Issue 533

News

BY BILL MASON BRISBANE — A number of suburban protests were held on March 29 to demand "No war on Iraq" and "Bring the troops home". Initiated by the Socialist Alliance, the protests were held in West End, Fortitude Valley, Stones Corner and
BY JESS MELVIN MELBOURNE — On April 3, a student from the prestigious Melbourne High School received a detention. His crime was mentioning the war in class and questioning his principal. "I don't think it is appropriate for the school to be
BY KERRYN WILLIAMS CANBERRA — More than 100 people attended an anti-war teach-in on April 5, organised by the ACT Network Opposing War. Most participants, including students and academics, had attended anti-war protests in Canberra and the
BY RUSSELL PICKERING PERTH — Despite a hysterical campaign by the Western Australian media and police opposing the right of young people to protest against the Iraq war, a 400-strong anti-war rally was held by Youth and Students Against the
BY PIP HINMAN SYDNEY — A concerted campaign by the NSW Labor Council has not yet succeeded in splitting the peace movement in Sydney. The campaign, which was applauded by the pro-war Murdoch press, shifted into high gear in the lead-up to
BY LEIGH HUGHES ADELAIDE — Everywhere you go, there are indications that young people oppose this war on Iraq. Anti-war badges pinned to school uniforms, discussions about Iraq on the 3.30pm buses, huge Books Not Bombs meetings and massive
BY CHRISTINA SNOWDON & GRANT COLEMAN On April 2, students in Wollongong and Brisbane held protest actions in solidarity with anti-war students defending their right to protest in Sydney. One-hundred people gathered in Brisbane. Speakers discussed
Preston anti-war protest BY KATYA GOODALL MELBOURNE — On April 5, 80 people gathered at the Preston Town Hall for an anti-war rally called by the Darebin Anti-War Group. After hearing from Alex Bhatal from the Greens, Reihana Mohideen from the
BY BILL MASON BRISBANE — "We are not anti-globalisation, we are pro-democracy, pro-human rights, pro-food sovereignty. We are not against international trade, it is the capitalist race to the bottom that we are against", declared Anuradha Mittal,
BY SARAH STEPHEN According to Victorian Greens refugee spokesperson Pamela Curr, the three remaining asylum seekers on Christmas Island were secretly removed at 3am on March 25. "A specially chartered plane came in from [Papua] New Guinea", she
BY NICK EVERETT SYDNEY — Around 150 people attended the Peoples Assembly for Peace conference at the Haymarket campus of University of Technology, Sydney on March 30. The conference, organised by the Walk Against the War Coalition,

World

HANS GEBZE is a West Papuan student based in Yogyakarta. He has been involved in political struggle since before 1998. He is a secretary-general of the Alliance of Papuan Students (AMP). Gebze spoke to Green Left Weekly's MAX LANE about the West
On March 26, the Sindicato de Estudiantes (Spanish School Student's Union), together with other student organisations, called a highly successful student general strike against the war in Iraq. More than 90% of high school and university students
BY DOUG LORIMER "The Iraqi people will administer Iraq", White House press secretary Ari Fleischer declared, appropriately on April Fool's Day. That same day, Jay Garner, the retired US army general who has been selected by the White House to

US warplanes dropped cluster bombs on the Iraqi town of Hilla. The deadly anti-personnel weapons are also believed to have been used in assaults on Najaf, Nasiriya and Basra by US-led invasion forces. Cluster munitions

BY GLORIA LA RIVA Olga Salanueva is the wife of Rene Gonzalez, one of five Cubans imprisoned by the US for trying to stop terrorism against their country. She hasn't heard a word from her husband since he and his four comrades were locked down on
As Palestinians brace themselves for the first anniversary of the Israeli occupation forces' bloody invasion of the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp, it has been revealed that an Israeli expert has guided US marine officers through its putrid alleys to
JOHANNESBURG — On April 5, more than 12,000 people marched behind about 15 "human shields", who have recently returned from Iraq, to oppose the US-led invasion of Iraq. The protest, organised by the Anti-War Coalition (AWC), marched through the
BY RAHUL MAHAJAN Iraq's desperate humanitarian situation has suddenly become a retroactive justification for the war, even for the attacking of civilian targets. The need to get aid into Basra prompted a British military spokesperson on March 25 to
BY APRIL HURLEY BAGHDAD, March 24 — At the al Kindi Hospital emergency department, Fatima Abdullah is screaming in outrage: "Why do you do this to us?". Her eight-year-old, Fatehah is dead, two other daughters are on stretchers, wounded by a
BY DOUG LORIMER The White House has claimed that Russian companies are providing assistance to Iraq to help it resist the US-led invasion. The Pentagon has extended this accusation to include Syria, which along with Russia, France and Germany,
BY NORM DIXON One of the first US soldiers killed in the invasion of Iraq was marine Kendall Waters-Bey. In his working-class Baltimore neighbourhood, there is anger, pain and sorrow. His four sisters have been openly critical of US President
When Iraqi TV offices in Baghdad were hit by a US missile strike on March 25, the targeting of the media was strongly criticised by human rights groups. However, much of the US corporate media cheered. General-secretary of the International
BY TAMARA PEARSON In Pakistan, student activists are beaten and intimidated by the Islamic fundamentalists; in Zimbabwe, police attend student meetings and political activity on most campuses and colleges is prohibited; and in India, blind
MANILA — "War against poverty, not war against Iraq and Mindanao!" chanted 12,000 workers — members of the workers' party, Partido ng Manggagawa, and the socialist labour group, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) — as they marched down
BY MAX LANE JAKARTA — On March 30, at least 100,000 people marched through this city's streets to protest against the invasion of Iraq by the United States and its British and Australian appendages. In the wake of the mass anti-war march, there
BY ROHAN PEARCE The British Guardian reported on April 1 that the US government is in the process of creating its own team of "weapons inspectors" to "disarm" Iraq's alleged arsenal of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). According to the Guardian's
BY MARTIN ILTIS LONDON — Australians Against the War (AATW) held its first formal meeting on March 30, attended by about 20 Australians living in London. The meeting flowed from the group's prominent participation in the 500,000-strong

Culture

Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. Includes the Green Left news. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Sunday, 9pm. Phone (02) 9564 1277. Visit
Scotland: Socialism in the Making A film by Jill Hickson Actively Radical TV Screening 9pm, Sunday, April 16, on Channel 31, Sydney. REVIEW BY LEAH GANLEY Scotland: Socialism in the Making is a short film about the Scottish Socialist
Which of the greedy vultureswill be first to snatch the carcass?There's little hope they'llshare the spoils of war.Will Australia get its dollars worthof reconstruction contracts?Will Cheney get the oilit's all been for? Johnnie can use our taxesno
Art Sans FrontieresSEAS Art Basement, 66 Hindley Street, AdelaideUntil April 11 (auction at 7pm, April 11) REVIEW BY JO ELLIS ADELAIDE — "Nations have imposed borders but art and human rights transcend them", state the organisers of Art Sans

REVIEW BY BEA BREAR

Ned Kelly
Directed by Gregor Jordan
Based on Robert Drewe's novel, Our Sunshine
With Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Rachel Griffiths and Naomi Watts
At major cinemas

Editorial

Why Iraqis are not welcoming US 'liberators' “I really do believe we will be greeted as liberators”, US vice-president Dick Cheney said on March 16, three days before US-led military forces began their invasion of Iraq. The real