Australian Peace Committee (SA) Inc.

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SA Newsletter September/October 2003

Next Meeting

Next Meeting: Wednesday 22nd October at 6.30pm
N.B. This is the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
All financial members are encouraged to attend.
Note change of time: 6.30pm - and place: The Otherway  Centre, 185 Pirie Street, Adelaide (just east of Pulteney Street) Note also the the AGM will be followed by a General Meeting at 8pm. All interested members and friends are invited to attend this meeting at 8pm.
Join us for tea / coffee at 7.30pm. Guest speaker at the General Meeting will be Dr Jim Green B.Med.Sci.(Hons.) PhD. Jim was APC's delegate to the International Conference Against A & H Bombs, held in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August. He will report to us about the conference and will also talk about the role we should / can play in the effort to eliminate nuclear weapons from the world - and Australia's part in the nuclear weapons cycle through our production and sale of uranium. He will also talk about Maralinga and nuclear reactor/waste issues. He will suggest how best we can organise ... what role for existing groups and individuals. He will explain the dump licensing process by the 'independent' regulator ARPANSA, and how best to extend union and other opposition to the dump. What role is there for non-violent direct action /blockading? How can we stop the unnecessary, unsafe and unwanted nuclear waste dump!

 

Land Warfare Conference

Land Warfare Conference 2003 Projected Forces /Protected Forces will be held by DSTO and the Army, on 28th~30th October at the Adelaide Convention Centre. Several arms manufacturers will display their wares. * A protest rally will be held on Monday 27th October outside the Convention Centre from 4pm~6.30pm to coincide with registration time for conf. attendees. The protest will continue during day ~ Tuesday 28th ~ first day of the conference proper.

Death penalty is a return to brutality


Michael Kirby, The Australian, October 07, 2003

Of many things in the High Court of Australia and the law we can be proud. Such was the history of violence, war, genocide and revolution in the 20th century that there are few countries that can celebrate 100 years under the same Constitution, upheld by the same final court.
For the most part, judges are required to apply the law made by others. They are not, as such, morally responsible for the content of the law. If they cannot uphold the law, their duty is to resign and seek greener pastures.
For most of the century of the High Court, it presided over the criminal law of Australia under which, for certain capital crimes (mostly murder) the punishment involved the infliction of state-sanctioned termination of the prisoner's life. Between the foundation of the commonwealth in 1901 and the hanging of Ronald Ryan, the last person executed in Australia on February 3, 1967, 114 prisoners were executed. During this time, the last hope of these prisoners was the intervention of the High Court.
Of course, the death penalty no longer operates in any jurisdiction of Australia. Australia is a party to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This effectively endorses opposition to capital punishment as contrary to human rights and human dignity. It represents an obstacle to any attempt on the part of a state or territory of Australia to restore capital punishment. The federal Government and Opposition have each expressed opposition to the return of capital punishment in Australia.
A development in Indonesia has given debates concerning the death penalty a heightened relevance for Australia. The imposition of the death penalty on Amrozi bin Nurhasyim and Imam Samudra (Abdul Aziz) for their parts in the Bali bombings on October 12 last year has reinvigorated the debate about capital punishment in Australia. The debate cannot be ignored. Abolition cannot be taken for granted.
In a poll conducted in August, 56 per cent of respondents answered affirmatively the question: "Would you personally be in favour or against the introduction of the death penalty in Australia for those found guilty of committing major acts of terrorism?" As reported, the Prime Minister has expressed a somewhat ambivalent view about the death penalty. He suggested that its introduction could only be "pursued at a state political level". As all states presently have governments formed by the ALP, which is institutionally opposed to the death penalty, there would seem to be no immediate possibility of legislation.
Some commentators have suggested that the ambivalence of the Australian Government in relation to the imposition of the death penalty upon the convicted Bali bombers is imprudent. The prisoners, if executed, may be rendered martyrs for a cause that could proliferate. By failing to lift our voices in their case, we may disable ourselves from making representations in other cases where our national interests are not involved. This is yet another instance of the importance that the High Court taught in 1951, in one of the most important decisions of its first century.
In the Communist Party Case, the court insisted that it was essential to adhere to basic principles in respect of people who are unloved and seen as a threat. That is when our adherence to fundamental human rights is tested. It is not tested in dealing with people like ourselves with whom we can identify. It is tested when we deal with strangers who are hated and feared. It will be tested, in the years ahead, as we enact and apply laws to deal with the problem of terrorism.
If we ask why most lawyers in Australia, including most judges, are opposed to the death penalty, the answers, in the end, come down to three.
First, they know, better than anyone else, the fallibility and imperfections of any system of justice - even the highly refined system over which the High Court of Australia presides. It is not much comfort having inquiries years after an execution that finds a miscarriage of justice and apologises to the family. Some of the cases in capital crimes that came before the High Court demonstrate that it can be a close-run thing as to whether the court intervenes.
Second, lawyers are also familiar with the statistical evidence that demonstrated that the presence or absence of the death penalty has insignificant consequences on the rate of homicide. Looking at the intervals when, in several states, the death penalty was carried out and then when it was commuted, it is clear that execution had no effective deterrent effect in the long term. Unreasoned violent conduct does not typically act in such rational ways. That leaves only vengeance to support the punishment of death. It denies the postulate of redemption and reform that lie at the heart of the world's great religions and philosophies.
Third, the death penalty brutalises the state that carries it out. Public servants must prepare the messy business of termination of a human life. They must act with the greatest premeditation. They must clean up the mess when it is accomplished. Many lawyers object to being part of this process - the sole profession that would be involved in deliberate, planned homicide. Like much else, it is a leftover from an earlier and more barbaric time.
We have set ourselves upon a path to a higher form of civilisation. It is one committed to fundamental human rights. Such rights inhere in the dignity of each human being. When we deny them we diminish ourselves. We become part of the violent world.
Lawyers and judges stand for the rational alternative to a world of terror and violence. They will not always succeed in their efforts. The law will often fail. But inflicting the death penalty is the ultimate acknowledgment of the failure of civilisation. That is why most lawyers oppose it.
This is an edited extract from Michael Kirby's address in Melbourne to mark the Centenary of the High Court of Australia yesterday.

The war on al-Jazeera

The Guardian - Oct 4, 2003 


The US is determined to suppress the independent Arab media.
Dima Tareq Tahboub - When my husband decided to go to Baghdad, he knew that I would protest. He told me that I was exaggerating the risks; that there was nothing to be afraid of because he was a reporter, an objective witness, neither on this nor that side, and because of that was protected by world protocol. He bid us farewell, apologising for having been so busy. He promised to make it up to me and our daughter, Fatimah, when he returned. Tareq left for al-Jazeera's Baghdad office on April 5. He called me when he arrived - the journey was hellish, he said. He sounded exhausted, because he was sleeping only three hours a day, between shifts. Back home in Jordan, our life wasn't any better; we could hardly sleep and sat mesmerised in front of the TV waiting for Tareq to appear in a live report so we'd know he was OK.
On the early morning of April 8, I was still awake at 6am and saw his last live report, in which he described the situation in Baghdad as being very calm and quiet. I was relieved and went to sleep, only to wake up one hour later to the sound of my mother crying and yelling. At first, I didn't know what had happened. I brought a chair and sat trembling in front of the TV. The house was suddenly full of people. I couldn't see or hear anyone. I was waiting for the film to end. I was waiting for the hero to appear and end all evil. I was waiting for the story of my life to end with "and they lived happily ever after". I couldn't cry, I was just listening to the news, seeing again and again all through the day how the Americans bombed the al-Jazeera office and killed my husband.
I teach English translation. Once, when I was lecturing on the translation of political terminology, with reference to the UN charter and the declaration of human rights, one of the students said: "How can the US say that this war has a noble cause and a humane agenda? All the dictionary definitions of war involve bloodshed and overwhelming destruction." Another student joined in: "Don't tell us about charters and so-called noble missions, what we see is what we believe." The whole class cheered; I had nothing to say.
I used to tell my students that the American dream is best described as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Now I am convinced my students were right and I wrong. I learned the hard way when the Americans ruined my life, confiscated my liberty and ended my happiness. The US bombed al-Jazeera because it was angered by reports that did not confirm its one-sided picture of the war.
For the past five years, al-Jazeera and other Arab stations have been gaining credibility and fame not only in the Arab countries but also in the west, competing with international networks such as the BBC and CNN. Al-Jazeera in particular became very popular during the American war on Afghanistan. The channel aired voice recordings of al-Qaida and Taliban leaders as well as the speeches of President Bush and allied leaders. This decision to broadcast both sides was in keeping with its motto - "The opinion and the counter-opinion" - but the Americans could not allow such freedom of expression to prevail.
The US sent its first warning to al-Jazeera in November 2001, bombing its Kabul office, destroying its equipment and forcing its journalists to flee. An al-Jazeera cameraman was sent to Guantanamo Bay as a war prisoner. In Baghdad during the war, the coverage of al-Jazeera again focused mainly on the daily suffering and loss of ordinary people; and again the Americans wanted their crimes and atrocities to pass unnoticed. The two bombs they dropped on al-Jazeera's Baghdad office were the ones that killed my husband. Then the Americans opened fire on Abu Dhabi television, whose identity was spelled out in large blue letters on the roof. The next target was the Palestine hotel, the headquarters of world media representatives - an American tank fired a shell and two more journalists were killed.
Thus the US tried to conceal evidence of its crimes from the world and kill the witnesses. The US didn't take responsibility for the attacks, claiming that all three were mistakes and insisting that it did not know the whereabouts of journalists, apart from those "embedded" with its troops. Later, al-Jazeera's director confirmed that it had given the precise location of the station's Baghdad office to the Pentagon three months before the war. My husband and the others were killed in broad daylight, in locations known to the Pentagon as media sites.
The US was not content with the message it sent to al-Jazeera signed with the blood of my husband; it accused al-Jazeera and other Arab channels of anti-American bias in their coverage of the war. But how biased can a picture of dead people be? A picture of a destroyed house doesn't need a reporter to tell its story, and the tears of children and refugees need no interpreter.
Tell me, please, what should I do when my daughter, just 20 months old, starts calling her late father's name and looking for him all around the house? What should I do when the clock strikes five and I keep waiting for Tareq to open the door with his smiling face but he never comes in? When the only way to have some rest is to cry myself to sleep? When I see my mother-in-law vomiting four times in less than half an hour? When my daughter brings her toys to play with me, as she used to do with her father, and I can't even hold her? When my tears fall on my daughter's face when I give her milk, remembering how her father used to do it? When I feel ruined and desperate, with no hope in life? How should I raise my daughter?
Allow me to answer the last question. I will raise her never to forgive or forget. Never to forget her father and never to forgive those who killed him. Six months have passed since the killing of Tareq, and those responsible for his death are still in control, claiming ethical supervision of the world, and basking in their military achievements.
The attacks on al-Jazeera continue - Iraq's US-appointed governing council has just warned the station that if it continues to "misbehave", its licence in Iraq will be revoked.
Meanwhile, an al-Jazeera correspondent, Tayssir Alouni - the only television journalist who had a live link from Taliban Kabul, and a survivor of both the Kabul and Baghdad bombings - has been accused of helping al-Qaida and the Taliban. When he went to Spain to obtain his PhD, he was arrested by the Spanish authorities, widely believed to have been at the behest of the Americans. He is now in a high-security prison awaiting trial, despite there being no concrete evidence against him.
As for me, six months have passed since my husband's death and I can't find anyone to help me to launch legal action against those who killed him. When I thought I had found an outlet under Belgian law, US threats and ultimatums got the law repealed and put an end to my hopes of gaining justice.
When the Muslim Association of Britain invited me to speak at last weekend's anti-war march in London, I hesitated because of the despair I have been in. But when I saw all these people marching against the war, condemning those responsible for it, my hope and belief in the solidarity of humankind, in humanity, justice and truth was rekindled.
My life and happiness came to an end on April 8, but I still have one last dream; that my Fatimah will have a better future full of love and security, that her heart and mind as well as mine will be relieved when those who committed the cold-blooded murder of her father and my husband are brought to justice.
-- Dima Tareq Tahboub is a lecturer at the Arab Open University in Amman and the widow of Tareq Ayyoub, a correspondent for al-Jazeera dima@mabonline.net

Protesters fear nuclear arms in space


Robin McKie, science editor. October 5, 2003
The Observer -- Scientists are preparing plans to build nuclear rockets to explore the solar system. Space engineers say the plan is essential if mankind is to send large, complex spaceships to neighbouring planets and to search for life. But campaigners say the project is a backdoor bid to put nuclear weapons in orbit and yesterday began a week-long protest - including demonstrations at Cape Canaveral.
'This technology is completely unnecessary and could have a devastating global impact if there was a launch accident,' said campaigner Bruce Gagnon, of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space. But scientists insist the technology is safe. Nuclear engines would merely provide electricity for a new rocket propulsion system called the ion drive, which shoots out streams of gas particles and can run continuously for years, letting probes build up colossal velocities of more than 10 miles a second - about 36,000mph. America has tested one and Europe launched one on its Smart-1 probe to the Moon last week. But these ion engines were driven by electricity generated by solar panels. In deep space, beyond Mars, sunlight is too weak to provide enough power. Hence Nasa's decision earlier this year, as part of its Prometheus Project, to build a spaceborne nuclear reactor. 'Fitted to ion drives, these will take us to distant planets with a speed and flexibility that is utterly impossible at present,' said Alan Newhouse, the project's director.
Scientists also point out that probes to the outer planets already use nuclear batteries. 'These are made of capsules of plutonium wrapped in lead,' said Cambridge astronomer Paul Murdin. 'The plutonium's radioactivity warms the lead and that heat is converted into electricity.' Such nuclear batteries are small beer compared to America's new plans, but they were enough to trigger a row in 1997, when it was discovered they were to be used on the European-American Cassini space probe to Saturn. As a result, the European Space Agency was forced to abandon future projects involving nuclear space technology, and therefore cannot be involved in further missions to the outer planets. Yet one of these worlds - Europa, the icy moon of Jupiter - is the main reason Nasa is developing its nuclear reactor. Space probes have revealed Europa to be a ball of ice with a liquid ocean inside. 'On Earth, where there is water there is life,' said Dr Murdin. 'That makes Europa very special.'
Nasa wants to orbit Europa, scanning its oceans with radar scanners and high-resolution cameras for signs of life. However, the Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter (Jimo) would need much more power and time than current techniques can provide. Only advanced nuclear reactors could provide the hundreds of kilowatts of power the craft would need, said Newhouse. 'We are talking about a reactor the size of a waste-paper basket. With that, we could move in and out of orbit round Europa and visit other Jupiter moons that may also have oceans and send back reams of data.' And it is not just Europa that intrigues researchers. Nasa is also considering using nuclear power plants to power bases on the Moon and Mars. In addition, Nasa is planning to launch a probe to visit Pluto, the Sun's most distant planet. As currently planned, the New Horizons mission - using old technology - would be launched in 2006 and take a further decade to fly past Pluto and its moon, Charon.
'That is far too long,' said Dr Colin Pillinger, head of Britain's Beagle 2 probe, currently hurtling towards Mars. ' Probes will reach their destinations with out-of-date hardware and project scientists on pensions.'
But such worries leave protesters cold. They believe Prometheus poses three major dangers. 'First, it will involve firing plutonium on launchers, and rockets blow up,' said Gagnon. 'Second, you will have to gear up production of plutonium on Earth to supply those rockets and that will inevitably lead to contamination of communities near plants. Third, the technologies that Nasa develops will inevitably be used by the military. So its new generation of orbiting reactors will end up in the hands of Star Wars technicians who will use them to power space-based laser systems that can give America even greater world dominion.'
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NB: 4 -11 October ~ Week of International Actions Against the Militarisation and Weaponisation of Space.

 

Australian Red Cross Exhibitions

Australian Red Cross are hosting exhibitions in October to highlight issues involving armed conflict, water, children and refugees. All welcome.
Tues. 21 Oct: Library Foyer, Flinders University
Wed. 22 Oct: Cafeteria, Magill Campus University of SA
Thurs. 23 Oct: Barr Smith Library, Adelaide University
Seminar - Thurs. 23 Oct: 5.30pm - Carclew Youth Arts Centre, 11 Jeffcott Street, North Adelaide

 

Pig taboo foils Israeli landmine discovery


By Inigo Gilmore, Jerusalem, The Age, Oct 6, 2003
A breakthrough in mine-detection, pioneered by a former military dog trainer, is generating interest around the world but has created a dilemma within the trainer's native Israel. Geva Zin, a de-mining specialist who lives on a kibbutz in the Negev Desert, has discovered that specially trained pigs excel at sniffing out mines, explosives and gunpowder, and are more efficient than the dogs traditionally used for such work. To his dismay, however, Mr Zin's discovery is unlikely to be adopted by the Israeli army without a special rabbinical ruling to set aside the strict religious taboo on pigs, seen as unclean. There is a general prohibition against raising pigs for consumption in Israel, and other religious rulings restricting the use of pigs and their meat. Even the image of a pig is widely considered taboo. With the exception of Russian immigrants, who are permitted to eat the animal, most Israelis rarely encounter a pig in any form.
Mr Zin, 26, a secular Jew without any aversion to the animal, said: "This is an important discovery but the problem I am facing here is not just religious but also cultural - because, in most of Israel, pigs are completely out of the picture. "Israelis know that cows moo and that dogs bark but most do not even know the noise pigs make," he added. "They have a bad image in Israel but I want to show they can be used for good things." As a member of the Israeli army's bomb squad, Mr Zin previously trained sniffer dogs. He was working in Croatia when a chance encounter with wild boars alerted him to their potential. "I watched their behaviour and concluded that they could be better than dogs in finding mines and explosives," he said. On his return to Israel, he approached the Institute for Animal Studies, in Kibbutz Lahav, and suggested that he experiment with training what he calls "mini pigs", which resemble small wild boars, to find mines. After nine months of research he concluded that his hunch was right. The pigs could be trained to discover dummy mines, buried deep underground, quickly and efficiently, and only touched the devices - which, if genuine, would have instantly turned them into chops - three times during the nine months. When one of his pigs detects a mine the animal sits down next to it, waves its snout in the air and waits for food, which he gives as a reward. Mr Zin found that the pigs, particularly females, were much less excitable and therefore more reliable than dogs. He is approaching the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund and international de-mining bodies to seek support to develop the project, and plans operations in such countries as Croatia, Angola and Mozambique. Israeli religious authorities said last week that they had not encountered such a case before. How-ever, religious law may permit the normal prohibitions to be suspended to allow for "good deeds", especially in matters of life and death. The Israeli army is ambivalent on the subject. One official said: "This is an interesting development which we can look into but we do not envisage that pigs will be draft-ed into the Israeli army any time soon." Mr Zin no longer eats pork. "After working with these pigs I will never touch it again. They are the most sensitive creatures. Mines are silent killers and these little pigs could help to save many lives." -

 

Anniversary of SA Atomic Tests

15th October 2003 is the 50th anniversary of the detonation of 'TOTEM ONE', the first on-shore of the series of British Atomic Bomb Tests. 'TOTEM 1' was detonated at 'Emu Junction'

 

Please write to Prime Minister John Howard expressing your opposition to the planned national nuclear waste dump. The SA state government recently put a full-page ad in The Advertiser asking people to write to the PM ... so let's make sure he gets a barrage of letters. The PM's address is Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, 2600. Best to write and post, but you can also email via this website: www.pm.gov.au/email.cfm For some info on the dump, see articles and web-links at www.geocities.com/jimgreen3

 

ARPANSA

ARPANSA has received applications from the federal government to prepare a site for the dump, and to build and operate the dump. Please write a submission opposing the planned national nuclear waste dump to the federal nuclear regulator ARPANSA. Just a brief submission will be fine. The ARPANSA website is: www.arpansa.gov.au/reposit/nrwr.htm
Post submissions to: The Project Management Officer - NRWR, ARPANSA, PO Box 655, Miranda, NSW, 1490.
Individual submissions are best, but you can also print and post the proforma submission posted at the Friends of the Earth website www.foe.org.au

 The FoE website also has briefing notes to help you write your own submission.

 

The Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta 

The Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta (senior Aboriginal women from northern SA) now have a support group based in Adelaide. All women are welcome. For more info, and/or to subscribe to the Adelaide Kungkas email list, email adelaidekungkas@yahoo.com You might also want to subscribe to the low-volume email list of the Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, by sending an email to kungkatjuta@iratiwanti.org
And Martin Frank's excellent 'No Nukes News' (1-2 electronic newsletters each month) is a great way to stay in touch with nuclear issues: send an email with 'Subscribe' as the subject to Martin at dreamwoken@ace.net.au

 

Jabiluka National Day of Celebrations

Friday 31 October 2003
There will be an event in Adelaide to celebrate the rehabilitation of the Jabiluka mine site, and mining company Rio Tinto's agreement to give the Mirrar a right of veto over any future development. More details at: www.environment.org.au/issues/Jabiluka.html If you're interested in helping to organise this event, contact Jim Green, phone 8227 1399, jim.green@foe.org.au .

 

Reading skills

In his memoirs, "A World Transformed," written five years ago, George Bush, Senior, wrote the following to explain why he didn't go after Saddam Hussein at the end of the Gulf War.
"Trying to eliminate Saddam . . . would have incurred incalculable human and political costs. Apprehending him was probably impossible . . . . We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq . . . . There was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land."
If only his son could read.

 

Israel's attack is a lethal step towards war in Middle East 

Robert Fisk in Beirut 6.10.03 (The Independent) Israel received the Green Light. It came from what is called the Syria Accoun-tability Act, moving through the US Congress with the help of Israel's supporters, that will impose sanctions on Damascus for its supposed enthusiasm for "terrorism" and occupation of Lebanon. Speaker after speaker in the past week has been warning that Syria is the new - or old, or non-existent - threat previously represented by Iraq: that it has weapons of mass destruction, that it has biological warheads, that it received Iraq's non-existent weapons of mass destruction just before we began our illegal invasion of Iraq in March. The Israeli lie about "thousands" of Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon has been uncloaked yet again. In reality, there hasn't been an Iranian militant in Lebanon for 20 years. But who cares? The dictatorial Syrian regime - and dictatorial it most decidedly is - has to be struck after a Jenin woman lawyer, who has probably never visited Damascus in her life, blows herself and 19 innocent Israelis up in Haifa. And why not? If America can strike Afghanistan for the international crimes against humanity of 11 Sept 2001, when 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, and if America can invade Iraq, which had absolutely nothing to do with 11 Sept, why shouldn't Israel strike Syria? Yes, Syria does support Hamas and Islamic Jihad. But in Iraq is based the Mujahideen Khalq, which bombs Iran, and the Americans have not bombed them. In Jerusalem exists a government that openly threatens the life of Yasser Arafat but no one suggests action should be taken against the Israeli administration. In Jerusalem lives a prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who was adjudicated to be "personally responsible" by Israel's own Kahane commission of enquiry for the massacre of up to 1,700 Palestinian civilians at the Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in Beirut in 1982. But he is not going on trial for war crimes. Of course, Syria is going to take the air strikes on the 'training base" of Islamic Jihad to the UN. Much good will it do Damascus. When the US cannot bring itself to support a resolution condemning Israel's threat to murder Arafat, when it will not stop the Israelis building 600 more houses - for Jews and Jews only - on Palestinian land, air raids on Syria simply don't matter. Perhaps Lebanon will benefit. Perhaps Lebanon can now be spared Israel's retaliation for Palestinian violence - unless, of course, Israel decides to strike a Palestinian "training base" in Lebanon. No one asks what these "training bases" are. Do Palestinian suicide bombers really need to practice suicide bombing? Does turning a switch need that much training? Surely the death of a brother or a cousin by the Israeli army is all the practice that is needed. But no. Yesterday, we took another little lethal step along the road to Middle East war, establishing facts on the ground, proving that it's permissible to bomb the territory of Syria in the "war against terror", which President Bush has himself declared now includes Gaza. And the precedents are there if we need them. Back in 1983, when President Reagan thought he was fighting a "war on terror" in the Middle East, he ordered his air force to bomb the Syrian army in the Lebanese Bekaa Valley, losing a pilot and allowing the Syrians to capture his co-pilot, who was only returned after a prolonged and politically embarrassing negotiation by Jesse Jackson. In an era when America is ready to threaten the invasion of Syria and Iran - part of that infamous "axis of evil" - this may seem small beer. But Syria itself has seen what has happened to America's army in Iraq, and is emboldened by its humiliation to avenge the attacks of Israel or America, whatever the cost. If America cannot control Iraq, why should Syria fear Israel?

 

Australian shields Arafat compound 

Oct. 6, 2003 - The Age
An Australian woman has joined a group of international peace activists acting as a human shield between the Israeli army and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Alice Springs-born Elaine Westblade is staying with 11 other activists at the Palestinian presidential compound in Ramallah, in a bid to stop any Israeli attack on the leader. The Israeli security cabinet has approved in principle Mr Arafat's removal. Ms Westblade, a 27-year-old social worker who lives in London, said she had been in the compound since Saturday night. She is a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a group of international peace activists opposed to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "The reason why we are here is there is a potential threat of an Israeli army siege on the presidential compound, similar to the one that happened last year," Ms Westblade told AAP by phone from the compound. "Certainly the worry is that something like that will occur again." Ms Westblade was concerned the Israeli army would attack the compound when an important Jewish festival finished tonight. "The worry is that when the festival ends ... the Israeli army (will) come in with their tanks and lay siege onto the presidential compound. "That really is the worry here and why we have decided to come to the presidential compound. "If that can in some way discourage, that may be rather optimistic, the illegal use of violence by the Israeli Defence Force. "We have nothing to protect ourselves as such. We hope our status and our countries will wrangle on our behalf and strongly convey the fact that were we to be shot at, were we to be bombed, that would be something that our countries on our behalf would strongly discourage to the Israeli army." Ms Westblade described the conditions in the compound as "pleasant" but "surreal". "The whole place has been wrecked," she said. "We are surrounded by rubble. Buildings are falling down, there are live wires, and piles and piles of rubble and squashed cars and metal." Ms Westblade said her presence in the compound did not mean she agreed with the Palestinian political platform. "Rather we believe that the Palestinians have the right to select and chose their president," she said. Earlier this year, 23-year-old American student Rachel Corrie was killed when she was run over by an Israeli military bulldozer in Rafah while working as an ISM activist. - AAP

 

Refugee Week Activities

Saturday 18 October to Sunday 25 October: Refugee Week - look out for events and activities. Co-ordinated by AUSTCARE, and this year will coincide with the launch of the 'Food for Thought' fundraising campaign. More details from the AUSTCARE office, 8362 9006 or at saoffice@austcare.org.au or at their website www.austcare.org.au

Tuesday 21 October: A screening of "Molly and Mobarak" presented by the Australian Democrats and the Media Resource Centre as part of the Refugee Week celebrations. Writer/producer Tom Zubrycki and representatives of SA refugee advocacy organizations will be present at the screening which will be followed by a Q&A session. Proceeds to the refugee Advocacy Service of SA. 7.30pm, Mercury Cinema, 13 Morphett Street, Adelaide. $11/$9, tickets from the Box Office or phone 8410 0979.

Friday 24 October: Food and Fun time at the Australian Refugee Association (ARA), as part of celebrations for Austcare Refugee Week. Ethnic foods, BBQ, Cha'i tea, traditional live music and hands on fun. Bring a small living plant for the peace garden and clothing buttons for mosaic artwork. RSVP to ARA reception, 8354 2951, by Oct 20.

Friday 17 October All day Central Market International Rhythms & Songs; all welcome Enayat Sabat, 0413 000 074

Friday 17 to Thursday 30 October Opening times to be confirmed Flinders University Library "Expression of the New Generation" An Arts Exhibition, open to all Kathy Mrotek, 8226 4956

Saturday 18 October Noon Adelaide Festival Centre Refugee Week Cultural Festival Food / Arts / Crafts etc. All welcome Cynthia - MRC, 8223 3604

Saturday 18 October Noon Adelaide Festival Centre Foyer Launch of the Young Refugees Photographic Art Exhibition Patricia - MRC, 8223 3604

Sunday 19 October 2pm to 4pm Adelaide Festival Centre, Piano Bar Refugees' Voice - musicians from all parts of the world participating Chris Cargo, 8216 8889

Monday 20 October 7.30pm Bethlehem House, Sudholz Place, Adelaide Seminar on the psychological effects of landmines All welcome Gerald Hinton, 8337 2250

Tuesday 21 October to Thursday 30 October Local Cafes Migrant Health Service, Awakening Art Exhibition Chris Fitzharris, 8327 3939

Tuesday 21 October 11am to 1pm Morella Community House MRC Vietnamese Women's Friendship Group, Lunch Truyen Phung, 8250 1582

Wednesday 22 October 7pm St Francis Cathedral Hall, Adelaide Multifaith Association's evening to meet and greet refugees (Free) Sr Mary Matthew, 0410 316 155

Thursday 23 October 10am to 2pm Bonython Park, Adelaide Wesley Uniting Mission, Refugees Community Day, Complimentary Lunch Gian Le-Huy, 8245 7135

Friday 24 October 6pm to 9pm Kilburn Community Centre Together in Diversity - Welcome for recently arrived refugees. Food and Music. Gina Hardy, 8349 8363

Saturday 25 October 12pm to 4pm Murray Bridge A Gathering - Picnic BBQ by Lutheran Community Care Elizabeth Edser, 8269 9310

Sunday 26 October 9am to 5pm 27B Park Terrace, Bowden Soccer Carnival and Family Picnic (Community day in which everyone can participate) Patricia Rios, 8223 3604

 

 

 

 

 

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A Peace of the Action

Radio program A Peace of the Action is dedicated to commentary on peace and social justice issues. 
Radio Adelaide 101.5FM every Sunday at 12.30.

Ron Gray Human Rights Foundation

Click here for more information about the RGHRF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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