leadership is committed to a policy of deterring asylum seekers and is working to prevent any policy change at the conference.
Up to 10,000 people attended the March for Jobs, Justice, and the Climate in Toronto on July 5, climate action group 350.org said.
The mass march came ahead of the Climate Summit of Americas, held in the city over July 7-9.
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