#240: FRIDAY MAY 23, 4.30PM: PROTEST SUPERFUND INVESTMENT
GLOBAL PEACE AND JUSTICE AUCKLAND NEWSLETTER #240, May 21, 2008
Website http://www.gpja.org.nz/ Contact details: Forums – John Minto, Work: (09) 845 2132, Home 09 846 3173 jbminto@xtra.co.nz; Newsletter Editor – Mike Treen 0295254744 mike@unite.org.nz; Web page - media@ndu.org.nz Donations can be sent to GPJA, P O Box 7175, Wellesley St, Auckland. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter visit http://www.gpja.org.nz/ or click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this email.
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Kia ora koutou,
FRIDAY MAY 23, 4.30PM: PROTEST SUPERFUND INVESTMENT IN NUCLEAR WEAPONS PRODUCTION
AMP building, on the corner of Custom Street West and Albert Street, Auckland CBD.
Kia ora, This Friday, there is a protest action against continued unethical Superfund investments in nuclear weapons as part of a global day of action on the International Women's Day for Disarmament. There are protests organised for Auckland and Wellington. Every human alive now and over the next tens of thousands of years will carry radioactive elements created by nuclear tests, research and deployment, causing an increase - however small - in their lifetime cancer risk. Even the US government has finally acknowledged the link between nuclear weapons production facilities and elevated levels of at least 22 kinds of cancers in workers (at those facilities). Even though the NZ Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act, 1987, states it is an offence for anyone to aid or abet "any person to manufacture, acquire, possess, or have control over any nuclear explosive device" within or beyond the NZ Nuclear Free Zone, the Fund has investments in companies involved in nuclear weapons production and deployment such as Lockheed Martin $21,850,772*, Northrop Grumman Corp. $22,490,337, Honeywell International $13,914,219, BAE Systems Plc $6,154,252, and EADS Co - $2,660,672 (*Fund investment at 30 June 2007, the most recent figures available). After the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the destruction and pollution that resulted from the testing in Mururoa Atoll and the Marshall Islands: The world says NO to nuclear weapons!
Where: NZ Superannuation Fund office, outside the AMP building, on the corner of Custom Street West and Albert Street, Auckland CBD. When: Friday 23 May at 4.30pm Organised by: Tamaki Makaurau Branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. All welcome to support. The Super Fund is invested in companies involved in nuclear weapons and cluster munitions production. We are asking them to divest from these insane weapons. Contact Joan Macdonald for more information Email joanmac@pl.net Phone 360 8001
More info:
http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/iwdd08.htm
http://investmentwatch.wordpress.com/
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/peace/abolish-nuclear-...
“BASES OF EMPIRE – THE GLOBAL SPREAD OF US MILITARY AND SPY BASES” with international guest Cora Fabros
Touring NZ July 2008. Recent events have propelled the Waihopai spybase into the spotlight. It is a US spybase in all but name and NZ’s most important contribution to all US wars. Cora Fabros, from the Philippines, is a veteran activist with the anti-bases, anti-nuclear and peace movement. She is the Asia/Pacific Coordinator of the International Network for the Abolition of Foreign Military Bases. The US is on a global war footing and the Asia/Pacific region is of immense strategic significance. This is the region that Cora will be speaking about. In Japan (particularly Okinawa) and South Korea the huge US presence covers the full range from nuclear warfighting bases to conventional combat bases to a whole variety of spybases. Despite having been kicked out of the Philippines in the early 90s, the US military is back. Guam, a US territory, has been turned into a major nuclear warfighting base. Australia has given the US permission to build its first new spybase in 40 years. NZ hosts a US military transport base (at Christchurch Airport); and two “New Zealand” spybases, at Tangimoana and Waihopai. NZ’s role as a small, but vital, US satellite must be exposed, and the covert links ended. Cora’s tour provides the regional context for how we aid and abet the US military and intelligence empire.
DUNEDIN Tuesday July 8, 7.30 p.m, Alexander MacMillan Room, Dunedin Community House, 283 Moray Place Kay Murray, (03) 4542057, 021 1672843, email: ksimmondsmurray@xtra.co.nz
CHRISTCHURCH Wednesday 9, 7.30 p.m., Oxford Terrace Baptist Church Hall, cnr Madras St & Oxford Terrace. Murray Horton (03) 3663988, 0274 307742 email: cafca@chch.planet.org.nz
BLENHEIM Thursday 10, 7.30 p.m., Wesley Centre, 3 Henry Street. Steffan Browning 021 725655, email: sjb@steffan.co.nz
WELLINGTON Monday 14, 5.30 p.m., St Johns in the City, Main Hall, cnr Willis & Dixon Sts. Sam Huggard (04) 8033054, 021 1810508 email: samhuggard@yahoo.co.nz
PALMERSTON NORTH Tuesday 15, 7 p.m. PSA House, 1st Floor, 43 King St. Dion Martin (06) 3569658 w, 021 776029 w; email: dion.martin@ndu.org.nz
AUCKLAND Wednesday 16, 7.30 p.m, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, Grey Lynn & Thursday 17, 5-6.30 p.m., WT0032, AUT Tower Building, 2 Rutland Street. Del Abcede, (09) 3787543, 021 02376917; email darobie@hotmail.com
DONATIONS ARE NEEDED to help with tour costs. Please make cheques payable to ABC, Box 2258, Christchurch.
Anti-Bases Campaign, Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand. cafca@chch.planet.org.nz
www.converge.org.nz/abc
ANNOUNCEMENTS
FROM PLOUGHSHARES AOTEAROA
Dear friends, Thank you for contacting us to be added to the Ploughshares supporters list. Over the past three weeks there has been an overwhelming response to the action - over 12,000 visits to the website, huge media interest in the Ploughshares message, some important admissions from public officials and hundreds of people sending messages of support and donations. Adi, Peter and Sam are now out on bail and enjoying being reunited with family and friends - they are due to appear in court on 9 June for a pre-depositions hearing and supporters who can make it are encouraged to be in Blenheim for this occasion. The lawyers are working hard on a range of issues. At present we are working on an email system that will allow us to send out updates quickly and easily. The email system is still managed manually at present so it will be a bit adhoc until a shiney new system is in place. We are also working on a range of ways that people can support the kaupapa and have added a more detailed supporters registration page as a link from the website if you haven't seen it already. This has a number of options for supporters to check. A follow up "Pray for Peace" initiative is being planned and more details of this will be sent out soon - basically we will be looking for people who are willing to pray for peace in public within their community - it will be largely focused on mobilising communities of faith, but anyone interested can join in. A number of other events and activities are likely to be coordinated over the coming months and if you are organising something directly related to the Ploughshares action in your community that you would like us and others to know about, please send through the details. So this was really just a quick confirmation to say thanks for signing up and we'll stay in touch! Ma te Atua tatou e manaaki,
Manu Caddie. http://www.ploughshares.org.nz
SEPTER MANUFANDU FROM WEST PAPUA NATIONAL TOUR 27 MAY – JUNE 5 2008
Your chance to hear a prominent community leader, human rights defender and advocate for the preservation of West Papua's Paradise forests. Septer Manufandu is: Executive Secretary of Foker: the NGO Cooperation Forum in West Papua (covering 64 NGOs); (Foker advocates for cultural and human rights, and development strategies that empower the people); Former Director of Yalhimo (a community development agency committed to land rights and environmental sustainability; A member of the Biak tribe; A forestry graduate from Cenderawasih University Jayapura;
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Wednesday 28 May Christchurch: 7:30 pm Oxford Terrace Baptist Church Lounge at, cnr Oxford Terrace and Madras Street (Sponsored by Arena and CWS.)Contact Gillian Southey 03-366-9274
Thursday 29 May Wellington: 5:30-7pm Public Meeting St John’s in the City (Willis/Dixon St), Contact Martin de Jong Caritas : 04-496 1742,
Tuesday 3 June Auckland: 7-30 pm St Columba Centre 40 Vermont St, Ponsonby, Contact Maire Leadbeater 09-815-9000 or 0274-436-957
Wednesday June 4 Whangarei : Details to follow - Contact Tim Howard: 09 434-6633
Globally, tropical deforestation accounts for approximately 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and Indonesia is the world's third largest emitter largely due to deforestation. The pristine rainforests of West Papua are losing out to the palm oil industry and the powerful illegal logging barons. New Zealand is complict in this devastation because we continue to permit the import into New Zealand of West Papua's illegally logged kwila ( also known as merbau) a species on track to extinction if current extraction continues. Contact Maire Leadbeater 09-815-9000 or 0274-436-957 for further information: Kevin Mcbride paxnz@xtra.co.nz or Maire Leadbeater maire@clear.net.nz
VENEZUELA SOLIDARITY GROUP UNDERWAY
Buenos dias everyone, A quick review from our last meeting on Tuesday 13 May at Auckland Latin American Community Art Centre (ALACAC): Nelson Davila send his solidarity to VAMOS and says if there is anything we need, he's just an email away. Group decided to go with the name VAMOS-Venezuela Aotearoa Movement Of Solidarity, which also means 'Let's go!' in Spanish. The Auckland branch will be called VAMOS Auckland. AVSN(Australian Venezuela Solidarity Network) are sending a BRIGADE TO VENEZUELA from November 20-30 2008. This will coincide with the regional elections in Venezuela. The May brigade met with union officials, Ministers of the Chavez government, visited health centre, met with Cuban doctors, places where the missiones are evolving, meet with student activists at universities and visited factories as well as Bolivar's house. You will need to budget $5000, this includes airfares, accommodation, food, personal expenses, and the registration fee which includes transport, guides and translators If you are interested in attending, please let me know or visit http://www.venezuelasolidarity.org
A national website is in the process of being made. The address is http://www.vamosnz.blogspot.com , we hope for it to be up and running in a weeks time, if its not, please be patient. If people want to have articles /photos / information added, please send to juliavioleta@gmail.com If people can volunteer to help from different cities please let Julia know. Julia will put the word out in the next national newsletter for a National Organiser, we need a volunteer/volunteers to coordinate the nationwide committees. Film Screening of Now The People Have Awoken. We have the film. Suggestions to have two film screenings in a months time. Will book ALACAC for one night and Auckland University (Can anybody hep with that?). Date TBA. Delegate responsibilities to VAMOS Auckland enthusiasts at next meeting. NEXT ORGANISING MEETING: TUESDAY 27TH MAY 7:30PM - 8:30PM, Auckland Latin American Community Art Centre, 37 Selwyn Street, Onehunga. Hasta luego! Julie Espinoza. Email vamosauckland@gmail.com
VENEZUELA DOCUMENTARY MADE BY KIWIS
The VenezuelaDoc website is now up and running. It contains information about the film Now The People Have Awoken, screening at the Human Rights Film Festivals around the country, as well as extra information about the Bolivarian revolution transforming Venezuelan society. The website is another useful resource for countering the biased reporting of the US-led corporate media. The address is http://www.venezueladoc.com/
MARXISM 2008 IS AN ANNUAL GATHERING OF PEOPLE WHO WANT TO UNDERSTAND AND CHANGE THE WORLD. The speakers are all experienced activists and their presentations are guaranteed to be out of the ordinary.
Queens Birthday weekend, Grey Lynn Community Centre, 510 Richmond Road, Grey Lynn, Auckland.
FRIDAY EVENING 30 MAY
7pm Bullets and ballots - Babu Maharjan from Nepal gives a first-hand account of the mass movement for change.
8pm Vote socialist 2008: The Workers Party launches its election campaign with a view to being on ballot papers in every home.
SATURDAY 31 MAY
10am Revolution and Resistance: panel discussion
Dennis Maga (from the radical trade union the KMU) on the mass movement in the Philippines;
John Minto (social justice activist) on the betrayal of the liberation movement in South Africa
Don Carson (a long-time campaigner for Palestine) on the relentless struggle for liberation;
Mike Treen (unionist and social justice activist) on Cuba surviving encirclement; and
John Edmundson (Workers Party) on Afghanistan’s long-running resistance.
11.45am New government, old problems? Anthony Main from the Socialist Party of Australia talks about the current situation
12.30pm Lunch
1.15 -3pm: 1968: The Year that Rocked the World - Mike Kay (Workers Party) on the tumultuous events of forty years ago. John Moore (Workers Party) speaks with Tigi Ness, former Polynesian Panther about radicalism in Polynesian Ponsonby
3pm– 4pm Building a Fighting Force - Matt McCarten (Unite Union) and Don Franks (Workers Party) on how to fight redundancies and build mass resistance
4-15pm - 5pm What is socialism? Jared Phillips (Workers Party) gives an historical view.
Parallel session: Dialectics of nature vs nurture Daphna Whitmore (Workers Party) looks at the dichotomy debate.
SUNDAY 1 JUNE
12.30pm Sex and Socialism
Bryce Edwards (Politics lecturer) brings two of the most interesting words in the English language together in a libertarian-socialist talk where discussion will range from pornography to prostitution, lesbianism to childcare, 'raunch culture' to abortion.
1.15pm Debate: That open borders bring freedom Tim Bowron (Workers Party) argues the affirmative; Brian Van Dam (social justice activist) argues the negative.
2.45pm The vital role of a revolutionary paper Don Franks (Workers Party, editor of The Spark)
3.30pm Who needs a revolutionary party? Philip Ferguson (Workers Party) argues essential need for a revolutionary organisation.
Organised by the Workers Party www.thespark.org.nz Entrance: koha
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY FOR DISARMAMENT MAY 24, 2008: PROTESTS, PETITION AND INFORMATION
Since 1982, International Women's Day for Disarmament has been marked on 24 May by women around the world calling for the peaceful resolution of conflict, and an end to the horror and devastation of armed conflict; the destruction of the physical environment by peacetime military training and weapons testing; the diversion of financial, human and other resources into military institutions; and to government support for corporations that profit from death and destruction. This year in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is focusing on the NZ Superannuation Fund (Super Fund) investments in nuclear weapons and cluster munitions producing companies. There are three sections below: 1) details of the simultaneous protests at the Super Fund offices in Auckland and Wellington on Friday, 23 May; 2) the 'End government support for military exports' petition which has just been re-launched for International Women's Day for Disarmament; and 3) some links to where you can get more information about the Super Fund investments, and about women and disarmament. http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/iwdd08.htm
BASTION POINT BLOG
Whina Te Whiu has created a great blog website for people to leave their comments about their memories of Bastion Point, wherever you were at that time. click on the link and have a look. I think you need a gmail account to contribute but thats pretty easy to set up . I just followed the directions and it seemed easy to me, so if I can do it, its not that hard! If you can take a few minutes to add your thoughts it will provide a great record and resource for those who cannot be with us on May 25.
http://bastionpoint.blogspot.com/
BASTION POINT EXHIBITION MAY 19-30, LEVEL 2, CENTRAL CITY LIBRARY, LORNE ST, CITY
Auckland City Libraries and Ngati Whatua have joined forces to bring together the Bastion Point Exhibition: 30 years on…..a history of the eviction and reoccuppation at Takaparawhau. This is an exhibition using photographic images, media commentary of the time and emphemera (posters). A programme can be viewed on the library website: http://www.aucklandcitylibraries.com/exploreyourcommunity/events/bastion
CAFCA NOW HAVE A BLOG
Material is regularly posted there by CAFCA, the Anti-Bases Campaign and kindred groups. Join the discussion!
Murray Horton, Secretary/Organiser, CAFCA, Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa, Box 2258, Christchurch, New Zealand. The address is www.watchblogaotearoa.blogspot.com
cafca@chch.planet.org.nz / www.cafca.org.nz
FOREIGN CONTROL WATCHDOG 117 APRIL 2008
http://www.converge.org.nz/watchdog/17/index17.htm
INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE “50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRIUMPH OF THE CUBAN REVOLUTION”
Dear Friends: Next year the Cuban Revolution will arrive to its 50th anniversary: 50 years of solidarity and friendship between Cuba and the peoples of the world. From October 5th through 19th this year, our Institute will welcome the “50th Anniversary of the Revolution” International Brigade and friends coming from all over the world will enjoy this unique opportunity to celebrate this important date in Cuba. The program prepared for this celebration includes visits to places of historical, cultural, educational and social interest. Lectures, with updating information, will give you an accurate picture of the Cuban reality. Venues for visits and tours included in the program will be Havana City, Santa Clara, Granma and Santiago de Cuba provinces. Part of your stay comprises 8 nights at the “Julio Antonio Mella” International Camp (CIJAM), located in Caimito Municipality, 45 km from Havana City, where you are going to be offered comfortable conditions to satisfy the needs of collective life. Six other nights in the Sierra Maestra Hotel will also be part of your stay. The full cost of the stay is 370 CUC (Cuban Convertible Pesos), which will cover for your accommodation in eight- person rooms at CIJAM; three meals a day; in and out airport transfers; and transportation to all the activities you are going to be part of during the 15 days of the Program. Optional visits are not included in the package’s price. The cost for an additional night stay in CIJAM is 10.00 CUC. Stay periods of less than 7 days will not be allowed. By attending the Brigade, a member is committed to comply with the Program and to keep a proper behavior, discipline and living together standards. The consumption of drugs or any other hallucinogenic substances is totally illegal and penalized by the prevailing legislations in our country. We are looking forward to hosting you!!!!
Asia-Pacific Division, Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, Email: dasia@icap.cu Tlf: (53-7) 838 2430
INVITATION TO VENEZUELA EDUCATION STUDY TOUR
A Collaborative Exchange and Study Tour for Academics, Teachers & Students February 2009
Dear Friends and Colleagues, We would like to invite you to participate in the first Education Exchange and Study Tour of Venezuela. A number of educators here in Australia and internationally have become increasingly interested in the radical education reform currently taking place in Venezuela. The study tour will take place in January 2009 and will involve a range of meetings (seminars) and visits with educational groups, institutions, and community organisations. The details of the week are to worked out in conjunction with colleagues from the Bolivarian University of Venezuela, and local schools and community organizations in Caracas. Initial details: Preliminary dates: January 6 - 14, 2009 / Estimated costs: International Airfare ($3500) / Registration fee: $300/$150 concession Estimated internal travel costs: $150 / Estimated accommodation costs: $250 / Food is cheap and participants will also have to budget for spending money. The Study Tour Organising Committee will assist with advice on airfares and accommodation. The Study Tour is hosted by Dr Tom Griffiths, University of Newcastle, Australia, and Jo Williams, Victoria University, Australia in collaboration with the Bolivarian University of Venezuela. It is supported by Centre for Latin American Solidarity and Studies (CLASS) and the Australian Venezuela Solidarity Network (AVSN), please contact us if you would like to register the support of another organization. For further details, to contribute ideas and/or to register your interest please contact the organising committee: Tom Griffiths Tom.Griffiths [at] newcastle [dot] edu [dot] au / Jo Williams Jo.Williams [at] vu [dot] edu [dot] au / Roberto Jorquera roberto [at] latinamericasolidarity [dot] org / Jorge Jorquera Jorge.Jorquera [at] rmit [dot] edu [dot] au
WHAT’S ON IN AUCKLAND
HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2008 -3 DAYS TO GO. DON’T MISS OUT. Rialto Cinema Newmarket
WEDNESDAY 21 MAY:
6.00pm Western Sahara (57 mins) Africa’s last colony The saga of Western Sahara is told through the experiences of Sahrawis living in refugee camps in Southern Algeria for 30 years. Preceded by Bowling for Zimbabwe (28 mins) Follows the extraordinary lives of those enduring the current crisis inn Zimbabwe. For Itai, a cricketing scholarship may be his only chance at a life beyond mere survival.
8.00pm Occupation 101 (90 mins) Voices of the Silenced Majority. Presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions
THURSDAY 22 MAY 20
6.00pm Occupation 101
8.15pm The Dictator Hunter (54mins) He hunts dictators for a living, as a lawyer for Human Rights Watch. Follows Brody over the course of two suspenseful years as he travels through Africa, Europe and the United States. Preceded by Bowling for Zimbabwe
FRIDAY 23 MAY
6.15pm Afghan Chronicles (54 mins) Since the fall of the Taliban, Afghanistan has beeen rebuilding itself and reviving democracy and there is now some freedom of expression. With its radio station and two magazines , one of them directed at women, the press agency Killid Media is a real media phenomenon. Preceded by War and Waves (28mins) In Sri Lanka a natural disaster and ongoing conflict have displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Those who lost everything in the 2004 tsunami still wait for permanent housing or are being forced to flee to refugee camps.
Friday, May 23, 4.30pm, outside the AMP building, on the corner of Custom Street West and Albert Street
PROTEST INVESTMENT IN NUCLEAR WEAPONS PRODUCTION - The Tamaki Makaurau Branch of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom will be holding a protest for International Women’s Day for Disarmament outside the AMP building, on the corner of Custom Street West and Albert Street where the office of the NZ Superannuation Fund is situated. All welcome to support us. The Super Fund is invested in companies involved in nuclear weapons and cluster munitions production. We are asking them to divest from these offensive weapons. Contact Joan Macdonald for more information. Email joanmac@pl.net Phone 360 8001
Saturday, 24 May, 12 noon, outside the Design Warehouse, 106 Fanshawe Street.
A picket outside the Four Seasons Furniture Store in Botany Downs to oppose the use of rain forest Kwila from Papua for outdoor furniture.
Sunday, May 25, 10am, orakei Marae, Bastion Point
Remembrance and Reconciliation Ceremony. A ceremony to bring together those who were arrested, representatives of the police, the army and government members of all parties, as well as many prominent Pakeha, Maori and Pacific Islanders who played a role in the Bastion Point occupation.
Monday, 26 May, 6pm at Auckland Migrant Resource Centre(ARMS), Three Kings Plaza, 532 Mt Albert Road.
The Treaty of Waitangi and New Zealand’s Constitution with guest speaker Professor David Williams (Deputy Dean of Law, University of Auckland) Monday 26 May, Hosted by ARMS and Tamaki Treaty Workers.
Tuesday, May 27, 7:30pm - 8:30pm, Auckland Latin American Community Art Centre, 37 Selwyn Street, Onehunga
VAMOS AUCKLAND – BUILDING SOLIDARITY WITH VENEZUELA.
Tuesday, June 3, 7.30pm, Saint Columba Centre 40 Vermont St Ponsonby
West Papua: IHRC and Pax Christi host Septer Manufandu. Your chance to hear a prominent community leader, human rights defender and advocate for the preservation of West Papua's Paradise forests. Septer Manufandu is:
Director of Yalhimo (a community development agency committed to land rights and environmental sustainability)
Executive Secretary of Foker: the NGO Cooperation Forum in West Papua (covering 64 NGOs). Foker advocates for cultural and human rights, and development strategies that empower the people. Major logging conglomerates continue to push the deforestation agenda because they want more land to establish palm oil plantations. Greenpeace estimates that Indonesia had the fastest pace of deforestation in the world between 2000 and 2005, equivalent to 300 soccer pitches of forest destroyed every hour. New Zealand is complict in this devastation because we continue to permit the import into New Zealand of West Papua's illegally logged kwila ( also known as merbau) a species on track to extinction if current extraction continues. For further information: Kevin Mcbride paxnz@xtra.co.nz or Maire Leadbeater maire@clear.net.nz
Sunday 29 June. 2.30pm at St Columba Centre, Vermont St, Ponsonby
Human Rights and the Olympics. Speakers:- Simon Reeves, Jeremy Pope, Carole Curtis and we will try to get Louisa Wall as an eminent sportsperson. Human Rights Foundation asked to provide a chairperson. HRN Forum.
JULY GPJA FORUM: HEAR CORA FABROS SPEAK, WEDNESDAY JULY 16, 7.30PM, 147 GREAT NORTH RD, GREY LYNN
“BASES OF EMPIRE – THE GLOBAL SPREAD OF US MILITARY AND SPY BASES” with international guest Cora Fabros
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INDIA
BJP Seizes On Jaipur Bombing To Promote Communalism And Social Reaction - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has seized on the recent terrorist atrocity in Jaipur, the capital of the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan, to promote anti-Muslim and anti-Bangladeshi prejudice and to press for a further strengthening of the repressive powers of the state
http://www.countercurrents.org/jayasekara200508.htm
KOREA
Thousands killed by US's Korean ally: Grave by mass grave, South Korea is unearthing the skeletons and buried truths of a cold-blooded slaughter from early in the Korean War, when this nation's U.S.-backed regime killed untold thousands of leftists and hapless peasants in a summer of terror in 1950.
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=174859
Fear, secrecy kept 1950 Korea mass killings hidden: Among the Koreans who witnessed, took part in or lost family members to the mass killings, the events were hardly hidden, but they became a "public secret," barely whispered about through four decades of right-wing dictatorship here.
http://tinyurl.com/6b2vuo
NEPAL
Nepal: Towards A New Beginning - In Nepal, democratic renewal has happened through a revolutionary movement that has finally empowered those that have been marginalised and discriminated against. If questions about the economy can be addressed, and I agree it is a very big if, because the renewal is led by the poor and the marginalised, it is Nepal that affords the greater possibility of a fairer, more plural and more just society. After all not for nothing did the CPN-Maoists wage an armed struggle
http://www.countercurrents.org/mohanty200508.htm
The Next Step in Nepal: An Interview with Dr. Baburam Bhattarai of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
by Stephen Mikesell and Mary Des Chene
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/bhattarai100508.html
PALESTINE
Hamas Condemns the Holocaust: “But it should be made clear that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian government in Gaza denies the Nazi Holocaust. The Holocaust was not only a crime against humanity but one of the most abhorrent crimes in modern history. We condemn it as we condemn every abuse of humanity and all forms of discrimination on the basis of religion, race, gender or nationality.”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19913.htm
Forget the two-state solution - Israelis and Palestinians must share the land. Equally.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-makdisi11-2008may11,0,7862060....
Belief in God 'childish,' Jews not chosen people: Einstein letter
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080513122249.m3ds3b6j&show_artic...
Balfour to Blair - This is a must watch video - Balfour to Blair, investigates the history of British policy in the Middle East from the beginning of the 20th century to today.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19948.htm
Expulsion And Dispossession Can't Be Cause For Celebration By Seumas Milne - Ethnic cleansing began months before the end of British rule, as has been meticulously documented by Israeli historians such as Benny Morris and Ilan Pappe, and before the arrival of the Arab armies, who mostly fought in areas earmarked by the UN for an Arab state.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19935.htm
PHILIPPINES
‘Ka Bel’ dies in fall while repairing roof
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20080521-1378...
SOMALIA
Somalia - Hidden Catastrophe Hidden Agenda: The US has plans for nearly two-thirds of Somalia's oil fields to be allocated to the US oil companies Conoco, Amoco, Chevron and Phillips. The US hopes Somalia will line up as an ally alongside Ethiopia and Djibouti, where the US has a military base. This alliance would give America powerful leverage close to the major energy-producing regions.
http://www.medialens.org/alerts/index.php
SRI LANKA
No Right To Be There By Desmond Tutu - With a terrible record of torture and disappearance, Sri Lanka doesn't deserve a seat on the UN human rights council. It should be voted out.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19939.htm
USA
Why has the US dropped 9/11 charges?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7399644.stm
How to Build a Human Bomb By George Monbiot - Guantanamo Bay is killing people thousands of miles away.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19953.htm
VENEZUELA
Spinning The News - The FARC-EP Files, Venezuela And Interpol - Colombia's belligerency, the FARC-EP files, Fourth Fleet reactivation, continued funding of Venezuela's opposition, CIA's covert mischief, disruptive street violence, and other planned schemes are troublesome. They're to reassert regional control and rid Washington of its leading hemispheric antagonist. No guessing who, and no telling when the next attempt will come or in what form
http://www.countercurrents.org/lendman200508.htm
WEST PAPUA
West Papuans seek observer status at Melanesian summit
http://www.asia-pacific-action.org/node/20