#362: Waihopai protest Jan 21-23; Tunisia Forum Thurs 20th
January 18, 2011 Leave a comment
GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE AUCKLAND NEWSLETTER No. 362, JANUARY 18, 2010
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
Revolution in Tunisia- Socialist Aotearoa forum this Thursday Jan 20, 7.30pm, Auckland Trades Hall, Great North Road, Grey Lynn.
Come here Paul Brown from Socialist Aotearoa and Gerald Perrira discuss the implications of the Tunisian Revolution for the whole of the Arab world.
At this stage the only certainty about the future of the Tunisian revolt is uncertainty. With the departure of President Ben Ali the longtime dictator, a massive power vaccuum has opened up in the north African country. The situation in the country is changing rapidly with a state of emergency declared, prisons emptying, rioting gripping the capital Tunis and reports of fighting between the army and militas loyal to Ben Ali. News …media outlets, bloggers and politicians are offering up a variety of different analysis of the political situation and offering up competing predictions for what will come next. Forget the silly online squabbles over whether this is a Wikipedia or twitter inspired revolution the most significant question that the global left is wrestling with is how far the social revolt spread through the rest of the Middle East The answer at this stage appears to be we don’t know. The attempts by western commentators to flatten out the diverse political, economic and social geography of the Middle East to extrapolate various conclusions about the possibilities of revolt are almost completely useless here. However the most promising signs of potential social unrest come from two countries – Jordan and Algeria
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119066061499028
http://socialistaotearoa.blogspot.com/2011/01/tunisian-revolt-everything-is-possible.html
CLOSE THE WAIHOPAI SPYBASE & END NZ INVOLVEMENT IN US WARS
By Murray Horton – Murray Horton is the spokesperson for the Anti-Bases Campaign. He has been organising protests at the Waihopai spybase since 1988.
People from all around New Zealand are protesting in Blenheim and at the super-secret Waihopai satellite interception spybase today. The Wikileaks NZ cables reveal the central role that this spybase plays in the secret intelligence relationship between NZ and the US, proving what the Anti-Bases Campaign has been saying all along. Full US/NZ intelligence ties were secretly restored in 2009.
The war in Afghanistan, in which the NZ military is directly involved, has got dramatically worse. Simultaneously, the US is dangling a Free Trade Agreement, via the Trans Pacific Partnership as NZ’s “reward” – nothing has changed since Holyoake’s “guns for butter” catchcry of the Vietnam War years. Now it’s guns for milk.
The theme of our activities, both at the spybase and in Blenheim, is anti-war. The US says that Intelligence is the key component of all the wars that it is fighting, or planning to fight, throughout the world. The Anti-Bases Campaign (supported by the Wikileaks cables) points out that Waihopai, an important source of intelligence for the Pentagon, is New Zealand’s most important contribution to the American war machine and it means that we New Zealanders have blood on our hands.To symbolise that, our props include crosses, coffins and white masks. This is the first protest at the spybase since the March 2010 acquittal of the Ploughshares peace activists for the 2008 deflation of one of its domes. As part of our activities we will be celebrating that acquittal. The speakers, either in Blenheim and/or the spybase, are: Peter Murnane, one of the three acquitted Ploughshares peace activists; Keith Locke, Green MP; John Minto, of Global Peace and Justice Auckland; and myself, of theAnti-Bases Campaign.
Waihopai, of course, is a “New Zealand” base – or so the Government says. The fact is, however, that in everything but name it is an outpost of American intelligence – paid for by the long suffering NZ taxpayer. Between $500 million and $1 billion of public money has been spent on the NZ Government Communications Security Bureau (the agency which runs Waihopai) in the 23 years of Waihopai’s operation. That money could have been much better utilised on health and education, not spying on behalf of Uncle Sam.
Nor does it do anything to protect us from terrorists or foreign agents. Just seven years ago Israeli intelligence agents were caught in Auckland, fraudulently trying to obtain fake NZ passports. They were imprisoned and deported and there was a major row with Israel. But they were caught by an Internal Affairs officer who tipped off the Police. Waihopai played no role in protecting us from these foreign criminals operating in our country.
Waihopai does not operate in the national interest of New Zealand. Waihopai must be closed. (For details on Waihopai and what it does, go to our Website www.converge.org.nz/abc ).
ABC, Anti-Bases Campaign, Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand cafca@chch.planet.org.nz
WAIHOPAI PROTEST PROGRAMME JANUARY 21-23 2011 – THEME: WAIHOPAI IS NZ’S BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION TO US WARS
Waihopai is NZ’s key contribution to all of America’s wars, whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or anywhere else. It is basically a US spybase operating on NZ soil, a vital outpost of the American Empire. ABC will bring a limited number of placards and banners. Please bring your own, relevant to the anti-war theme, linking Waihopai to the US wars on Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
TRANSPORT
If you want transport from or to the Picton ferry terminal or Blenheim Airport, contact Steffan Browning, in Blenheim. 021 725655; greeny25@xtra.co.nz Give him plenty of notice.
FRIDAY 21
Afternoon. Arrive at campsite; set up camp; general housekeeping and settling in. A light dinner will be provided. How to find our camp at Whites Bay: turn off SH1 at Tuamarina (9km north of Blenheim or 20 km south of Picton) and drive to Rarangi on the coast. Continue on the steep Port Underwood Road which climbs over the hilltop before descending to the Whites Bay turnoff. There is a Department of Conservation public camp at the bay with basic facilities (toilets, cold water showers, but no elec-tricity). ABC has to pay a fixed charge per person.
Be prepared for a weekend of roughing it. We’ve hired a barbecue and will provide the food. We are bringing one reasonable sized tent for people without their own. Please note – we cater for vegetarians, but vegans will have to bring their own food. Bring sleeping bag, groundsheet, air mattress, a tent, torch, water bottle, eating utensils, clothing for all weather, placards and banners. Absolutely no open fires or smoking at the campsite.
Please register in advance. You can pay in advance or once you arrive, but in ad-vance is better so that we know numbers for catering purposes and have the money to pay DOC’s per person per night campsite fee. The registration cost is $40 waged or $20 unwaged. If you haven’t registered, please bring your own food.
There is a 9 p.m. summer curfew at White’s Bay camp (the gate is locked at that time, until 7 a.m. the next morning). After that time, vehicles can’t get into the camp – access on foot only, and you’ll have to carry your gear. There is no organised activity on the Friday night.
SATURDAY 22
Morning. Breakfast; introductions; discussion of the weekend’s programme, etc. 10 a.m. – travel to Blenheim. 11 am – assemble at Seymour Square, Blenheim. We will then march through central Blenheim to The Forum where our speakers will speak from the band rotunda.
The speakers are: Murray Horton (ABC); Keith Locke (Green MP); and John Minto (Global Peace and Justice Auckland). After the speeches we will carry on marching through Blenheim back to Seymour Square. Distribute leaflets en route. Our props – coffins, crosses, masks, etc – will be used on the march and carried by marchers.
12 noon – Lunch is a public sausage sizzle in Seymour Square (we will charge members of the public $1). 1.30 pm – depart Blenheim for Waihopai. 2 pm – peaceful protest at the base. We are not expecting to be allowed onto the base land and up to the inner gate. Ever since the Waihopai Ploughshares activists deflated one dome in 2008, the base has refused access to everyone, including media. So our activities will be at the main road gate. We are not planning to force the issue of access to the base land, nor do we plan any arrestable actions. Our props (see above) will be used at the base rally. 3 pm – Back to camp, dinner. Saturday night is free time.
SUNDAY 23
Morning – breakfast, feedback on weekend, strategise future actions. Break camp, and head for home no later than noon.
ABC can be contacted on ph/fax (03) 3663988 (Murray Horton) until 9 a.m on Friday 21. After that it’s mobiles: 0274 307742 (Murray Horton) and/or 021 02284787 (Bob Leonard) and/or 021 0367548 (Robyn Dann) and/or 0274 797789 (Lynda Boyd).
MURRAY HORTON SPEAKING TOUR APRIL 2011
CAFCA is sending Murray Horton on an election year national speaking tour (something he last did in the 2002 election year). The title is New Zealand Not For Sale, providing an overview of foreign control (a hot topic at present, specifically the perennial issue of land sales); free trade deals, specifically the one with the US being negotiated now via the Trans Pacific Partnership; and what people can do about it. The aim is to raise grassroots awareness of these issues and CAFCA’s work in election year. The plan is for it to take place over two to three weeks in April, starting at the Roger Award event in Auckland at the beginning of that month, then heading south, getting home to Christchurch in Easter week.
Thus far, he has confirmed invitations for: Auckland, Whangarei, Hamilton, Thames, Whakatane, Napier, Whanganui, Palmerston North, Wellington, Blenheim, Nelson, Golden Bay and Dunedin. There are one or two other possibilities still being explored. Some venues may have to be done as separate one-off trips; just because they can’t be fitted into that time frame and they involve a long journey to get there (this is what Murray did during his 02 tour). It looks like a busy itinerary, so it may need to be done in more than one bite. If you would like to organise a meeting for Murray in your city or town or be otherwise involved with the tour, please contact CAFCA ASAP, by e-mail to cafca@chch.planet.org.nz The itinerary will be worked out early in 2011 and publicity started shortly thereafter.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the initiative to stop it must be ours.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it’s for or against.” – Malcolm X
“Try as I may I can not escape the sound of suffering. Perhaps as an old man I will accept suffering with insouciance. But not now; men in their prime, if they have convictions are tasked to act on them.” — Julian Assange, 2007
“Hear me people: We now have to deal with another race—small and feeble when our fathers first met them, but now great and overbearing. Strangely enough they have a mind to till the soil and the love of possessions is a disease with them. They take their tithes from the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule.” – Chief Sitting Bull
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Youth jobless rate soars to 19.4% http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/4515185/Youth-jobless-rate-soars-to-19-4
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Bernard Hickey: The mystery of how NZ’s terms of trade improved dramatically, but our GDP and wealth didn’t http://tinyurl.com/4ot7krh
National gets 4/10 for economy handling – Cunliffe http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10698919
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INET’s Interview with Charles Ferguson, the Director of “Inside Job” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZafoyyqJ7I&feature=player_embedded#!
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Why we should be sceptical of climate sceptics http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=705&issue=129
Latest Food Crisis Brewing for Months http://www.globalpolicy.org/home/217-hunger/49677-latest-food-crisis-brewing-for-months.html
Daniel Tanuro: The Futility of Green Capitalism http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=3744
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FEATURES
Noam Chomsky: U.S. Savage Imperialism – The U.S. Empire, the Mideast, and the world, part I
Wikileaks, Karl Marx and you By Alistair Davidson – Liberty and Solidarity — Despite blanket media coverage of Wikileaks and Julian Assange, there has been little discussion of the fact that Assange is merely one leader within a large and complicated social movement. http://links.org.au/node/2094
Africa: a continent drenched in the blood of revolutionary heroes – Between 1961 and 1973, six African independence leaders were assassinated by their ex-colonial rulers, including Patrice Lumumba of Congo, who was killed 50 years ago today http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/17/lumumba-50th-anniversary-african-leaders-assassinations
The War On WikiLeaks By John Pilger – A John Pilger investigation and interview with Julian Assange http://www.countercurrents.org/pilger150111.htm
What Would Einstein Say? By Fidel Castro – Today the leaders of the State of Israel practice genocide and are associating themselves with the most reactionary forces on the planet. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27223.htm
WORLD ECONOMIC CRISIS
Diss Capital: Karl Marx, in London for a book signing, stumbles off the Eurostar and straight into an interview with Paul Mason at a café in King’s Cross. How does the credit crunch fit with the guru’s theory of crisis? http://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2011/01/8220-crisis-interview-theory
The Rise of the New Global Elite: F. Scott Fitzgerald was right when he declared the rich different from you and me. But today’s super-rich are also different from yesterday’s: more hardworking and meritocratic, but less connected to the nations that granted them opportunity—and the countrymen they are leaving ever further behind. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/01/the-rise-of-the-new-global-elite/8343/
AFGHANISTAN
Bottom of the 4th Inning of the Great Game: Afghanistan is Now Open for Business http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/445.php
US Military Investigates ‘Death Squad’ Accused of Murdering Afghans http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/29/us-military-investigates-5th-stryker-brigade?INTCMP=SRCH
Taliban Strength Unaffected By Allied Surge http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/06/taliban-strength-unaffected-surge_n_805633.html
ALGERIA
The struggle spreads in Algeria http://socialistworker.org/2011/01/17/struggle-spreads-in-algeria
Police deployed around mosques and football matches suspended amid protests over food prices and unemployment
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/07/algeria-riots-food-prices
BANGLADESH
Factory Fire and Police Killings Fuel Discontent among Bangladeshi Garment Workers http://tinyurl.com/47snt7u
Military Intelligence Behind The Illegal Arrest Of Bangladeshi Labor Rights Activist http://www.countercurrents.org/gomes170111.htm
BOLIVIA
Bolivia’s Road to Revolution: A process sustained by the mass is indestructible http://boliviarising.blogspot.com/2011/01/bolivias-road-to-revolution-process.html
Bolivia: New Pension Law Lowers Retirement Age, Raises Expectations http://boliviarising.blogspot.com/2011/01/bolivia-new-pension-law-lowers.html
COLOMBIA
Two, Three, Many Colombias http://www.fpif.org/articles/two_three_many_colombias
CUBA
Fidel Castro: A life in pictures http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12160798
EGYPT
Egypt Is Not Tunisia, But… http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54143
Thousands of Egyptian Muslims Show Up as “Human Shields” to Defend Coptic Christians From Terorism http://www.truth-out.org/thousands-egyptian-muslims-show-up-human-shields-defend-coptic-christians-from-terorism66684
GUATEMALA
A Bus Massacre, A State of Siege in Alta Verapaz and the Parallel Drug State in Guatemala http://upsidedownworld.org/main/news-briefs-archives-68/2853-guatemala-state-of-siege-two-steps-backwards
HAITI
The OAS makes more mockery of Haiti’s sham election http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/jan/10/haiti-oas-election-runoff
IRAQ
Research Links Rise in Falluja Birth Defects and Cancers to US Assault http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/30/faulluja-birth-defects-iraq
Al-Sadr calls on Iraqis ‘to resist’ http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/01/20111872647305497.html
IRELAND
The Irish crisis: a complete failure for neo-liberalism http://www.internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article1968
IVORY COAST
Ivory Coast: Behind the post-election political crisis and threat of military intervention http://links.org.au/node/2092
KOREA
Struggles by ‘irregular’ workers multiply, solidarity needed http://links.org.au/node/2099
Reinstate Dismissed GM Daewoo Irregular Workers! Respect the Human Rights of Protesting Workers! http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article19739
MEXICO
“Failed States,” New Wars, Resistance http://www.monthlyreview.org/101101cockcroft.php
PACIFIC
West Papua: from Morning Star to Mourning – The freedom & democracy movement in West Papua is using non-violent action to advance its cause. http://werewolf.co.nz/2010/12/west-papua-from-morning-star-to-mourning/
PAKISTAN
Asia Bibi’s daughters waiting for the execution of their mother http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxLT6DRJdbQ
My father’s murder must not silence the voices of reason in Pakistan – There is a real danger that extremists could triumph if good people do not continue to speak out http://tinyurl.com/4hdzm2k
US Killed 2,043 People, Mostly Civilians, in Pakistan: Report http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27174.htm
PALESTINE
“Our Story”: The story of the Palestinian people; the history, the present, the future as told By Dr. Mustafa barghouti who was born in Jerusalem in 1954. Dr Barghouti is a leader of the Palestinian National Initiative founded in 2002 and a member of Palestinian Legislative Council as well as a former Minister of Information in the unity government in 2007. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieb7JLibXO0&feature=player_embedded#!
Hopes of Gaza cast in lead: Israel is gearing up for another major offensive into Gaza, yet the world community still remains bafflingly silent BY Richard Falk http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/2011147844745636.html
South African groups seek arrest warrant for Livni’: Pro-Palestinian groups want Kadima leader arrested for her role in the Gaza war two years ago, South African media outlets report; Livni due to visit South Africa next week.
And another martyr dies in Gaza http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=73849&s2=14
Israel demolishes homes and classroom in West Bank village http://www.blogfrommiddleeast.com/?xstart=b&new=73891
Lost innocence: Hanan Ashrawi was one of the first Palestinians to negotiate with Israelis over the future of the territories. After almost 20 years of disappointments, does she still believe peace is possible? http://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/lost-innocence-1.336988?trailingPath=2.169%2C2.212%2C2.213%2C
‘This is like apartheid’: ANC veterans visit West Bank http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/this-is-like-apartheid-anc-veterans-visit-west-bank-865063.html
TUNISIA
Tunisian revolt – everything is possible, nothing is certain http://socialistaotearoa.blogspot.com/2011/01/tunisian-revolt-everything-is-possible.html
Tunisia and Algeria: the wind of anger rises http://tinyurl.com/65xcz5z
Scenes from the ER room of a Tunisian hospital after Ben Ali’s police open fire on demonstrators. You may find certain images disturbing, but it is what happens when the security forces use live ammunition on a crowd. http://vimeo.com/18649144
Tunisia’s youth finally has revolution on its mind http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/13/tunisia-youth-revolution
Tunisia:`All Arab dictators are shaking on their thrones’ — Left and Arab voices on the insurrection http://links.org.au/node/2101
Robert Fisk: The brutal truth about Tunisia – Bloodshed, tears, but no democracy. Bloody turmoil won’t necessarily presage the dawn of democracy http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/the-brutal-truth-about-tunisia-2186287.html
UK
The Equality Movement: What is imperialism? Jody McIntrye, Tariq Ali, Seumas Milne, Dr. Hanan Chehata and Lizzie Cocker addressed over 500 at last Friday’s inspirational public meeting ‘What is imperialism?’ – launching The Equality Movement. http://tinyurl.com/6fv2dtw
Inside the Coalition of Resistance http://www.newleftproject.org/index.php/site/article_comments/inside_the_coalition_of_reistance/
Mark Kennedy accuses senior officers of suppressing vital evidence http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/16/mark-kennedy-senior-officers-evidence
Mark Steel: We owe it to bankers to feel their pain http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/mark-steel/mark-steel-we-owe-it-to-bankers-to-feel-their-pain-2182016.html
Britain’s anti-terror control orders condemned as ‘trademark of despots’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/02/control-orders-human-rights-coalition-review
USA
Misery With Plenty of Company By BOB HERBERT http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/opinion/08herbert.html
The King they won’t celebrate: In 1967, Martin Luther King published a book called Where Do We Go from Here? that set out a proposal for “Phase Two” of the movement. http://socialistworker.org/2009/01/19/the-king-they-wont-celebrate
Pentagon, Military Actively War Gaming ‘Large Scale Economic Breakdown’ and ‘Civil Unrest’ CNBC Video http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27212.htm
VENEZUELA
Venezuela vs. the Banks – Why Washington Hates Chavez http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney01042011.html
Setting the Record Straight on Venezuela and Hugo Chavez By Eva Golinger http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5926
OLDER ANNOUNCEMENTS
JOIN THE MAY DAY 2011 SOLIDARITY BRIGADE TO VENEZUELA! APRIL 25TH – MAY 4TH, 2011
The Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network invites you to observe first-hand the inspiring Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela. The sweeping social changes being carried out by Venezuela’s “people’s power” movements are radically transforming life for the majority in that country – workers, women, Indigenous people, young people and all those who have suffered the injustices of poverty, exploitation and exclusion that accompany corporate globalisation. Along the way, this remarkable revolution is showing the rest of the world that a more rational, socially just and sustainable future is possible.
A special feature of the 2011 May Day brigade will be the opportunity it offers to observe the developing workers’ participation and workers’ control that is a vital part of the Venezuelan revolution, with visits to worker-run factories and cooperatives, and meetings with trade union and community management representatives in a variety of sectors and regions. The brigadistas will also observe Venezuela’s grassroots democracy in action, with visits to the social missions, communal councils and communes. They will meet and speak with grassroots activists in the free, high-quality public health and education services; sustainable development projects; community controlled media; and women’s and Indigenous organisations. Joining the huge May Day rally in Caracas on May 1st will be a another highlight.
This brigade is the 12th solidarity and study tour organised by the AVSN. Participants’ reports and photos from previous brigades are available at http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org
Registration and costs: The deadline for registering for the 2011 May Day solidarity brigade is February 28, 2011. Participants will need to book their own international airfares, but the AVSN can help with advice (please do not book without contacting us to confirm the dates). The AVSN will organise all accommodation, transport and English-Spanish translation for the brigade. People joining from Australia will need to budget for a total cost of $3500-4000, which will cover international return airfares (between $2200-2600 from Australia); all food, transport and accommodation (on a shared basis) during the brigade; and the brigade registration fee ($500 for workers or $300 for full-time students, unemployed and pensioners).
For more information about this or future brigades, please email brigades@venezuelasolidarity.org or phone Lisa Macdonald +61 413 031 108, Roberto Jorquera +61 425 182 994 or John Cleary +61 407 500 839.
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