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Newcastle demands rail line stay open

BY JON LAMB NEWCASTLE — On October 23, more than 500 people packed into a room at the Town Hall to oppose the closure of the rail line from Broadmeadow to Newcastle station. Organised by the Save Our Rail committee, the meeting was attended by

Protesters declare: 'Iraq will be your Vietnam'

BY SARAH STEPHEN Strange things happened in Canberra during the US President George Bush's visit. Residents woke on October 23 to radio reports that a Canberra hospital ward had been cleared in anticipation of a presidential emergency. The

BOLIVIA: Peasant leaders threaten new revolt

BY DOUG LORIMER Three days after a massive wave of protests forced Bolivia's US-backed president, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, to resign and flee to Miami, tens of thousands of workers and peasants massed in the capital, La Paz, on October 20, vowing

UNITED STATES: 120,000 demand 'Troops out!'

On October 25, 100,000 anti-war protesters mobilised in Washington DC to demand the end of the US occupation of Iraq and the immediate withdrawal of US troops. Sponsored by two of country's largest anti-war coalitions, International Act Now to Stop

'Make love not war'

BY PETER BOYLE Helen Jarvis, then a student at the Australian National University (ANU), was one of the Canberra protesters who turned out to protest against the October 1966 visit of US President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ). "It was at night,

David Rovics: politically sharp and beautiful poetry

ReturnDavid RovicsEver Reviled Records, 2003Hang a Flag in the WindowDavid Rovics with Allie RosenblattSelf released, 2002Rovics' albums can be ordered from <http://www.davidrovics.com> and from the Hobart Resistance Bookshop

BRITAIN: Labour expels anti-war MP

BY DOUG LORIMER Glasgow MP George Galloway, an outspoken opponent of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to back the US-led invasion of Iraq, was expelled from the Labour Party on October 23. "Labour will rue the day that they took this

'Don't be Bushwhacked!'

SYDNEY — Up to 1500 people attended a protest festival to oppose the visit of US President George Bush in Prince Alfred Park on October 19. Organised by the Sydney Peace and Justice Coalition, the rally featured comedy act CNNNN and a "protest

AMWU activists defy red scare campaign

BY MARCE CAMERON& SUE BOLTON BRISBANE — Perhaps inspired by the vicious anti-communist scare campaigns conducted by Coalition governments and right-wing trade union officials against militant union activists in the 1950s, officials of the

Philippines union leader well-received

BY IGGY KIM SYDNEY — Philippines union leader Ariel Guides' fiery and rousing speeches were very well received at the protests against the visit of US President George Bush in Sydney and Canberra on October 22 and 23. In particular, protesters

Jewish group rejects campaign against Hanan Ashrawi

MELBOURNE — The largest progressive Jewish organisation in the country, the Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS), has distanced itself from the campaign being conducted by pro-Israel spokespeople against Palestinian legislator and human

5000 demand 'Bush out, troops out!'

BY PAUL BENEDEK SYDNEY — In the most passionate display of anti-war sentiment seen on Sydney streets for months, more than 5000 people roared their opposition to US president George Bush on October 22, the day he arrived in Australia. Sydney