The US-led military operation in Libya has morphed from the initial imposition of a 鈥渘o-fly zone鈥 鈥 ostensibly to prevent Muammar Gaddafi鈥檚 regime from carrying out a massacre 鈥 into an ongoing bombing campaign with no end in sight.
And now there鈥檚 increasing talk of the use of ground forces until Gaddafi is overthrown and a new government, no doubt Western-approved, takes his place.
Libya discussion
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Several weeks of conflict between the government of President Evo Morales and Bolivian trade unions has again thrown into sharp relief some of the serious challenges confront Bolivia鈥檚 process of change.
For two weeks in April, the Bolivian Workers Central (COB) called mobilisations across various cities to protest the government鈥檚 proposed 10% pay rise for teachers, health workers, police and soldiers, and 20% rise in the minimum wage.
Europe鈥檚 biggest polluters have made billions out of the European Emissions Trading System (ETS). But a new briefing by Carbon Trade Watch (CTW) says the scheme will ensure industry will not have to cut its emissions until at least 2017.
The ETS sets a cap, or upper limit, on total emissions for 11,000 power stations and industrial plants in 30 European countries. Each company receives permits to pollute, which can be traded with other companies.
Three members of the Sydney-based refugee solidarity group the Cross Borders Collective occupied the rooftop of immigration minister Chris Bowen鈥檚 electoral office in Fairfield on April 29.
Their protest was a stand of support for the refugees who have been protesting inside immigration detention centres across Australia, including the week-long rooftop protest by three detainees in Sydney鈥檚 Villawood detention centre.
Police arrested the activists within a few hours and removed them from the roof.
After running a Google news search on Marrickville+BDS on April 18, I spent a half hour looking at just under 30 articles published over the past seven days on Marrickville council鈥檚 position of support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
I looked at every result published by a major news website (news.com.au, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Age, ABC) and omitted articles that contained duplicate AAP copy.
Aboriginal elders at Muckaty, 120 kilometres north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory, have called for a weekend of protest in Tennant Creek on May 7 and 8 against the federal government鈥檚 plan to build a radioactive waste dump in the area.
Who were the actual criminals that sparked the refugees鈥 revolt in Villawood detention centre in late April?
There is no crime in climbing on top of a building and holding a banner saying 鈥淲e need help鈥, nor asking for a meeting with immigration officials after 15 months in detention, as two Kurdish Iranian refugees did on April 20, sparking protests that lasted for more than a week.
It鈥檚 not a crime to resist injustice 鈥 the refugees who have taken it on themselves to revolt inside Australia鈥檚 mandatory detention system must be defended and supported for their stand.
Last year, Marrickville council in Sydney passed a resolution in support of the non-violent struggle of the Palestinian people for their human rights.
Since then The Australian and other media outlets have gone into a hysterical frenzy, accusing the councillors of being dangerous, naive, anti-Semitic extremists.
Actually they are just ordinary community members; some of who are in the Australian Labor Party, some in the Greens and some who have no political affiliations.
As part of a National Day of Action for refugee rights, about 250 protesters turned out to Melbourne鈥檚 Maribyrnong Detention centre on April 25 to show solidarity with refugees in detention and to oppose the mandatory detention of asylum seekers.
The human rights activists gathered at the detention centre entrance. They were addressed by speakers from the Greens, Students for Palestine and two former detainees including Ali Bakhtiavandi from the Socialist Alliance, who had been held in Maribyrnong for 16 months in 2001 and 2002.
After months of pressure from apologists for apartheid Israel, eight Marrickville councillors, including two Greens councillors, voted on April 19 to rescind the Council鈥檚 to support the global boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
However, an important national discussion about Australia鈥檚 responsibilities to help Palestinians win their rights has begun.
When climate change deniers took to the streets in March against the federal government鈥檚 proposed carbon price, some of this country鈥檚 most notorious shock jocks were leading the way.
Chris Smith, talkback host on Sydney commercial radio show 2GB, was a major promoter of the March 23 rally outside Parliament House in Canberra. The rally was littered with signs featuring misogynist slogans and bizarre rebuttals of the existence of climate change.
Everyone you鈥檇 expect at a conservative reunion was there, from opposition leader Tony Abbott to former One Nation leader Pauline Hanson.
Below is an address to Marrickville Council meeting on BDS by Dr. Peter Slezak, associate professor in history and philosophy at the University of New South Wales, arguing against a motion on April 19 to rescind the council鈥檚 support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.
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Not long ago, moral opposition to the Vietnam War and opposition to our complicity in the crimes in East Timor received the same denunciation we witness now against Marrickville council.
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