Global Peace And Justice Auckland Newsletter #47, September 30, 2003

Website http://www.gpja.pl.net/ Contact details: Forums - John Minto, (09) 846 3173, jbminto@xtra.co.nz; Newsletter Editor - Mike Treen 0212547440 / 3616989 miket@pl.net Web page - Geraldine Peters (09) 3765994 bern@ihug.co.nz Donations can be sent to GPJA, Private Bag 68905, Newton, Auckland. All communication regarding the GPJA mailing list (email or snail) should be addressed to gpja@xtra.co.nz

Dear friends,

We have a double treat next week. This Monday, October 6, 7.30pm, is the regular GPJA forum (first Monday of the month if you haven¹t discovered this yet). Speaking will be Jane Kelsey just back from the WTO protests at Cancun as well as a report and slide show on the Apartheid Wall in Palestine by South African activist Anne Weekes. Not one to be missed. Held at Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn.

On Wednesday, October 8 at 7.30pm, GPJA is hosting a special forum with Dr Sharon Beder, of the Science, Technology and Society Program at the University of Wollongong, who will be speaking about her new book 'Power Play: the hidden costs of deregulating and privatising power' (Scribe Publications). Her previous books include 'The Nature of Sustainable Development', 'Global Spin: the corporate assault on environmentalism', and 'Selling the Work Ethic'. In 'Power Play', she argues persuasively that the track record of electricity privatisation and deregulation around the world indicates that it is a confidence trick, undertaken to swindle the public out of rightful control over an essential public service - a trick conceived and perpetrated by vested interests who seek to gain from private control. (Review extracts below)

SPECIAL ALERT FROM PMA ­ SUBMISSION DEADLINE OCTOBER 3 Act now! Foreshore and seabed submissions - a summary of points for people to include in their submissions on the 'Foreshore and seabed: protecting public access and customary rights' proposals. If you have not already made a submission, please act on it now - it need not take more than a few minutes of your time, and it is extremely important that Pakeha opposition to the proposals is recorded so the government cannot say that all non-Maori support their confiscation plan. The deadline for submissions is this coming Friday, 3 October 2003. Your submission can be as short or lengthy as you wish; and you do not need to follow the government's question format. A letter of two or three sentences would be sufficient to register your views ... information available at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/inactfs.htm

JOHN PILGER IS ON TV1 THIS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 9.30PM Following a packed preview at the National Film Theatre in London, John Pilger's latest documentary, 'Breaking the Silence: Truth and lies in the war on terror.' was broadcast on the ITV Network on 22nd September. Pilger and his team filmed in Afghanistan and the United States and acquired previously unseen material from Iraq. The film investigates George W Bush's "war on terror". In "liberated" Afghanistan, America has its military base and pipeline access, while the people have the warlords who are, says one women, "in many ways worse than the Taliban". In Washington, a series of remarkable interviews includes senior Bush officials and former intelligence officers. In the week that the Hutton inquiry into the death of the British scientist Dr David Kelly releases its report, a former senior CIA official tells Pilger that the whole issue of weapons of mass destruction was "95 per cent charade". If you would like a copy of the booklet that accompanies Breaking the Silence at a cost of ?1.50 (inc. post and packing), or you want simply to offer a comment on the programme, email: breakingthesilence@carltontv.co.uk Pilger film reveals Colin Powell said Iraq no threat http://pilger.carlton.com/print/133099 In a major article in The Guardian magazine, John Pilger describes Afghanistan since its liberation from the Taliban, which he filmed for his latest documentary, 'Breaking the Silence'. Apart from notional freedoms, little has changed. http://pilger.carlton.com/print/133100 In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger writes about censorship by omission in Australia, "a microcosm of what the British might expect if the current assault on free journalism is not challenged". http://pilger.carlton.com/print/133118

OCTOBER 3-4: MEDIA PERSONALITIES BOOKED FOR PIMA CONFERENCE Agence France-Presse correspondent Michael Field - the most banned journalist in the Pacific - will talk about life as a news agency reporter in the region at this year's Pacific Islands Media Association Aotearoa (PIMA) conference in New Zealand next week. Field and many other media personalities will speak or run workshops at PIMA's third annual conference, hosted by Auckland University of Technology (AUT) on October 3-4. Among guest speakers are New Zealand Herald columnist Tapu Misa; Samoan lawyer Olinda Woodroffe; Tahitian campaigner Maire Bopp-Dupont from the Pacific Island Aids Foundation (PIAF) in the Cook Islands, who is a graduate from the University of the South Pacific journalism programme; Frank Koloi from Ethnic Communications; broadcaster Sefita Haouli from Radio 531pi; Shailendra Singh from USP in Fiji; former Fiji Daily Post editor Jale Moala; Elma Ma'ua from Radio NZ International; Lisa Taouma from Tagata Pasifika at TVNZ; Samoan film-makers Makerita Urale and Popo Lilo; NZ Journalist Training Organisation's chief executive Bill Southworth; Patrick van Rinsvelt, group internet manager from APN Holdings Ltd; Sue Woodfield, head of commissioning at Canadian-owned TV3; and Tony Holden, head of commissioning at state-owned TVNZ.

Two major publications will be launched at the conference on Friday, October 3. Pacific Journalism Review will be launched by former Fiji Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tupeni Baba and Listener editor Finlay Macdonald. Published in New Zealand for the first time this week by AUT, PJR features a series of articles about Iraq and the media war, Maori media constructing a Maori identity, and international coverage in the Pacific. PJR editor David Robie and AUT School of Communication Studies scholarship students are also doing a workshop on media education and careers. The Niue Star newspaper's New Zealand edition will also launched by Niuean MP and former publisher/broadcaster, Naea Michael Jackson, at an island buffet dinner. Other key events include the PIMA media awards dinner on Saturday, October 4, and the announcement of the winners of the 2004 AUT/PIMA scholarships. Tapu Misa will be the keynote speaker for the awards. MCs for the evening are JaeD Victor from Niu FM and award winning Samoan radio broadcaster and newsreader, Niva Retimanu.

PIMA is supported by AUT, TVNZ's Satellite Services, NZJTO and the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. Conference and registration details are on PIMA's website: http://www.pima.org.nz

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2-3PM, AOTEA SQUARE Help commemorate the 17th anniversary of the kidnapping and jailing of Israeli scientist Mordechai Vanunu. Organised by the Palestine Human Rights Campaign.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6, 7.30PM, GPJA FORUM, TRADES HALL 147 GREAT NORTH RD, GREY LYNN

With Jane Kelsey back from Cancun and Anne Weeks from South Africa on the Apartheid wall in Palestine.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6: PUBLIC MEETING ON GE WITH GREEN PARTY MPS JEANETTE FITZSIMONS & SUE KEDGLEY. The GE DEBATE - WHERE TO FROM HERE? THE FIGHT AGAINST GE IS NOT OVER WHEN: Monday 6th October 7:00pm WHERE: Freeman's Bay Community Hall (52 Hepburn Street, Freeman's Bay, Auckland) You are invited to attend this meeting, which will cover the latest GE-free strategies. The MPs will discuss: What you can do to oppose the moratorium expiring and GE releases into the environment, including: ·joining protests around the country like the 11 Oct GE-free marches in Auckland and Wellington, and ·lobbying your local MP.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 7.30PM, SPECIAL GPJA FORUM, TRADES HALL, 147 GREAT NORTH RD With special guest Dr Sharon beder

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11: REMEMBER THE BIG MARCH TO KEEP NZ GE FREE http://www.bigmarch.net Open letter for extension of moratorium http://www.psrg.org.nz/op_letter.htm

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15: RATES BOYCOT PUBLIC MEETING - OTAHUHU Called by rates boycott committee. To organise the mass boycott of this year's ARC rate rise. 7.30pm on Wednesday, 15th October Otahuhu Town Hall, 10 High St, Otahuhu. All welcome. Bring your friends. Get organised. Rates boycott leaflets can be obtained by contacting:Grant Morgan, rates boycott committee gcm@actrix.gen.nz 634 3377 (days & evenings)

NOVEMBER 22/23: SOCIAL FORUM AOTEAROA, TE WANANGA O AOTEAROA PORIRUA. Includes 14 organisations and presenters from New Zealand, Solomon Islands and Australia on topics including human rights, the global economy,peace and justice, participatory democracy, the environment, the union movement, local economic development, welfare, and more. There will be entertainment, videos and movies. Topics will indeed extend from the very local to the global picture. We are happy to receive proposals for other presentations and in addition there will space and time set aside for those who show up at the forum with their own idea for a workshop. You can register on line at our web site www.socialforum.org.nz

<../../Documents%20and%20Settings/Administrator.RECEPTION/My%20Documents/www .socialforum.org.nz> . When registering please consider making a financial donation to meet the costs of the Forum. We also have a 0800 service thanks to Te Wananga O Aotearoa and you can also register by phoning 0800 808 345. We have established local contacts in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch who will also provide assistance and registration services. These contacts are: Auckland Mike Treen , Global Peace and Justice , 09 361 6989, 021 254 7440 Wellington, Nick Henry, Peace Action Wellington, 04 Christchurch, Nate Cull, Peace Action Network - phone 03 981 5178

MORE ON DR SHARON BEDER "If you've ever suspected that most, if not all, of the deregulation that has been going on in the last few decades is a con job, Sharon Beder's eye-opening 'Power Play' will more than confirm your suspicions. If you have put your faith in mantras like 'deregulation', 'privatization' and 'the marketplace', Beder's account of the campaign to control the world's electricity may open your eyes or, at the very least, make you think twice about the gap between rosy promises and blackout-filled realities." ... "In Beder's considered opinion, the deregulation of the energy market, not only in California but all over the world, has led to the very conditions that regulations were designed to prevent: private power companies manipulating the supply of energy, causing artificial shortages, driving up prices." [extract from the Los Angeles Times review]

"This is a unique and comprehensive account of the crucial struggle for control over power and electricity, ranging from the United States before 1914, the role of the International Monetary Fund in opposing public ownership, to the shocking practices and consequences of Enron in India and privatization in Brazil during the past decade. Sharon Beder writes with verve and elucidates the arcane aspects of this fundamental and very basic dimension of modern industrial society. At the same time, her research is impeccable. For a general and comprehensible account of the struggle for control of electrical power, there is no equal to Beder's Power Play . This is an important and readable book." [Gabriel Kolko, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus at York University, Toronto and author of Vietnam: Anatomy of War and Century of War]

More information about 'Power Play', including the full text of the Los Angeles Times and Sydney Morning Herald reviews, is available at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/pwrplay.htm For interviews contact Aysha Rowe at Addenda Ltd tel (09) 836 7471, or email aysha@addenda.co.nz

NZ SENDS TROOPS TO IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN Prime Minister farewells troops to Iraq http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0309/S00156.htm NZ to lead Afghan Provincial Reconstruction team http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0309/S00482.htm

NZ ANTIWAR Another UN attack: means NO to NZ involvement in Ira qhttp://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0309/S00147.htm Pacific Journalism Review Features Iraq Media War http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0309/S00242.htm FROM THE HORSES MOUTH ­ HELEN CLARK IN PARLIAMENT "Our Government will look for opportunities-and there are many-to work with the United States. No country could have been stronger in its support than what this small country has done on terrorism: members of the SAS putting their lives on the line; frigates in the Gulf of Oman, and Orions there now; a Hercules in kyrgyzstan; a provincial reconstruction team going to a province of Afghanistan; and engineers now going to Iraq. ³These are substantial contributions for a small country, and they are valued by the United Sates. We know that as a result of policies previously advocated by the then member for Auckland Central, this country took a path on the nuclear-free issue that led to the ANZUS alliance being non-operational for us. What I say, without fear of contradiction, is that the fact that we are not operational in ANZUS has not stopped us from doing the right thing to help our friends, and we will keep doing that. ³I say that we do have a friend in Ambassador Zoellick, who has looked to make room for this country at some point to come into a list for negotiation. This Government-this country-has always wished the Australians well in their negotiations, because we believe that they do open up a path for New Zealand. I point out that when Ambassador Zoellick sent the letter to Congress about Australia going on the list, he specifically noted the links between the economies of Australia and New Zealand, and hence the importance that New Zealand paid to those negotiations. We will keep working at that."

Kelsey Challenges Clark To Debate the WTO http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0309/S00144.htm

ANTIWAR Do mention the war http://www.guardian.co.uk/antiwar/story/0,12809,1050810,00.html You lied, they died: US parents tell Bush http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1050949,00.html 30 Years Of U.S. UN Vetoes. How the U.S. has Voted // Vetoed- See any bias - See any pattern ? http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2000.htm Wesley Clark: The New Anti-War Candidate? http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0309/S00267.htm

TRIBUTES TO EDWARD SAID Robert Fisk http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=4266 Omar Barghouti http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=4264 Malise Ruthven http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=1&ItemID=4263 Ali Abunimah http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=4252 Alexander Cockburn http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=4251 http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=22&ItemID=4251

AFGHANISTAN Afghanistan; Living large inside karzai¹s construction bubble http://www.cursor.org/stories/afghaniscam.html Ten Afghanis killed in helicopter attack http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=446743

IRAQ Iraq: the reality and rhetoric - Rory McCarthy reports from al-Jisr, scene of the killing of three farmers at hands of US troops http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1048500,00.html America puts Iraq up for sale http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=445744 Let the serious looting begin http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=15673 The Progress of Disaster, By Christian Parenti, In These Times http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16759 The toxic legacy of the Gulf war http://www.counterpunch.org/goff09242003.html

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION Bunker busters: a whole new nuclear ballgame Weapon will be first conventional warfighting nuke http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/news/details?item_id=317882

RESISTING CORPORATE GLOBALISATION Interviewing Aziz Choudry http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=50&ItemID=4237 Globalisation from the top down http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2003-09/15street.cfm

PALESTINE An introduction to the Israel-Palestine conflict http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/id128.htm

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