Global Peace And Justice Auckland Newsletter #53, February 12, 2004

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,

This weekend we have a great peace festival to check out with music, film and dance. (See below)

2004 FUND APPEAL. Only a handful of donations came in from the January newsletter and the gap between plans and resources is still large. GPJA doesn¹t often appeal for funds through the newsletter but we are making a special appeal to start 2004 so we can build up a fund to meet the challenges and opportunities we face. Please send a donation to GPJA, PRIVATE BAG 68905, NEWTON, AUCKLAND. If you can make a small monthly donation email Brian at vandam@math.auckland.ac.nz and he will send an AP form.

WHAT¹S ON IN AUCKLAND

SATURDAY/SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15-16, GLOBAL PEACE FESTIVAL AOTEAROA - On Saturday, 'Saturday Love' resident (Mr. Peaceful) DJ Manuel Bundy and special guest Andrew Spraggon, aka Sola Rosa, "inspirational vibe whilst surrounded by visual projections by Mars & lotech and graffiti artwork from Disruptiv", John Ellis with live sax and percussion, and more; at the khuja lounge from 9pm to late, and on - Sunday OThe Classic - Indymedia Antidote #6¹ - a special one off screening combining documentaries, comedy, music and VJs, Jeremy Elwood, stalls and featuring two docos investigating America's other "ongoing battle", the war on drugs; film screening starts at 7pm, The Classic Comedy Bar, 321 Queen Street. Part of a worldwide series of events initiated by 'Peace Not War' in Britain to celebrate the anniversary of the global peace protests on 15 February 2003. For more info check out http://www.gpja.pl.net/sub/global or contact Tony Martin tel 021 155 9875 or email theplotlondon@lycos.com

Monday, February 23, 7.30pm, St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby. INDONESIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE VIDEO EVENING showing Mark Worth documentary about West Papua. OLand of the Morning Star¹ which has just been premiered on Australian ABC TV, the documentary, beautifully filmed with powerful script and score, is the definitive political history of West Papua. A sweeping story from first contact with non-Papuan to colonising by the Dutch; the occupation by Japan then America; the betrayal by the world, including Australia; through the New York Agreement and the Act of Free Choice; 40 years of brutal repression by the Indonesian colonisers and the excitement and hope of the days of the Wahid presidency. Told through the eyes of Papuans, it is ultimately a story of betrayal, yet through all the horrors the amazing dignity and gentleness of the people shines through. The film is a lasting memorial to Mark Worth who has recently died at the age of 46. Contact Maire maire@clear.net.nz ph 815 9000

Monday, February 16, 5-45pm to 7pm, in the Staff room, 2nd floor, A block, Auckland College of Education HUMAN RIGHTS NETWORK AUCKLAND meeting. Entrance via Gate 3 at 74 Epsom Avenue, car parks are readily available as staff leave around 5-30pm. For more info, or to add items to the agenda, contact email BeverleyTurner@nznet.gen.nz

Monday,February 23, 7-30pm, Pt Chevalier Community Centre, Huia Street. Tamaki Treaty Workers Meeting, For more info contact Joan Macdonald tel (09) 360 8001 or email joanmac@pl.net

Saturday to Monday, February 21-23 THREE DAY WORKSHOP WITH JOSEFINA BAEZ, renowned theatre artist - this workshop is open to all theatre practitioners with an interest in creating original work; during the workshop Josefina will use the participants to create a twenty minute piece of theatre; students will have a chance to practically engage with her creative process. Baez, an actor, writer and educator, was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to New York when she was 11 years old. She teaches, dance, and writes using cultural aspects of her island for inspiration. In 1986 Baez founded Latinarte/ayombe theatre troupe. She continues as its director, working in collaboration with Claudio Mir (actor, director, writer, musician, visual artist). Her work explores themes of migration and marginality, language and the body, and identity. She has participated in many international theatre festivals and workshops in Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Applications of interest are now being taken for Josefina Baez¹s 3 day Auckland workshop - course numbers are limited, so if you would like to attend please reply to this email with a paragraph outlining who you are, what you do and why you¹d like to participate in the workshop; cost is $150. For more info about Josefina and the workshop, please contact Emma Willis tel (09) 372 8786 or email emmawillis@paradise.net.nz or Jackie van Beek tel (09) 372 9766 or email jackievanbeek@paradise.net.nz

Wednesday, February 25, 9pm and Thursday, February 26, 9.30am & 4pm, Triangle TV 'BOMBIES' THE FILM ABOUT CLUSTER BOMBS. ESR are asking people to record it and make it available to others to see. For more info contact email lj.carter@auckland.ac.nz

Monday, March 1, 7.30pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Road, Grey Lynn GPJA FORUM: 'WORKING WOMEN ON THE FRONTLINES' - in the lead-up to International Women¹s Day (IWD) the IWD Committee will co-host the Global Peace and Justice Auckland forum. Includes a screening of the documentary film 'Even Dogs Are Given Bones', women workers fight back, Rixen NZ 1981, which shows the occupation of Rixen Manufacturing in Levin by 43 factory workers, after being given only one weeks notice of closure with no redundancy payment; guest speaker is Maxine Gay, secretary of the Clothing, Laundry and Allied Workers Union of Aotearoa who will be speaking on changes in the clothing sector in NZ since ¹81, and conditions for workers globally; Janet Bogle will represent the IWD Committee, speaking about the history of International (Working) Women¹s Day and this year¹s event. For more info contact Karyn Amoore tel (09)358 4105 or email amoorenz@yahoo.com

Monday, March 8, 5-30pm, Aotea Square, Queen Street 'Women are on the frontlines' INTERNATIONAL WOMEN¹S DAY RALLY - Every year on March the 8th women and men mark International Women's Day by remembering the age-old struggle of women for equal rights, and by protesting the barriers that still stand in the way of the winning of those rights. IWD Committee demands are: just pay and conditions for workers all around the world; money for caring, not killing - no NZ involvement in the OWar on Terror¹; women are the primary carers and educators: no to the Jobs Jolt, increase the DPB, equal pay for work of equal value; violence against women continues in war and peace: end the silence around domestic and sexual violence; and racism is an attack on women too: dump laws that discriminate against migrants. For more info contact Kirsty McCully email euphemiak@yahoo.com or Janet Bogle email janetbogel@hotmail.com

Saturday, March 20, 12 noon from the bottom of Queen Street MARCH AND RALLY ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE INVASION OF IRAQ - Bush has US sights set on Syria, and the occupation of Iraq continues; starts at bottom of Queen St then march to the Town Hall for the rally. More details as they are confirmed. Part of the Global Day of Action Against War and Occupation; organised by Global Peace and Justice Auckland, for more info contact email jbminto@xtra.co.nz or miket@pl.net

March 23 to April 10, Artstation, 1 Ponsonby Road Anti-war Art Exhibition entitled "Kill War" Works by: Jarad Bryant, Jon Carapiet, Bruce Mahalski. Opening: 5-7 pm Tuesday 23 March. This exhibition presents a series of work inspired by recent world events which questions our culpability for The continuing violence in our society.Aspects of 21st century life and culture are examined as possible contributing factors to our continued acceptance of violent solutions on a crowded and fragile planet that can no longer afford to sustain such destructive luxuries. The ingenuousness and doublespeak of 'The War on Terror' are highlighted and suggestions are made for more positive 'wars' in the future.

MESSAGES

BRUCE JESSON CRITICAL WRITING FUND: Call for Applications - 2004 The new Bruce Jesson Critical Writing Fund provides financial support of up to $3000 each year for critical, informed, analytical and creative journalism or writing which will contribute to public debate in New Zealand on an important issue or issues. You can apply to this fund at any time, but we expect that we will normally allocate funds once a year. Initial applications close on 30 April 2004. After this initial round, we plan to call for applications in November each year, with a closing date in January. Please address applications to: Bruce Jesson Critical Writing Fund, Bruce Jesson Foundation, P.O. Box 62 174, Auckland. Funding will be allocated by the Bruce Jesson Foundation on advice from its Writing Fund Committee. The foundation reserves the right not to make any allocations. Its decisions are final. Members of the Writing Fund Committee are happy to answer any questions. They are: - Rebecca Jesson, 09 521 8118, rjesson@xtra.co.nz - Simon Collins, 09 373 6473 (work), 09 846 4699 (home), 021 - 612 423, simoncollins@clear.net.nz - Finlay Macdonald, fincar@clear.net.nz

WEB EDITOR NEEDED The Palestine Human Rights Campaign has a website which, generously, was set up and run voluntarily by a committed supporter who has not been able to maintain it. It has become a pressing concern to have an active website with useful information and details of upcoming events and so on and we need some one who could assist with the posting of new material, removal of old and relaying of messages which arrive as a result of visits to the site. if you have any expertise in this area and could help by committing a modest but regular amount of time to these tasks as a way of assisting the campaign ~~ please let us know asap by email or phone-520 0201 many thanks, The Wakims

STUDENTS FOR JUSTICE IN PALESTINE (University of Auckland, University of Waikato, Auckland University of Technology) invite you to write for the second issue of our magazine/journal INTIFADA. You may submit an article (around 1000 words) which could be personal/anecdotal, current affairs, analytical, historical, etc. It could be about your involvement/work here in Aotearoa, attempting to inform Kiwis about the struggles of the Palestinian people, etc. Your contribution could be a poem, pictures you may have taken on your travel to Palestine. New Zealand government's policy (or lack of) towards Palestine and the government's `performance' at UN would constitute a highly relevant piece for our journal. Children's writings/art on Palestine are particularly sought. Cartoons, for example, depicting the brutality of the Israeli army/Jewish settlers would be considered a top priority. Acknowledged pieces from published material. Or anything else you think relevant for INTIFADA. Deadline for submission is 22nd FEBRUARY. (Apologies for the relatively short time, but, being students with no highly organised team of highly paid chief executives, we are trying to do the best we can. Please send your contributions to either Z. Baksh (Co-Editor), zeebee001@hotmail.com OR SJP Magazine, c/o S.Wakim (Co-Editor), PO Box 56-150, Auckland, Aotearoa NewZealand.

CHILDRENS WORK SURVEY For anyone who hasn¹t followed it already, the report of the Caritas children¹s work survey is available for download at: http://www.caritas.org.nz/nz/caritas_childrens_work_survey.doc In response to an invitation from the Department of Labour to comment on their review of the minimum age of employment we sent questionnaires to Catholic schools and received almost 5000 valid replies. The survey is indicative only as it did not follow a formal sampling process, and there were problems with the questions we asked. However, many children took the opportunity to tell us about their work experiences, and we did not expect many of the responses we received. In spite of a bias towards middle decile schools, one of our clearest outcomes was that children from lower decile schools were more likely to be supplementing family income than those from higher decile schools. While many children reported good work experiences, many others also reported bad experiences, which included accidents (broken bones and ligaments, cuts, burns, falls, traffic accidents and dog bites), negative experiences with bosses and workmates, heavy loads, working while in pain, pay issues and difficulty juggling school and work. There were some cases which gave particular cause for concern.

MID-MAY - FLOTILLA! OA FLOTILLA OF FREEDOM, HOPE AND RESPONSIBILITY¹, convergence on Nauru - “a diverse group of people and boats are taking to the seas in a festival of the oceans! Their purpose it to draw attention to the plight of asylum seekers fleeing from their war-ravished homelands, yet incarcerated by the Australian government on the small impoverished central Pacific nation of Nauru where 264 refugees (93 of them children) languish for want of justice. The Flotilla will leave Sydney and Brisbane in mid-May and converge on Nauru on 20 June, World Refugee Day.” For more info, and to join the Flotilla, go to http://www.flotilla2004.com

NEW ZEALAND "BIG BROTHER" AWARDS Presented by the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties. Nominations have opened for the first New Zealand 'Big Brother Awards' for people and organisations that have been outstanding in their abuse or disregard of civil liberties in New Zealand. The awards were presented at a function hosted by the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties in March 2004. Nominations close on Friday 20 February 2004. (Nomination details below) The award ceremony is in the nature of a spoof "Oscars" (or "Orwells"). The events should be good fun, incorporating humour, audience participation, and audio visual support. Award winners attending will be presented with an award certificate to commemorate their achievement. Among the many award categories for bad deeds, below, there are also two positive awards for good works in the service of protection of privacy called the "Smith". The judging panel, which is made up of privacy specialists and advocates, is currently inviting nominations for the eight prizes. Please submit your nominations before Friday 20 February 2004 by posting them to the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties, c/o PO Box 6125, Wellesley Street, Auckland or e-mailing to office@lis.co.nz. Send the message to Auckland Council for Civil Liberties, c/o PO Box 6125, Wellesley Street, Auckland, or to office@lis.co.nz. Nominations received by Friday 20 February 2004 will be forwarded to our panel of judges who will identify winners in each category above, and also the 'People's Choice', the one with the most nominations. CONTACT: Tim McBride, office@lis.co.nz

ROGUE SATES: I'm reading "Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower" by William Blum and recommend everyone everywhere read it. Here's the link to the phenomenal Introduction: http://members.aol.com/superogue/intro.htm ALSO by William Blum: Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II http://members.aol.com/bblum6/American_holocaust.htm "Far and away the best book on the topic." Noam Chomsky "I enjoyed it immensely." Gore Vidal "I bought several more copies to circulate to friends with the hope of shedding new light and understanding on their political outlooks." Oliver Stone "A very valuable book. The research and organization are extremely impressive." A. J. Langguth, author, former NY Times Bureau Chief "A very useful piece of work, daunting in scope, important." Thomas Powers, author, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist "Each chapter I read made me more and more angry." Dr. Helen Caldicott, international leader of the environmental movement

BEST ON THE WEB

ATIWAR ACTION International call for action on March 20 http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0401/S00212.htm The world still says no to war http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2136

GOVT DECISION TO APPEAL ZAOUI DECISION ANGERS Green MP Keith Locke is angry that the Government is trying to block consideration of Ahmed Zaoui's human rights http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0402/S00067.htm Amnesty International Criticises Zaoui Decisions [2] http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0402/S00044.htm

THE UNPLEASANT REALITY IF CHILD LABOUR IN NZ When it's lunchtime, they pretend they're not hungry or they forgot their lunch. When there's a school trip, they've forgotten their permission slip. On special PTA lunch days to raise school funds, they claim they don't like hot dogs or pizza. SeeS PHA calls on teachers to be alert to child poverty [1] MORE: - Child Poverty Action Group - Children Work To Supplement Family Earnings [2] - CTU - Report on Working Children Shows Needs [3] [1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0401/S00069.htm [2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0401/S00066.htm [3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0401/S00062.htm

EAST TIMOR Australia Called Upon To Stop Stealing From East Timor To mark the Australian national holiday, Australia Day, the East Timor Action Network/U.S. (ETAN) today demanded that the Australian government honour the national sovereignty and resource rights of East Timor. See... Wake-Up Call for Australia on E Timor Resources http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0401/S00176.htm

TRADE AND INVESTMENT Aziz Choudry: The ''Smart Bombs'' of US Trade and Investment Policy While the US military unleashed laser-guided weapons of mass destruction on the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush Administration¹s aggressive international trade and investment agenda has developed some “smart bombs” of its own. See... Laser-Guided Liberalization and Latin America http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0401/S00114.htm

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM Dev-Zone's knowledge centre has a modest but growing collection of articles on the 04 WSF: http://www.dev-zone.org/knowledge/Society_and_Culture/Social_Development/Social_Forums/2004_World_Social_Forum/ A festival of the oppressed http://www.dev-zone.org/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=6792 Dita Sari: Is another power possible? http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2004/569/569p13.htm WSF 2004: What someone felt http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=32&ItemID=4920

JOHN PILGER: LIES AND COVERUPS Pilger: Blair's Mass Deception http://antiwar.com/orig/pilger.php?articleid=1845 BBC machinations http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=4942 Writing in the Daily Mirror, John Pilger asks whether the latest inquiry called by Tony Blair -- into the "failure of intelligence" -- will turn out, like the Hutton inquiry, as a whitewash. http://pilger.carlton.com/print/133202 Power, Propaganda and Conscience in the War On Terror http://antiwar.com/orig/pilger.php?articleid=1760 Recalling Pol Pot's Terror, But Forgetting His Backers http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=44&ItemID=4913

LORD HUTTON Who is Lord Hutton? http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0401/S00155.htm

US EMPIRE US defence budget bigger than you think http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0401/S00066.htm Chalmers Johnson on garrisoning the planet http://www.nationinstitute.org/tomdispatch/index.mhtml?pid=1181 The Concentration Camp at Guantanamo: Wrong Treatment in the Wrong Place http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0116-02.htm

THE HUMAN COST OF THE WAR The terrible human cost of Bush and Blair's military adventure: 10,000 civilian deaths http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=489082 Cluster Bombs: War Crimes of the Bush Administration http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0126-04.htm First award for depleted uranium poisoning claim http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/9272.html

PALESTINE Palestine and the right of return http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-bisharat25jan25,0,2358479.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

PACIFIC Forthcoming issues of Pacific Journalism Review www.pjreview.info Vol 10 No 1 The Public Right to Know (jointly with the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism) - April 2004 Vol 10 No 2 Media Ownership and Democracy - September 2004 Call for papers: Research articles - Up to 6000 words: Commentaries - Up to 3000 words http://www.aut.ac.nz/depts/commstud/journ/pjrcallforpapers04.shtml Subscriptions:NZ$30 a year (institutional) NZ$25 a year (individual) http://www.aut.ac.nz/depts/commstud/journ/pjrsubs.shtml Submissions: pjreview@aut.ac.nz

VENEZUELA Coup-making in Venezuela: The Bush and oil factors http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=14617

CUBA The Cuban Five: Leonard Weinglass interviewed on this scandalous case http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=54&ItemID=4917

WATER Untapped Market: The Coming Wars for Water http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9766

FAMINE Urgent food aid needed for 6.5 million Koreans http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0402/S00072.htm

Mike

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