The rather prosaic sounding Jewish settlements within the
Occupied Territories are well-armed virtual fortresses, designed to legitimise
Israeli sovereignty over large areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The
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On April 11, US President George Bush told journalists that "[Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat] needs to speak clearly, in Arabic, to the people of that region and condemn terrorist activities. At the very minimum, he
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The brutality of the Israeli government toward Palestinians should be no surprise to anyone aware of the background of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Sharon was born in Kfar Mala in 1928 and joined the Haganah, a military
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Global justice activists make plans for M1HOBART Global justice activists in the Hobart M1 Alliance have decided to organise a blockade of the Forestry Tasmania building on May 1, followed at 12 noon by a march to
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Two recent public meetings, one in Canberra and another in Melbourne, have revealed the cruelty that takes place in Australia's refugee prisons. Wayne Lynch worked as a nurse and counsellor at the Woomera refugee detention centre
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Abortion I just read Pamela Valemont's letter (GLW #485) in which she describes how, through being "united in the political struggle" as we all are, she also happens "to believe very strongly that abortion enslaves women..." I also have that
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On May 1 last year, May Day was reclaimed as a day of struggle for the oppressed and against the corporate rich. Thousands of demonstrators blockaded stock exchanges around Australia. A key goal of M1 was to promote the globalisation of solidarity,
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On April 10, eight Israelis died and 19 were wounded in a suicide bomb detonation on a bus travelling from Haifa to Jerusalem. Reports indicate that most of the victims of the blast were soldiers from the Israeli Defence Force
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Museworthy: Olive Tree (for Demetra Christodoulou) You saw the moonYou named it sweetYou followed the heiferAnd milked her teatI met my deathI tormented the seaI ran the numbersWhich delivered meWide and blueWhere the rain sought homeWe
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Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Sunday, 9pm. Phone 9565 5522. Visit <;
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The April 2 Australian carried an opinion piece — "Refugee hard line is right" — written by Labor Party member and self-described "left-wing activist" Ivan Molloy. Molloy called for "reasoned criticism from a human rights
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and ain't I a woman?: Still fighting for equal pay Thirty-two years after Australian law first demanded equal pay for equal work, women are still receiving just two-thirds the average weekly pay of men. According to the Australian Bureau of
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SYDNEY — Senate hearings had confirmed that the recent refugees' rights protest at Woomera, during which fences at the Woomera detention centre were pulled down, would be classified as a "terrorist act", under legislation currently
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The Socialist Alliance, NSW Greens, Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance, International Socialist Organisation, Socialist Alternative, Refugee Action Collective, Free the Refugees Campaign, Sydney People Against a New Nuclear Reactor, Wilderness
News
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CANBERRA — Around 300 people rallied peacefully outside the Israeli embassy on April 13 in support of a free Palestine. The intimidating presence of at least 100 police officers, was unable to prevent the impassioned chants
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SYDNEY — Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to protest for refugees' rights on the weekend of June 22-23 around Australia. In Sydney alone, organisers believe between 50,000 and 100,000 people will be willing to come
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BRISBANE — Indigenous organisations and leaders in Queensland have cautiously greeted the state ALP government's plan to take control of alcohol-serving canteens away from elected indigenous community councils in Queensland's far
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ROCKHAMPTON Central Queensland University (CQU) Student Association staff, along with the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU), has been fighting for an enterprise agreement since last May. Top management refuse
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Toward another budget black hole "It doesn't take rocket science to explain Australia's rapid [economic] growth. Rather it is rocket fuel that is to blame — the Reserve Bank has set interest rates at record lows, while the [federal] government is
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BY SUE BOLTON & CHRIS SLEE On April 10, protests were held around the world to call for the unconditional release of six Malaysian government critics, including Tian Chua, the organiser of the Labour Resource Centre in Malaysia. The critics have
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SYDNEY — Pakistani socialist Farooq Tariq wrapped up his Australian speaking tour with an April 12 public address at the Lidcombe offices of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU). Tariq, who is general
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Unions call for sanctions on Israel On April 10 Tony Maher, mining and energy general president of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, and Paddy Crumlin, the national secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia issued a joint call
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BY EDWIN WISE & ANTHONY DEFRAINE "Palestinians are being attacked with rockets and [helicopter] gunships", cried Asem Judeh from the Australian Solidarity Committee for Palestine at an emergency speakout on April 10 at Melbourne's LaTrobe
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SYDNEY — The news that two Acehnese activists sought refuge in the Finnish embassy in Jakarta on April 10 didn't surprise Erwanto, an Acehnese activist currently visiting Australia. "Aceh is like hell on Earth", he said. "Already
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SYDNEY — Palestine's supporters have continued to protest against Israel's brutality, and the Australian government's unwillingness to oppose it. After almost daily vigils, many at the Israeli consulate, activists met on April 10 to
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BRISBANE — Targeting major corporations that profit from war and misery, Brisbane's M1 Alliance rallied outside the offices of the giant US corporation Boeing on April 12. Boeing is one of the world's biggest aircraft and weapons
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BY KERRIE BARRON & KERRYN WILLIAMS CANBERRA — "Against abortion? Don't have one!" was the popular slogan of a rally attended by 300 people outside the ACT Legislative Assembly on April 9. The rally was called by Options for Women in support of
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BY TERRICA STRUDWICK & SAM KING ROCKHAMPTON — At a 2000-strong mass meeting on April 13, meatworkers locked out by Consolidated Meat Groups (CMG) voted unanimously to reject a new proposed enterprise bargaining agreement, after the Queensland
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Brazilian MST leaders tour More than 250,000 poor and working class families in Brazil have won the right to farm a parcel of land, a public meeting in Newcastle was told on April 8. Roberto Baggio, one of two leaders of Brazil's
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The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission's inaugural policy conference, held March 25-26 in Canberra, should have been a chance to reflect on a decade of struggle by Australia's Indigenous people. Instead, the federal
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CANBERRA — "The Palestine question is a question of justice, human rights, international law and fairness", Ali Kazak, the head of the Palestinian Delegation to Australia told an April 10 Resistance forum on the Australian
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BRISBANE — More than 80 people met on April 7 to discuss immigration minister Philip Ruddock's proposal to build a 200-bed medium-security detention centre at Pinkenba, close to Brisbane airport. The meeting was called by federal
World
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On April 8, thousands of workers gathered again in numbing cold at the Tieren Square in the north-eastern oil city of Daqing, taking their almost daily protests since March 1 into their sixth week. PetroChina Co., which owns most of
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The US and British governments' carefully scripted countdown to a massive military attack on Iraq is being disrupted — possibly delayed — by mounting popular anger throughout the Middle East provoked by Israel's murderous
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The Queen Mother was a racist snob who excelled in extravagant living. After all the grovelling, hypocritical tributes paid to her last week, here are some facts to remember. The Queen Mother referred to black people as "nig-nogs" or "blackamoors".
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JOHANNESBURG — After having participated in march upon march to protest against evictions and electricity and water cut-offs, more than 1000 Soweto residents decided at an April 5 public meeting that Johannesburg's African
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CARACAS, April 12 — In the early morning hours, Venezuelan army generals arrested President Hugo Chavez. The orchestration of the coup was impeccable and, in all likelihood, planned a long time ago. First of all, the military
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LONDON — On April 4 US President George Bush called on Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian cities occupied by its forces during the previous week. He excused Israel's violence, but lectured the Palestinians and the rest of
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As the United States drifts deeper into the Colombian quagmire of drugs and war, policymakers need to take a new look at the problems of poverty, joblessness, and hopelessness that have made that country such a trouble-spot. And,
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Once again, the US government has shown how ridiculous and anachronistic its policies are towards Cuba. On April 3, James Sabzali, a Canadian businessperson based in Philadelphia, was convicted for selling water-purification
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SAN FRANCISCO — Under President George Bush's new world of "morality" everything is "black and white". People, groups and states are either "good" or "evil". Countries are with the US or against it. The "evil" terminology permeates
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The leaders of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) resigned en masse on April 3, in response to heavy criticism of their decision to call off general strike in solidarity with striking power workers on the day it was due
Culture
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The United States and the World After 2000, Nicholas Guyatt, Zed Books, Pluto Press, MELANIE SJOBERG, September 11, terrorist attacks, terrorism"> US policies create terrorism Another American Century? The United States and the World After
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Just days before the US began bombing Afghanistan, a Bush administration adviser met with Hollywood executives to enlist them in a Second World War-style propaganda offensive. The Hollywood elite have raced to show just how
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I am going to plant peace in the desertI am going to plant hearts and hands togetherIn the desert of my blank pageI am going to draw a peace dove in the sky of WoomeraI am going to draw an open gate for the detention centre. I am going to draw a
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SYDNEY — Grab a hankie and get set for some serious laughter at New Theatre. Stop laughing, this is serious celebrates 70 years of political revue at New Theatre. It will be an evening of the songs, singers and musicians who brought you last