Reminder: 3 meetings of note Mon-Tues – Palestine / Free Trade debate / Phillipines

Monday, November 8, 6.30pm, Lecture Theatre B28, (Beneath library, Alfred St), Auckland University

Is peace in the Middle East possible? Hear the surprising answer from award-winning speaker Anna Baltzer, former Fulbright scholar, Columbia University graduate, author, grand-daughter of Holocaust refugees, and recent guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Baltzer will present eyewitness reports on the conflict & the exciting nonviolence movement for peace. She will be signing copies of her acclaimed book, Witness in Palestine: A Jewish American Woman in the Occupied Territories. CHAIR: Dr. NICHOLAS ROWE: Senior Lecturer Dance Studies and author of ‘Raising Dust: a Cultural History of Dance in Palestine’. KOHA requested. Hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Human Rights Campaign & Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom www.palestine.org.nz Raised with a traditional view on the issue, Baltzer’s perspective changed when she moved to the West Bank to work with nonviolent Palestinians and Israelis. Baltzer’s courageous voice for coexistence and insistence on honest reporting has led to more than 200 television appearances and lectures at more than 500 universities, churches, synagogues, mosques, think tanks, and other policy institutes around the world. She serves on the Board of Directors of The Research Journalism Institute, Grassroots Jerusalem, and The Council for the National Interest.

Tuesday, November 9, 5.30-7pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn

BOOK LAUNCH: with Jane Kelsey (Professor of Law, Auckland University) and Lori Wallach (the Research Director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch). The free trade agreement between the US and NZ has expanded to a US-plus-eight negotiation called the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement that also involves Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. In “NO ORDINARY DEAL: UNMASKING THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP FREE TRADE AGREEMENT” Jane Kelsey has brought together eighteen other experts from New Zealand, Australia, the US and Chile to expose the realities and risks of negotiations that aim to lock in the failed model of global free markets for the indefinite future. Lori Wallach, a leading US activist against free trade deals, will launch the book and discuss the US politics surrounding the negotiations under the Obama administration. Refreshments provided.

Tuesday, November 9, 7pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn

NZ Speaking Tour By Filipino Progressive Leaders. WHY SHOULD NEW ZEALANDERS BE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PROSPECTS OF PEACE TALKS AND WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE PHILIPPINES? Two senior international representatives of the NDFP (National Democratic Front of the Philippines) Mr Luis Jalandoni and Ms Coni Ledesma will be in Aotearoa this November hosted by local Solidarity organisations to speak under the theme “Justice and Liberation: The Road to Peace in the Philippines.” Auckland Philippines Solidarity (APS) will hold public meetings to draw the attention of New Zealanders to one of Asia’s most vibrant people’s movements. The speaking tour will be an opportunity for New Zealanders to critically view the ties that bind the Philippines and NZ.