Hundreds of people participated in events during the June 6-9 international week of action for justice for Palestine and an end to the 40-year Israeli occupation. The events were organised by the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (CJPP) and the General Union of Palestinian Workers.
Issue 714
News
On June 12, 80 people attended a meeting in support of two Tamil activists who were recently arrested for allegedly sending tsunami relief funds to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
LAUNCESTON — On June 16, 11,000 people joined a rally organised by The Wilderness Society against Gunns’ proposed pulp mill in the West Tamar Valley. The crowd gathered at City Park and was addressed by Gardening Australia’s Peter Cundall, Geoff Law from TWS and Greens Senate candidate Andrew Wilkie, who condemned the plans to pollute the Tamar’s air and water with a kraft-chlorine pulp mill that will feed on Tasmania’s old-growth forests. Cundall warned Paul Lennon’s state Labor government and Gunns that “this is democracy in action” and “we are never going to stop fighting”. Protesters marched to Civic Square chanting “No pulp mill”.
Fifty people demonstrated outside the defence plaza on June 15 to protest the beginning of the Talisman Sabre military exercises at Shoalwater Bay.
Chants of, Hey Brisbane, listen up; the cleaners are standing up! and Caruso workers´ rights, worth fighting for! rang through the Brisbane CBD on June 15, as 60 cleaners, members of the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union, marched from the LHMU office to the offices of Caruso Cleaning.
On June 13, 100 students and staff rallied in front of the administration building at Queensland University of Technology’s Gardens Point campus to protest the suspension of two QUT academics, Dr Gary MacLennan and Dr John Hookham, on charges of misconduct.
Supporters of Indigenous rights in Queensland have sold a thousand yellow wristbands with “Justice now: Mulrunji 19-11-04” printed on them. A police officer is currently standing trial for the 2004 death in custody of Palm Island resident Mulrunji — the first time an officer has been charged over a death in custody in Queensland’s history. The wristbands have been distributed throughout the state, including an order of 1000 for Palm Island being placed. To place an order, phone Paul on 0410 629 088.
On June 12, the trial of Queensland police officer Chris Hurley on charges of assault and manslaughter began. Hurley is alleged to have punched and then unlawfully killed Aboriginal man Mulrunji on November 19, 2004, on Palm Island, an Indigenous community located near Townsville.
Analysis
The recent storms that devastated much of the NSW Central Coast and the Hunter Valley were described by some as a mini cyclone. The fierce gales led to dramatic floods — the most severe since the 1970s, the deaths of several people and the beaching of a coal freighter on a Newcastle reef.
Electrical Trades Union Victorian secretary and union militant Dean Mighell was forced to resign from the ALP after a tape recording of an internal union meeting became public. Labor leader Kevin Rudd and his industrial relations spokesperson Julia Gillard slammed Mighell as a union “thug” for swearing about bosses and talking up a pattern-bargaining agreement in which ETU members received a particularly good deal. Green Left Weekly’s Sue Bolton spoke to Mighell about Labor under Rudd, its backflips on IR and how the unions can defend workers’ rights.
About 150 people crowded into the function room of the Lanyon Valley Rugby Union Club in Canberra on June 13 to celebrate the life of Koru Peter Nusa, who died suddenly at home on June 4. At the same time, family and friends gathered for a service in Papua New Guinea.
The Howard governments so-called fairness test for all new workplace agreements (individual contracts and collective agreements) is destined to become law, with Labor Party support, before the end of June. The legislation, which purports to guarantee fairness to workers who trade off their entitlement to penalty rates, overtime pay and holiday leave loading, passed through the House of Representatives on May 29.
In recent years theres been a concerted campaign by right-wing Vietnamese exiles around the world to resurrect the defunct flag of the old Saigon regime.
Since community opposition stopped plans for a national nuclear waste dump in South Australia, John Howard seems determined to now go for a site in the Northern Territory despite promising not to and opposition from Indigenous custodians.
The public gallery of the Northern Territory Supreme Court erupted into applause on June 15 when Justice Sally Thomas handed down the sentences for the Pine Gap Four Christians Against All Terrorism members Bryan Law, Jim Dowling, Adele Goldie and Donna Mulhearn who had the previous day been found guilty of 14 charges under the Defence (Special Undertakings) Act of 1952.
It has become clear in recent weeks the extent to which the NSW and federal governments want to block protests at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Sydney in September.
The NSW government is planning to give police extraordinary powers of arrest and detention around the time of the APEC summit in Sydney in September. Activists planning the protest when US President George Bush is in town say the new powers are about intimidation, not public safety.
The ABCs 7.30 Report on June 11 reported that 200 miners at BHP Billitons iron ore mine at Mount Newman in Western Australia had signed a petition complaining about an atmosphere of intimidation and victimisation of workers on individual agreements (AWAs). The workers petition complained that management was forcing them to work in unsafe conditions and warned that a serious accident was likely.
World
Wherever President George Bush went in Europe this June, whether he was meeting with G8 leaders, Pope Benedict, presidents or opposition leaders of NATO allies, or rightist officials in the former socialist countries, he provided an excellent reason for the people to come out in the streets, often in massive numbers.
During Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Panama on June 5, she described Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s decision not to renew the licence of Radio Caracas Television as his “sharpest and most acute” move yet against democracy. She urged the Organisation of American States to send its secretary general to Caracas to look into the move and deliver a full report on his findings. Rice declared: “Freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom of conscience are not a thorn in the side of the government. Disagreeing with your government is not unpatriotic and most certainly should not be a crime in any country, especially a democracy.”
On June 12, Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) organised a protest in front of the Lahore Press Club against the illegal detention of LPP general secretary Farooq Tariq, who was arrested on June 5 and given a three-month detention order. Braving 47°C heat, more than 300 protesters gathered, raising slogans against General Pervez Musharrafs regime and demanding the immediate release of Tariq and all other political prisoners.
The breaking of a six-month deadlock in Bolivia’s constituent assembly has paved the way for the opening of an intense debate on the future of this politically polarised country nestled in the heart of South America. Beginning to lose the battle within the halls of the assembly, the right-wing opposition has threaten to take the fight onto the streets, announcing that it may reject any new constitution that emerges out of the body.
Following the near-complete seizure of military control of the Gaza Strip on June 14 by armed supporters of the Hamas party, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, who is also the leader of the rival Fatah party, issued a decree dissolving the PA Hamas-Fatah national unity government, dismissing Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh and declaring a state of emergency in both the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The Sri Lankan Army (SLA) has met strong resistance in its attempts to seize areas of the island country that are controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The LTTE are fighting for an independent state in the predominantly Tamil inhabited north and east of Sri Lanka.
Bishop Fernando Lugo had a crucial choice to make on December 17. Representatives from different social groups showed up before him, carrying thick files with 100,000 properly registered signatures and a request: “Father, give Paraguay a hand”.
As Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution continues to deepen and accelerate, President Hugo Chavez has announced a spate of pro-worker changes, which mark a continuation of the Chavez government’s orientation toward the country’s oppressed, and a victory against the right-wing offensive that has heightened since Chavez’s re-election in December.
Green Left Weeklys Vannessa Hearman spoke to Agus Jabo, chairperson of the National Liberation Party of Unity (Papernas), in Jakarta about the new partys campaign plans and its defence against ongoing attacks from right-wing organisations.
An estimated 3 million Vietnamese are suffering from the horrendous health effects inflicted by the dioxin-laden herbicide Agent Orange, which was employed liberally by the US during the Vietnam War. In 2004, the victims, represented by the Vietnam Association of Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin (VAVA), initiated a legal action in the US against nearly 40 chemical companies that supplied the chemical.
“The Bush administration and top military commanders are looking beyond the promised September progress report on Iraq and are preparing Congress and the American public for a long-term presence of US troops in the occupied nation”, the June 8 New York Times reported, adding: “Officials have started downplaying the importance of the September assessment by Army General David Petraeus and US Ambassador Ryan Crocker as they work to lower public expectations about any quick progress in Iraq.”
Up to 2 million workers have hit back at the African National Congress (ANC) governments sacking of striking health workers, its deployment of army strikebreakers and increasing police violence against strikers. On June 13 the more than 700,000 teachers, nurses, health workers and other government workers on strike for higher pay were joined by hundreds of thousands of other unionists and supporters in a nationwide solidarity strike. Hundreds of thousands of people marched across the country.
The latest campaign to destablise the government of socialist President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, by groups who receive funds from the US government, appears to have largely failed. The attempts of a minority of students based on the old elite universities — who have held often violent protests in recent weeks — to present themselves as a “new” movement fighting for democracy have been exposed.
Culture
Riot
Directed by Leticia Caceres
Written by Vanessa Bates, David Brown, Stefo Nantsou and Sarah Gava
Designed by Joshua Mason
Newcastle Civic Playhouse
Bookings 02 4929 1977
Until June 23
Directed by Leticia Caceres
Written by Vanessa Bates, David Brown, Stefo Nantsou and Sarah Gava
Designed by Joshua Mason
Newcastle Civic Playhouse
Bookings 02 4929 1977
Until June 23
First prize at Project Accessible Hollywood (PAH) Fest Grants 2007 in the very short film category was won by Green Left Weekly reviewer and poet Bill Nevins for Goodtimes Hidden Treasure, his film based on a poem by Colorado poet Art Goodtimes.
Six Days In June — The shooting lasted only six tense days in June 1967, but the Six Day War in the Middle East has never really ended. SBS, Friday, June 22, 8.30pm.
Australian Rules — Tells the story of an adolescent boy struggling with
The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia
By Benjamin Dangl
A K Press, 2007
US$15.95
By Benjamin Dangl
A K Press, 2007
US$15.95
General
OK, I admit this idea to boost the Green Left Weekly Fighting Fund was inspired (to be honest, stolen) from the recent adventures of one Canape Crusader from Kirribilli: we get 225 people to donate $8000 each to the Green Left Weekly Fighting Fund and, in return, I have them over to my place for drinks and canapes. That should raise enough money to make this column redundant for seven years!
Resistance!
With opinion polls showing his government is headed for defeat in this years federal election, PM John Howard has been sure to pull out the, now well-weathered, economic management card in an attempt to regain voter support.
The 36th annual national conference of the socialist youth organisation Resistance will be an important stepping stone towards the protests against US emperor George Bushs visit to Australia in September for the APEC summit.