The statement below was released by the Socialist Alliance on January 29.
The Socialist Alliance applauds the courage and tenacity of the Tunisian people, whose protests for democracy and economic and social justice have ended the 23-year rule of dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
The Tunisian revolution has inspired ordinary people across the Arab world. Protests have broken out in Algeria, Jordan, Yemen and 鈥 most dramatically 鈥 against the United States-backed dictatorship in Egypt.
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Community group Save The Old Kings School (STOKS) held a protest in Parramatta in Sydney鈥檚 west on February 2 to demand the historic old Kings School site stay in public hands.
Local residents, STOKS activists and members of the Greens and Socialist Alliance attended the action.
The school site dates back to the early days of the colony. When the school relocated to North Parramatta in 1968, the site was sold to the NSW government. It has been unused for many years.
David Kato Kisule, described by The New York Times on January 28 as the father of Uganda鈥檚 lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender rights movement, was murdered in his home on January 26.
Kato was advocacy officer for Sexual Minorities Uganda. The killing came as increasingly violent homophobic tensions continued to escalate in the east African nation.
Kato, aged 46, was bludgeoned to death with two blows to the head from a hammer in his Kampala home. The attack was carried out by one or more male attackers.
The Sydney Stop the War Coalition welcomes and supports the protests for democracy and freedom in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere across the Middle East.
We stand in solidarity with the Egyptian masses that are struggling for their basic rights against a dictatorship that has been supported for decades by the West.
We support the people's right to assemble and their freedom of speech without the threat of repression.
The Sydney Peace Foundation awarded its 鈥済old medal for peace with justice鈥 to WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange on February 2 in recognition of his 鈥渆xceptional courage and initiative in pursuit of human rights鈥.
This award is different from the foundation鈥檚 annual Sydney Peace Prize. The foundation has awarded the gold medal on only three previous occasions: the Dalai Lama in 1998; Nelson Mandela in 2000 and Japanese lay Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda in 2009.
Seventy-three people who took part in a non-violent direct action protest during December鈥檚 Climate Camp appeared in Muswellbrook local court on January 31 to answer to charges under the Rail Safety Offences Act.
Hundreds of climate protesters gathered at Climate Camp for five days of talks, debates and discussions on the best ways for the community to stop the proposed expansion of Bayswater coal-fired power station. The station is already one of Australia鈥檚 largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
Regardless of the outcomes of the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions, and regardless of whether protests for democracy in Yemen, Jordan and other Arab countries grow into similar uprisings, the Middle East has fundamentally changed.
The federal senate has agreed to an inquiry into the practice of forcible adoption in Australia between the 1940s and 鈥80s, supporting a motion by Greens Senator Rachel Siewert on November 15.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 vote starts to recognise the suffering that so many people have endured as a result of forced adoption policies,鈥 Siewert said. 鈥淭here is no doubt that many women were treated very badly as a result of these policies. Young and vulnerable mothers were pressured into adoptions, and often had to surrender their newborn children without being allowed to see them.
The statement below was released by the on February 4.
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Solidarity and support is needed to help with the impact of the devastating floods that swept through Queensland and other states in January, and Cyclone Yasi that hit northern Queensland in early February.
The cost of loss of life and personal trauma is incalculable, and the resources needed to rebuild will be huge.
Cuban Revolution leader Fidel Castro said on February 1 that not even the support of the United States will be able to save the Egyptian government. Likewise, he pointed out that for the first time the world is simultaneously facing three problems: climate crises, food crises and political crises.
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Reflections by Fidel Castro: Mubarak's fate is sealed
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak鈥檚 fate is sealed, not even the support of the United States will be able to save his government.
About 300 members of the Egyptian community in Sydney and their supporters held a rally in Hyde Park North on January 30.聽
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