Nicole Hilder, Wollongong
Refusing to be intimidated by the September 19 fire-bombing of the Sandon Point Aboriginal Tent Embassy, the "Sandonistas" — Save Sandon Point activists — continue to take on the NSW government, Wollongong Council and
Issue 605
News
Alison Dellit
Women across Australia marched to end violence against women on October 29. While the size of the annual Reclaim the Night marches has declined in capital cities in recent years, the number of marches is increasing, with more women
Sarah Stephen
Hundreds of people have responded with enthusiasm to the call for a convergence on Canberra on November 16 — the day parliament opens. This will be the first opportunity to come together in a national protest against the newly
#1
In memory of SIEV X
SYDNEY — On October 26, 300 people attended the launch of the National SIEV X Memorial Exhibition. The project was first launched in Canberra in October 2003 to involve high school students in the design of a memorial to
Matt Harris, Perth
Many University of Western Australia students have been left wondering what the Student Guild actually means by its slogan "your guild, your voice" following the events of October 26. At an ordinary general meeting that day,
#3
UWA NTEU supports jailed unionist
PERTH — On October 27, the University of Western Australia branch committee of the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) passed a motion expressing concern at the jailing of Victorian trade unionist
#2
Green groups slam SE Qld regional plan
BRISBANE — Conservation organisations have criticised the Queensland government's draft south-east Queensland regional plan, released for public comment on October 27, labelling it a sham and a threat
Analysis
Through his op-ed column in the October 26 Sydney Morning Herald, Liberal Party historian and apologist for imperialism Gerard Henderson attempted to discredit the awarding of the Sydney Peace Prize to Indian writer and campaigner
World
Stuart Munckton
"Caracas is a place where people have woken up. Revolution is part of everyday vocabulary", wrote Heiko Khoo, an activist from the international solidarity campaign Hands Off Venezuela in a July article on the In Defence of Marxism
Kim Bullimore, West Bank
Munira Amer's house was once surrounded by green fields, gardens and an agricultural nursery full of olive and decorative trees, grapevines and flowers, which her husband Hani took care of. Now the land around Munira and
Doug Lorimer
US commanders have indicated they will launch an all-out assault on the rebel Iraqi city of Fallujah shortly after the November 2 US presidential election. In preparation for this assault, on October 26 the US military tightened its
Frederico Fuentes
Facing extradition proceedings to stand trial in Bolivia for the deaths of 67 people during the October 2003 popular uprising that forced his resignation, former Bolivian president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada told the October 22
James J. Brittain
For more than four decades, Colombia has been in the grip of a civil war between the people and the state. Through this time, the state has capitalised on laws and decrees that have enabled the formation of paramilitary forces.
Nicole Colson, Chicago
"We're not going to have a draft so long as I'm the president." President George W. Bush sounded like the Wizard of Oz in full "pay-no-attention-to-the-man-behind-the-curtain" mode in St Louis on October 8, when he tried to
Alex Miller
There have been renewed calls for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq after it was announced that 850 personnel from the Scottish Black Watch regiment are to be moved from the relative security of Basra in southern Iraq to Hilla,
Federico Fuentes
"Guatemalans, let us honour the revolution and defend our national sovereignty", social movement leader Miguel Angel Sandoval stated at a rally to remember the 60th anniversary of the overthrow of dictator Jorge Ubico.
Sandoval
IRAQ: US bombing kills 100,000 civilians
About 100,000 Iraqi civilians — half of them women and children — have died since the US-led invasion in March 2003, most of them as a result of air strikes by the US-led occupation forces. The
Eva Cheng
At least four workers' protests or riots have broken out in recent weeks in China, prompting media blackout or outright repression.
On October 22, more than 10,000 workers and pensioners in the city of Benghu in Anhui province took to
Rohan Pearce
Opinion polls show that the US is almost evenly split on the issue of whether the Iraq war was worth fighting. You would expect, given this, that a candidate clearly opposed to the war would be getting considerable support, at least
As the US election approached, Meredith Kolodner looked at the state of the anti-war struggle in the US for Socialist Worker, the paper of the US International socialist Organization.
As the media focuses on questions of judgment, and politicians
On October 7, British ITV showed a documentary by
renowned journalist John Pilger that used recently
released documents to show how the British government had
conspired with the United States to expel the Chagos Islanders
and turn their home
Jenny Francis
Afghans voted for a new president on October 9, and hoped for a better future. After the events of that day, however, there is a growing fear that their hope is misplaced.
While the official results were yet to be declared by
There are 2,078,570 people in prison in the US (more than in any other country in the world).
In 1998, 68 people were executed in the US. Only two countries executed more.
The US is the largest arms exporter in the world. In 2001, it exported
Kim Bullimore, Israel
Angie Zelter, a well-known non-violent peace and human rights activist from Britain, is currently being held by the Israeli authorities in a cell at Ben Gurion airport, Israel.
Zelter, a founding member of the Trident
Brian Stephens, Harare
A delegation of 13 unionists from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) was deported from Zimbabwe under armed escort on October 26.
The delegation was investigating the situation in the lead up to national
Culture
I spent fifteen years in a single cellThe cold could be predicted, food not soMy body languished, my spirit fed well.
I shivered with the ghosts of those who fellTwo tiny holes let in a concrete glowI spent fifteen years in a single cell.
My
The Manchurian CandidateDirected by Jonathan DemmeWritten by Daniel Pine & Dean GeorgarisWith Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber.
REVIEW BY JOE ALLEN
This is not our parents' Manchurian Candidate. Unlike the 1962 Cold War classic
Can you recall?
I remember that smell,from when I was a good German.I had a lovely uniform,with lightening strikes on the collars -I was stationed at Buchenvald.
I too, can remember that smellI was a guard at Auschwitz.I remember the sad faces
The Chequebook and the Cruise-Missile: Conversations with Arundhati RoyBy David BarsamianHarper Perennial, 2004178 pages, $22.95 (tpb)
Review by Lachlan Malloch
Arundhati Roy is usually introduced as "the Indian writer who won the 1997 Booker
Bin Laden in the Suburbs: Criminalising the Arab Other
Scott Poynting, Greg Noble, Paul Tabar, and Jock CollinsSydney Institute of Criminology, 2004352 pages, $45, (pb)
Bin Laden in the Suburbs argues that we are witnessing the emergence of the