Democracy

Ecudor says Assange has chronic lung condition Ecuador's ambassador to Britain, Ana Alba, told Ecuadorian TV that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has a chronic lung condition after spending months in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, ABC.net.au reported on November 30.

Anger has erupted on Egypt's streets and lead to a new occupation of Cairo's iconic Tahrir square — the centre of mass protests that brought down dictator Hosni Mubarak last year. Just days after being lauded by many for his role in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi issued a series of constitutional decrees that provoked the protests. There were also large protests on December 1 in defence of Morsi and his decrees.

ACT Friends of Wikileaks released this statement on December 1. *** ACT Friends of Wikileaks held a candlelight vigil outside Parliament House on November 29 to show the government that there are many Australians who want them to act to protect Julian Assange’s human rights, and who are appalled at the government’s lack of action in the face of extraordinary and unprecedented abuse of the rights of one of its citizens. Many people from around the country and overseas sent messages of support and messages to the government, including a number of prominent people.

It is a common refrain, repeated in Facebook memes and exploited in any number of corporate ads: “Be yourself! Celebrate who you are!” Which is all well and good, but what if you are a bastard? For instance, I don't actually think Alan Joyce should keep on “being himself”. The union-bashing Qantas CEO, who last year locked out his entire workforce, just can't seem to control his anti-worker impulses — announcing in recent weeks that 400 more engineering jobs would be slashed.

Shawan Jabarin is the director general of Al Haq, the first human rights organisation in Palestine, formed in 1979. Jabarin has won many human rights awards, was Amnesty's first Palestinian prisoner of conscience, and has been denied travel outside the West Bank for many years.

Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon spoke in parliament on November 27 to mark the the Tamil day, “Maaveerar Naal”, and detail the ongoing struggles of Tamil people to achieve justice and equality. Her full speech is published. ***   November 27 marks a very important and hauntingly sad day for Tamils all around the world including in Sri Lanka.   In Tamil the day is known as “Maaveerar Naal”.  Veerar means "warrior" or "hero". Maa means "great". Naal means "day".  

Dr Mazim Qumsiyeh is Palestine’s leading intellectual. His recently published book Popular Resistance in Palestine is a meticulous history of non-violent resistance in Palestine since Ottoman times.

Calls for greater transparency for the Victorian legal system have been issued after it was revealed a 16-year-old Aboriginal boy was locked in solitary confinement for almost four months in an adult prison. Following an escape attempt from Parkville Youth Justice Precinct in July, the boy was transferred to Port Phillip Prison. He was held in a cell for 22 hours a day, and allowed only two hours in the exercise yard while handcuffed. The treatment is in breach of the Victorian Human Rights Charter.

Renowned Jewish-American academic and author Noam Chomsky visited the Gaza Strip over October 25-30. The article below, on the suffering of the Gazan people, is areprinted from www.chomsky.info. * * *

Jews Against the Occupation (JAO) respond to their critics on everything from claims that 'Israel is a democracy' to 'you are not real Jews', from why they support BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) to why they see Israel as an 'apartheid state'.

Adding to the list of punitive “law and order” measures that has been implemented in Victoria over the past few years is the latest installment of this agenda: the proposed “anti-bikie” laws, which are inspired in part by the federal “anti-terrorism” laws. While popularly justified on the basis of combating “bikie gangs”, the Criminal Organisations Control Bill 2012 is better understood as a bill that can limit the ability of citizens to engage in democracy, civil society, and of citizens to associate with one another.

Christine Assange discusses WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, her time in Ecuador, the nature of the United States, the Australian government's lack of support for the rights of her son, the mainstream media, the need for alternatives and more.