Hundreds of people participated in events during the June 6-9 international week of action for justice for Palestine and an end to the 40-year Israeli occupation. The events were organised by the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (CJPP) and the General Union of Palestinian Workers.
714
LaborStart.org reports that on June 7 Mikhail Chesalin, chairperson of the local Dockers Union of Russia in Kaliningrad, was savagely stabbed and beaten outside the union office. He was stabbed numerous times in the spine and severely beaten about the head. His assailants left him lying face-down, unconscious, in a pool of blood. Chesalin鈥檚 colleagues believe that the attack was orchestrated by Vladimir Kalinichenko, the general director of Kaliningrad Sea Commercial Port, where the dockworkers鈥 union is currently running an organising campaign. Kalinichenko has tried to break up union events by sending his personal 鈥渟ecurity鈥 forces, together with local thugs, to spy on and intimidate workers. Visit for more information.
Fifty people demonstrated outside the defence plaza on June 15 to protest the beginning of the Talisman Sabre military exercises at Shoalwater Bay.
Wherever President George Bush went in Europe this June, whether he was meeting with G8 leaders, Pope Benedict, presidents or opposition leaders of NATO allies, or rightist officials in the former socialist countries, he provided an excellent reason for the people to come out in the streets, often in massive numbers.
Socialist Alliance hosted a discussion on June 12 about standing up to the 鈥減olice state鈥 laws introduced into the NSW parliament for the period of the September APEC summit. One person arrested in connection with the G20 protests in Melbourne last November told the meeting that police had directed him not to attend the APEC protests. He urged participants not to be intimidated by such tactics.
The recent storms that devastated much of the NSW Central Coast and the Hunter Valley were described by some as a mini cyclone. The fierce gales led to dramatic floods 鈥 the most severe since the 1970s, the deaths of several people and the beaching of a coal freighter on a Newcastle reef.
The 50th anniversary of the 1957 Palm Island strike was marked by a 鈥渧ery emotional鈥 commemoration on June 15, Indigenous activist Gracelyn Smallwood told 91自拍论坛 Weekly. She said up to 4000 people took part. Among the activities, relatives of the seven men and their families who were handcuffed, chained and removed at gunpoint from the island spoke about the violation of their human rights. The strike was triggered by a system that meant every Indigenous person on Palm Island had to work for 30 hours per week while being paid only in rations.
聯The ABC聮s Four Corners program on June 11, 聭Ghost Prisoners聮, was a powerful exposure of the United States聮 global torture network and of Australian complicity in it聰, said Socialist Alliance spokesperson Raul Bassi. 聯It聮s another step towards justice for Mamdouh Habib, one of the victims of this criminal system that has tortured some to death, forced others into worthless 聮confessions聮 and disappeared hundreds.聰
Disability support worker Joanne Ball will appear before a local court on June 22 on charges of obstruction and interferring with a police officer during the February protest against the visit to Sydney by US Vice-President Dick Cheney.
On June 12, 80 people attended a meeting in support of two Tamil activists who were recently arrested for allegedly sending tsunami relief funds to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The ABC聮s 7.30 Report on June 11 reported that 200 miners at BHP Billiton聮s iron ore mine at Mount Newman in Western Australia had signed a petition complaining about 聯an atmosphere of intimidation and victimisation聰 of workers on individual agreements (AWAs). The workers聮 petition complained that management was forcing them to work in unsafe conditions and warned that a serious accident was likely.
On June 12, the trial of Queensland police officer Chris Hurley on charges of assault and manslaughter began. Hurley is alleged to have punched and then unlawfully killed Aboriginal man Mulrunji on November 19, 2004, on Palm Island, an Indigenous community located near Townsville.
- Previous page
- Page 2
- Next page