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New book gives inspiring account of Rojava’s revolutionary bid for autonomy and women’s liberation

Revolution in Rojava: Democratic Autonomy & Women’s Liberation in Syrian Kurdistan
By Michael Knapp, Anja Flack & Ercan Ayboga (translated by Janet Biehl)
Pluto, 2016
285 pp., $38.95

Rojava, which is Kurdish for the “west”, is to be found in Northern Syria. In the middle of a conflict zone, marked by the war against the Assad regime, a Turkish invasion and ongoing conflict with the brutal jihadists of ISIS and al-Nusra, the Kurds and their allies are creating a new kind of democratic system.

Appeal for delegates to African conference

Appeal for delegates to African conference The Melbourne-based Union for Democracy and Development in Kenya (UDD Kenya) is calling for donations to help fund two delegates from their organisation in Australia to attend a pan-African conference

British Tories launch 'war on single parents'

By Michael Rafferty LONDON — Winter in Britain this year looks like being a bitter and stormy one, with news that the November 30 budget is to target welfare cuts to single parent families and to entrench a harsh new tax on separated fathers.

Shock troops of the New World Order

By David Isenberg During the 1980s, "Special Operations", along with "Low Intensity Conflict" (LIC), became Washington's favourite buzz words. US policy makers view special forces as the solution to a world where threats to US interests are

Blockade planned against cable-car

Blockade planned against cable-car By Tony Hastings KURANDA — Preparation is being made for a campaign of direct action to prevent the construction of a sky-rail cable-way in World Heritage-listed national parks land just north of

Charges against squatters dropped

Charges against squatters dropped SYDNEY — Twelve people arrested in July for occupying a disused Department of Housing house in the inner Sydney suburb of Chippendale, despite having been given verbal agreement to do so, had charges against

A thin covering for fascism

Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory By Deborah Lipstadt. New York: The Free Press, 1993. 278 pp., $39.95 (hb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon Did the Holocaust — the systematic annihilation of 4-6 million Jews under

'A criminal by association'

By Zanny Begg SYDNEY — "I wrote to the minister for Corrective Services complaining about how visitors to prisons are treated, and I was rung by the superintendent and told not to write any more letters. A week later, my dog was hung from my

Race relating in Cuba

Is Cuba a racist country, denying equality to the considerable black portion of its population? Yes, say the New York Times and many books and articles appearing in the United States. But wait. The US is still fighting a cold war against Cuba, and such accusations are surely suspect. We spent 10 days in Cuba earlier this year to learn for ourselves.

Anti-vilification bill passed

Anti-vilification bill passed By Tom Flanagan The New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Act has been amended to outlaw vilification on the basis of a person's homosexuality. The private member's bill, introduced by independent MP Clover

Spooks at work

Writers Defiled: Security Surveillance of Australian Authors and Intellectuals 1920-1960 By Fiona Capp McPhee Gribble, 1993. 239 pp., $19.95 (pb) Reviewed by Phil Shannon Intelligence organisations are in the business of "security", which,

Oil threat to Victorian waters

MELBOURNE — Community groups and environmentalists are highlighting the threat to Port Phillip and Westernport Bays by the oil industry and the danger to the Altona and Williamstown area from the proposed expansion of the Mobil Altona refinery.

Banks 'ripping off customers'

Banks 'ripping off customers' Australian Banks, by increasing their margins — the difference between the cost of funds to banks and how much they lend them for — over the past year, have cost customers an estimated $790 million.

Don't sit in the dress circle

Oz Shorts Two feature length programs screening on alternate nights until mid-DecemberAcademy Twin, Paddington and then in selected cinemas in most capital cities Reviewed by Norm Dixon When I was a just a little tacker, the highlight of the

Hospital workers win a battle

Hospital workers win a battle By Roberto Jorquera MELBOURNE — After eight days of Industrial bans, management at the Austin Hospital was forced to back down and reach agreement with the Health Services Union (HSUA) on procedures to be

Testimony blocked in child rape case

Testimony blocked in child rape case By Dave Wright HOBART — A Supreme Court judge has refused to swear in a 12-year-old boy because he did not believe in God. The boy was called to give evidence against the man accused of raping him.

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