Issue 490

News

BY STUART MUNCKTON CANBERRA — "I hope the staff inside have their pen and paper out because they have been seriously misinformed if they think that it is safe for Hazara refugees to return to Afghanistan", Refugee Action Collective (RAC) activist
BY JENNY LONG SYDNEY — Speakers at a public meeting, held in Punchbowl in Sydney's south-west on April 23, described how the election of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in early 2001 brought a change in Israel's policy toward the Palestinian
BY JUSTINE KAMPRAD MELBOURNE — At its conference on April 22-23, the Victorian branch of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) mapped out ambitious industrial goals, condemned an internal investigation into the state branch, and
BY Paul Glenning ROCKHAMPTON — Meatworkers at Rockhampton's Consolidated Meat Group plant decided to return to work on April 27, after accepting an offer from CMG management that will reduce their weekly pay by up to $300 per week. The 1450
BY MATT RICH MELBOURNE — Refugee-rights protesters will hit the streets again on June 23, following a decision of the Refugee Action Collective-Victoria (RAC-Vic) to endorse a rally at 1pm that day outside the State Library in the city, around
BY GRANT COLEMAN WOLLONGONG — Three-hundred people chanted "Free, Free Palestine" and "Shame, Shame USA" outside Wesley Church in the Wollongong mall in a "Vigil for a free Palestine" on April 27. It was the first pro-Palestine protest here since
BY ALEX BAINBRIDGE HOBART — The May 1 blockade of the Forestry Tasmania building coincides with the beginning of the Resource, Planning and Development Commission (RPDC) hearing to consider an appeal against the development proposal for the
BY SARAH STEPHEN Federal immigration minister Philip Ruddock was no doubt looking forward to a pleasant speaking engagement at the April 22 Commonwealth Lawyers' Association function in London. A little awed by the illustrious status of the
BY LISA MACDONALD SYDNEY — A public seminar being organised by the Socialist Alliance, to be held on May 11 in Parramatta Town Hall, will present militant trade unionists with an opportunity to discuss key political issues confronting workers and
BY SUE BOLTON SYDNEY — In the election for national secretary of the food and confectionary division of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), workers have the opportunity to vote in favour of militant unionism. Assistant state
BY LISA MACDONALD SYDNEY — Those are "the real queues", Julie McCrossin told the capacity crowd inside Sydney Town Hall on April 21, referring to the hundreds of refugee-rights supporters outside who'd been unable to get tickets for the
BY KAMALA EMANUEL HOBART — Insurance industry costs are threatening the delivery of home-birthing services across Tasmania. The Australian Nursing Federation ordinarily pays insurance fees for nurses as part of their membership fees. In early
BY JESS MELVIN MELBOURNE — Three-hundred and fifty people, most of them young, took to the streets on April 27, demanding Israel get out of Palestine. "Palestine will be free — because there will never be a day in which we stop raising our
Caltex workers strike for new agreement BRISBANE — On April 23, around 80 maintenance workers employed by sub-contractors at the Caltex oil refinery on the mouth of the Brisbane river, voted to continue their strike. The Australian

World

BY MIKE LEON WASHINGTON — On September 11 an al-Qaeda-led terrorist network struck at the heart of US financial and political centres, killing thousands, troubling a shaky economy, and for many, destroying the notion that the US is immune from
BY AMNON HOLTZMANN TEL AVIV — Many Israelis criticise the Oslo accords, arguing that they brought us the exploding buses. The facts tell a different story. The Oslo accords were announced publicly on August 31, 1993. The first Palestinian
BY NORM DIXON The United States remains determined to launch a massive military attack to topple Iraq's President Saddam Hussein, even in the face of the explosion of popular anger in Middle Eastern countries triggered by Israel's state terrorism
BY DICK NICHOLS France's Lionel Jospin wasn't the worst prime minister as far as capitalist politicians go. His government introduced the 35-hour work week (which produced a clear rise in employment), he resisted the attempts of the European Union
BY AHMAD NIMER RAMALLAH — Despite widespread reports in the mainstream media that Israeli troops have withdrawn from Palestinian cities (excluding the area around Yasser Arafat's compound and Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity), the Israeli
BY DICK NICHOLS [At its fifth congress, held April 4-7, Italy's 90,000-member Party of Communist Refoundation (PRC) endorsed a radical left turn. This is the second part of two articles on the congress. The first part appeared in last week's Green
BY DICK NICHOLS MILAN — Question: How can you tell when a general strike really is a general strike and not just the most organised parts of the working class taking a day off? Answer: When it's like the April 16 Italian general strike against
BY ALISON DELLIT "The idea that the United States is just one big pool of reactionary politics is false — there is resistance to President George Bush, and we want to extend that", Ahmed Shawki, a leader of the US International Socialist

Culture

BY DENIS OLSEN BRISBANE — Campaigners for freedom for refugees will soon have a new tool. The Carnival of the Oppressed, a street theatre collective, is working on a new play which will be touring the footpaths shortly. Utilising masks and
All My SonsWritten by Arthur MillerDirected by Adam CookWith Max Cullen, Marta Dusseldorp, Lynette Curran, Paul Gleeson, Glenn HazeldineAt the Playhouse, Sydney Opera HouseUntil May 11Bookings (02) 9929 0644 REVIEW BY IGGY KIM US playwright
Museworthy: Leaving the Window "He would be guilty of murderif at the time the deceased left the windowhe had an intent to kill heror cause her grievous bodily harmor had acted with reckless indifference to human life." Only a quarter of the
The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish SufferingBy Norman G. FinkelsteinVerso, 2001182 pages, $29.95 (pb) BY PHIL SHANNON One of the great ironies (if that isn't too kind a word for it) of the Middle East conflict is
Behind the wiredreams expirestrangled andcongealed in themire of choked livesand hopes and dreams. Behind the wiredead dreams walkseeking releasefrom all carein the drowning seaof racism's bile. Behind the wirethe innocents shuffle,sad refuge

Editorial

Fighting for global justice after M1 The 2001 May 1(M1) blockades of Australia’s stock exchanges rallied support for the cancellation of Third World debt and the abolition of institutions such the World Bank and the International

General

Green Left Weekly requires copies of Tribune, which was the weekly newspaper of the now-dissolved Communist Party of Australia, for its research library. Ddonatations or loans of early issues of Tribune, particularly, but not exclusively,