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Writers' Festival profiles activists

BY NICK EVERETT SYDNEY — A June 1 public meeting entitled "How the West views the East" proved to be a popular focal point of political discussion and debate at the Sydney Writers' Festival. The meeting featured Tariq Ali, Egyptian writers and

Unions attempt to stop deportation

BY CHRIS LATHAM PERTH — On June 1, Iranian asylum seeker Nader Sayadi Estahbanati was deported from Esperance in WA on the Iranian freighter Mazardaran. In 2000, Estahbanati and two friends stowed away on the Mazardaran to flee persecution in

ITALY: World hunger: what went wrong?

BY PETER ROSSET Why do more than 800 million people still go hungry in a world marked by incredible affluence? Representatives from 180 countries gathered in Rome for the World Food Summit from June 10 to 13 to address just that question. At the

NEW ZEALAND: High Court finds detention breaks UN rules

An interim ruling by New Zealand's High Court has found that the Labour-Alliance coalition government's policy of routinely detaining asylum seekers who arrive without authorisation is in violation of the United Nations refugee convention.

Why we signed

"When people are put in detention, they have part of their lives stolen. I lost nine months of my life, during which I had no human rights, no access information or facilities, and no ability to control my life. It is like being taken out of the

Rally to save Footscray pool

BY PAUL MILLER MELBOURNE — On June 1, 100 Footscray residents protested outside the Footscray swimming pool against its closure. The rally was organised by the Footscray Community Association. The Maribyrnong City Council has recently decided

Howard government rejects Kyoto Protocol

BY JIM GREEN Prime Minister John Howard announced in parliament on June 5 — World Environment Day — that the Australian government will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emissions. The announcement followed ratification of the

Corporate Scumbag: Dimmey's exploits young workers

Recently, I had some direct experience of how the capitalist system exploits young workers. I was employed at the Dimmey's discount department store that just opened in Hobart's Elizabeth Mall. Like the other 14 workers, I was told that I was a

Loose Cannons

File management The June 9 email newsletter of Children Out of Detention (ChilOut) reports that immigration minister Philip Ruddock's email address has recently been disabled. This makes him Australia's only parliamentarian who cannot be contacted

Tariq Ali: 'This empire has to be fought'

BY NICK EVERETT SYDNEY — Speaking to an overflow audience of 250 people at the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre on June 2, writer, film-maker and left activist Tariq Ali analysed the key issues in world politics after September 11. The meeting,

A pre-emptive strike against refugees

BY PETER BOYLE There is a painful image from East Timor that remains engraved in my mind. It is the footage of Timorese throwing their children over the razor wire fence of the UN compound, then scrambling up the side of a hill dragging

ISRAEL: Palestinian intifada accentuates economic crisis

BY AHMED NIMER RAMALLAH — Figures from the Manufacturers Association of Israel confirm that the country's economy is in its deepest recession since 1953. Since the fourth quarter of 2000, 22,000 industrial workers have been laid off, industrial