Issue 1396

News

A delegation of peace builders who wanted to question Thales’ links to Israel’s genocide in Palestine was denied entry to the weapons manufacturer’s office. Stephen W Enciso reports.

A residents' initiative led to the City of Sydney Council passing a ceasefire motion at its last meeting of the year. Peter Boyle reports.

Twenty one housing justice groups, from across the country, organised a national “Housing is a Human Right” day of action, coinciding with International Human Rights Day. Rachel Evans reports.

Parts of NSW’s harsh anti-protest laws have been declared unconstitutional by the NSW Supreme Court. Jim McIlroy reports.

A vigil outside City Hall drew more than 70 people to protest the council’s refusal to discuss a motion calling for a ceasefire. Sue Bull reports.

Angry residents have told NSW Transport and the Inner West Mayor that a royal commission should look into decisions which have led to the Rozelle Interchange gridlock. Peter Boyle reports.

Tamil refugees are holding a protest vigil outside the office of Richard Marles, hoping to speak to him about permanent visas. Tim Gooden reports.

A public forum discussed the High Court’s decision on indefinite detention and the racist backlash. Chris Slee reports.

A passionate rally in Logan ended with a protest outside Jim Chalmers' electoral office. Video by Alex Bainbridge.

Stop the genocide, Gadi/Sydney, December 10

Tens of thousands of people came onto the streets to call for ceasefire on the ninth weekend of protests against Israel's attempted genocide of Gaza. Alex Bainbridge reports.

Health Care Workers for Palestine organised a vigil in support of Palestine, in particular the people and medical staff of Gaza. Jim McIlroy reports.

Stop AUKUS WA, together with Friends of Palestine and Unionists for Palestine, protested outside a weapons’ conference at the Convention Centre. Alex Salmon reports.

The Australian Religious Response to Climate Change organised a multi-faith vigil for climate justice. Jim McIlroy reports.

Queer Liberation Boorloo is stepping up the pressure on WA Labor to move on promised reforms to the Equal Opportunity Act 1984 and abolish the Gender Reassignment Board. Nova Sobieralski reports.

Coal port people’s blockade, student’s strike for Palestine & abortion rights in the US

Green Left journalists Isaac Nellist and Aneesa Bhamjee go through the latest news from across the continent and around the world.

Waving the Palestinian flag

Hundreds of school students walked out of school a second time for Palestine. Jacob Andrewartha reports.

A new law in NSW removes the power to cap the wages of public sector workers below the cost of living. Jim McIlroy reports.

Ceasefire now! sign in Meanjin/Brisbane rally, December 3

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters filled the streets across Australia, for the eighth week running, to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and for an end to Israel's siege.

The Ballarat Regional Trades and Labour Council said the working people of Ballarat do not support fascists. Kerry Smith reports.

Several hundred demonstrators rallied to call on the federal government to act on the climate as COP28 was underway. Jim McIlroy reports.

Woman with placard

About 200 people gathered on Queensland's Gold Coast to oppose Australia's support for Israel's genocidal war in Gaza and to demand a permanent ceasefire. Susan Price reports.

Join the action in your city.

Housing activists have organised a 'Housing is a Human Right' national day of action on December 9, reports Isaac Nellist.

West Papuan’s and supporters raised the Morning Star flag at Leichhardt Town Hall to mark the 62nd anniversary of the first time the flag was raised, reports Leo Earle.

Three Victorian councils have supported motions condemning Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and calling for a permanent ceasefire. Sue Bull reports.

Refugee rights activists again made a call for Labor to bring refugees held in offshore detention to safety. Chris Slee reports.

Analysis

Our humanity is the fuel to build our movement to liberate Palestine. We are at a real tipping point in history. Now is the time to build this broad people’s movement, argues Vivienne Portzolt. 

Scientists must take into account the social and ethical consequences of their research, as the current debate around AI demonstrates, writes Rupen Savoulian.

COP28 protest in Sydney for climate action

Expectations were never high for COP28, but as the climate deniers have managed to subvert the summit’s goals, Alex Bainbridge argues Australia must set its own climate transition plan.

The mainstream media’s apologisms for mass murder are sickening. Markela Panegyres argues we need to reject and call out attempts to silence resistance to genocide, before it is normalised.

 

Labor and Coalition governments like to justify their policies as being based on supposed shared democratic values, which they then conflate with “Australian interests”. But the moral postering is coming underdone, as Peter Boyle argues.

Labor wants Osborne in SA to be the first designated zone for AUKUS nuclear-powered submarines, with Stirling in WA nominated as the second nuclear submarine base. David Noonan reports.

The final report of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Review is difficult reading for many people with disability because its central aim is cost-cutting, argues Graham Matthews.

Australia is unlikely to achieve net zero by 2050 in the absence of radical policy changes, writes John Quiggin.

Gunnai Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman Senator Lidia Thorpe's bill to enshrine First Peoples’ rights across all new laws was voted down. Paul Gregoire reports. 

Paul Gregoire spoke to Disrupt Burrup Hubs’s Gerard Mazza about the ABC’s betrayal of its code, the dangerous Woodside gas project and why the group is being made out to be terrorists.

First, we were to blame — spending too much on avocado on toast. Now, blame has been shifted to boomers. Isaac Nellist looks at what's driving the cost of living and housing crises.

Peter Boyle, a member of the national executive of the Socialist Alliance and regular correspondent for Green Left, addressed a forum on the topic: "What is behind US support for Israel?"

Alex Bainbridge spoke with Socialist Alliance member Sam Wainwright about the successful community pickets at the Port of Fremantle.

Millions are asking why 75 years of Palestinian dispossession and experience of racist-fuelled violence has been allowed to climax in these mass murders in Gaza? Something can be done, argues Stuart Rees.

As part of AUKUS, United States and Britain will be exempt from Labor's new rules governing weapons' manufacturing and sales. Binoy Kampmark reports.

Labor has been criticised for refusing to implement some critical recommendations which would help welfare recipients and make it harder to ever implement a Robodebt scheme again. Josh Adams reports.

Union leader Christy Cain called on Labor and ACTU leaders to work for a ceasefire at the Palestine solidarity rally.

Voluntary Assisted Dying is a now legal end-of-life option in New South Wales, however some people still face discrimination. Suzanne James reports.

World

woman making a peace sign with both hands

The presence of the Basij militia of the Revolutionary Guards and other security agencies has turned Iran's universities into barracks, writes Mohammad Sadeghpour.

people holding signs and banners

The COP28 climate summit in Dubai ended with an agreement that, for the first time, explicitly endorsed a move away from fossil fuels, but is so full of loopholes that the fossil fuel industry will be allowed to persist and thrive, reports Jake Johnson.

text says no climate justice on occupied land

As international solidarity with Palestinian people predicated on human rights continues to develop, it is intersecting with growing outrage over the environmental cost of war, writes Jordan AK.

people arriving at a refugee camp

As the world turns its gaze to Gaza, the war in Sudan, which has killed thousands, continues into its eighth month with no ceasefire in sight, reports Pavan Kulkarni. Cholera stalks millions and the fragile healthcare system has all but collapsed.

human sign depicting the flag of Palestine

Thousands of people from the Basque city of Guernica hit the city centre on December 8, in a stunning display of solidarity with the people of Gaza, reports Peoples Dispatch.

attendees at COP28

COP28 is shaping up as another failure, argues Binoy Kampmark.

a man's face

Russian socialist and anti-war activist Boris Kagarlitsky was released from custody on December 12, after spending nearly five months in jail awaiting trial, reports Federico Fuentes.

protesters leaving a building and chanting

In Brazil, Sao Paulo’s State Legislative Assembly voted to privatise its water and sanitation company on December 6, after the parliamentary session was briefly suspended while security forces cleared anti-privatisation protesters from the gallery using batons and pepper spray. Green Left's Federico Fuentes was on the scene.

man faces a factory

Tesla mechanics and service workers in Sweden walked out on strike on October 27, after Tesla management refused to negotiate a collective agreement with their union, reports Clive Tillman.

a woman in front of a crowd

A recent legal appeal has further undermined the voting rights of people of colour in the United States and shows why a new civil rights movement is necessary, writes Malik Miah.

protest sign

Gilbert Achcar argues that Israel's crimes against humanity committed in its genocidal war on Gaza exceed even those committed during the Nakba (Catastrophe) in 1948.

three people smiling

Three 20-year-old Palestinian university students, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmed, were shot in broad daylight on November 25, as they walked down a street in Burlington, Vermont in the United States, reports Malik Miah.

woman holding sign

Supporters of abortion rights in the United States are working hard and having success in overturning nefarious state bans, reports Barry Sheppard.

protesters holding signs, open cut mine

Panama’s Supreme Court has ruled that the contract for an open-pit copper and gold mine in an ecological corridor is unconstitutional, following weeks of mass protests demanding its closure. To find out more, Green Left’s Federico Fuentes and Revista Movimento’s Antonio Neto spoke to socialist activist and unionist José Cambra.

chinese flag and man's face

Hong Kong labour rights and political activist Au Loong-Yu talks to Green Left’s Federico Fuentes about China’s position in the world today and its implications for peace and solidarity activism.

historical photo of refugees, protest, historical photo of men in a room

This year marks the centenary of the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne. It gave tacit endorsement to the ethnic cleansing begun in the last years of the Ottoman Empire and was a disaster for the human rights of Kurds, Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians, living within the new borders it created, writes John Tully.

Culture

book covers

Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus presents eight important new books for rebels and revolutionaries on your gift list

historical painting of Napoleon Bonaparte

Director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven) depicts the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte in his 2023 film, Napoleon. Alex Salmon reviews.

two men, one holds a spear

Award-winning Arrente and Kalkadoon filmmaker, Rachel Perkins' 2022 series, The Australian Wars, documents Australia’s frontier wars, asking the audience to grapple with our past and how it might shape a shared future, writes Leo Earle.