Global Peace And Justice Auckland Newsletter #68, September 2, 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 - Bruce Hubbard (09) 6232667 or 027 256 3933 Rulesofthegame@clear.net.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,

New GPJA Schedule. Forums FIRST Monday of month and Organising Cttee meetings on the SECOND Monday. All volunteers welcome to help as part of the organising committee.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

FROM BOMBER: Hello all, this is FYI - my new TV show, Dissident TV is screening on C4 September the 9th (that's a Thursday night) - it's a September 11th special - check it out cause I don't think they will let me do another TV show ever! Cheers, bomber

If you would like to send an email to Ruth Dyson, Disability Issues Minister, and Annette King, Health Minister about the interim funding freeze for Disability Support Services, follow the link below. http://www.sfwu.org/index.asp?pageID=2145827978

AUCKLAND TRANSPORT OUTREACH CO-ORDINATOR (15 hours/week ) We are looking for a person with a passion for sustainable solutions to Auckland's transport problems, to promote and further develop Green transport initiatives and integrate these with work being done by organisations with similar goals. When: starting as soon as possible, for three months, with a probability of a further three months upon review of campaign progress and results. Salary $37,000 pro rata. Responsible to: The lead MPs will be Jeanette Fitzsimons and Keith Locke. Where: Auckland office of Green MPs. Send application in confidence to: Green Party, P.O. Box 1553, Auckland. Email greenmps.auckland@greens.org.nz of fax 09-361-5926. Queries: Phone 09-361-5925. Deadline for applications: 5pm Monday 6th September 2004.

AOTEAROA SOCIAL FORUM RADIO: It hasn't quite been a year but here are 3 items from the ASF last year. http://stream.paranode.com/aotearoa/UTR ASF 2003.mp3 http://stream.paranode.com/aotearoa/UTR Hawthorne ASF2003.mp3 http://stream.paranode.com/aotearoa/UTR Kelsey ASF 2003.mp3 The first is a combo of 4 speakers the second is an Susan Hawthorne of Australia the third is Jane Kelsey on WTO stuff. I've given them a flash little intro and outro since the lack of such things has been criticised in the past. Let me know what you all think. There are also a couple more to come but there will be some work required before then. Aaron, Under the Radar, http:// http://www.raglan.net.nz/utr Raglan Community Radio, http:// http://www.raglanradio.com

WHAT'S ON IN AUCKLAND

Saturday, September 4, 10.45am, St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby UNIFEM NZ National AGM, starting with the 'UNIFEM Spring Walk' at 10-45am to raise money for maternity services and facilities in Solomon Islands and Timor Leste (or Plan B if weather is wet), followed by lunch at 12 noon with 'spot' speaker, and the AGM at 12-45pm. All members, friends and supporters welcome. For more info contact Beverley tel (09) 418 0700, email beverleyturner@nznet.gen.nz

Saturday, September 4, 2pm to 3pm, Aotea Square, Queen Street Palestine/Israel Rally for Peace, supporting peace and justice based on ending Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; the right of return for refugees; sharing Jerusalem; removal of all settlements in occupied Palestine; and stopping the construction of Israel's annexation /apartheid wall. For more info contact David Wakim tel (09) 520 0201 or email wakim.fam@xtra.co.nz

Sunday, September 5, 6pm, Pumphouse, Takapuna AUCKLANDER'S LINK WITH THE GERSHWINS. A refugee from Hitler's Europe, now living in Auckland, will relive a remarkable link with the musical brothers George and Ira Gershwin in a nostalgic jazz event at Takapuna next Sunday (5 Sept). Felix Manskleid, now 93, heard George Gershwin's famous Rhapsody in Blue at its first performance in his native Belgium when he was a music journalist in his early twenties. "I found that when I left the hall I was so fascinated by it that I had tears in my eyes and I was very surprised," he says. "So I looked into it a little more. I looked into Gershwin, and I thought I'd write what I thought about it and send it to him. This is what I did." George Gershwin replied with an autographed photograph of himself, and the two men exchanged a few letters. But then Gershwin died in 1937. Three years later Hitler invaded Belgium. Manskleid was drafted to defend his country, but was captured by the Germans and spent time in three prisoner-of-war camps. He escaped from the last one in northern Germany and got back to Belgium. But it was not safe there. "They started handing out yellow armbands with the word 'Juden'. That means 'Jew'. I thought it was time to leave," Manskleid says. "I thought, who could help me? So why not write to Ira Gershwin? I wrote and told him he might find my letters in his files and, lo and behold, he did!" The American lyricist agreed to send an affidavit to help get the young Belgian refuge in the United States, but things moved too quickly. The Belgian secret service warned Manskleid that he should leave, and he fled - first to Lisbon, and from there to what was then the Belgian Congo, where he stayed for five and a half years. He continued corresponding with Ira Gershwin and eventually reached New York, where he spent 17 years as a writer and radio journalist. He kept writing to Gershwin, who lived in California. Gershwin wrote back, 18 letters in all. Some years after arriving in the US, Manskleid finally got a chance to go out west and arranged to visit Gershwin. The jazz legend made him welcome. "He told me he usually didn't do this, but we went into another room and there was a safe built into the ground, and he opened it and showed me the original score of Rhapsody in Blue with the scoring by George Gershwin himself. That is something I'll never forget." In 1965 Manskleid came to New Zealand, where he has written on music for the Herald, the Auckland Star, Metro and other publications. He never saw Ira Gershwin again. On Sunday night (5 Sept) he will present classic Gershwin recordings in a double billing with Goldsmith School founderand Louis Armstrong aficionado Peter Minturn, who will introduce the music of the great jazz trumpeter. Proceeds from the evening will go to the Friends of Refugees Trust to support a unique terraced community garden and other self-help projects initiated by Karen refugees from Burma on the North Shore. Adults $15, unwaged $13, seniors $12, (09) 489 8360. Further information: Felix Manskleid, (09) 522 9080. Peter Minturn, work (09) 377 2468, home (09) 846 1417. Hugh Fraser, Friends of Refugees Trust, (09) 486 0086. http://www.tix.co.nz/pumphouse/frh509.html

Monday, September 6, 7.30pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn. GPJA FORUM: "The People Versus Business - Local Government Election Issues" Speakers are from Water Pressure Group, RAM, City Vision. ALSO

Tuesday, September 7, 7pm, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn GE FREE ACTION ROADSHOW, Information, Networking, Discussion, Music Contact (09) 358 4105 or 0508 GE FREE. As part of the nationwide tour, this empowering and interactive presentation is to encourage the people of Aotearoa to take responsibility for our well-being: people, animals and our land. To educate on what action we can take about the genetic engineering of our food and agriculture, to preserve our identity and keep us GE FREE! The recently published report by the Bioethics Council shows once again that no government agency will effectively stop the release of GE organisms into the environment and the food chain. Only if the people of Aotearoa stand together against GE can we protect our unique land, animals, biodiversity, economy and future well-being. UPCOMING EVENT: Local Resistance to Genetic Engineering A Full Day Of Workshops Saturday, 18 September 2004, 10 am - 6 pm, Kotare Trust 518 Wayby Station Road, Wellsford. Workshops include: crop decontamination, blockading and barricading, getting your message across and dealing with the media. The workshops will be followed by a two hour strategy session for anyone interested in the GE Free campaign. Contact 0508 GE FREE for more details. http:// http://www.pmea.org.nz

Thursday, September 9, 7.30pm, Unite Office, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn Private English Language School Teachers Association (provisional title) meeting. All teachers welcome. Help improve wages and conditions in the industry.

Monday, September 13, 7.30pm, Unite Office, Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn GPJA organizing meeting

Thursday, September 16, 7:30 p.m., Trades Hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn NO BENEFITS FOR WORKERS IN A FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH THAILAND. The New Zealand and Thai governments are negotiating a free trade agreement. They want to have the deal signed by November 2004 - regardless of the answers to the following questions: Is it fair to workers? Is it democratic? Is it environmentally friendly? Is it a good deal? NZ politicians argue these agreements help third world workers. Hear how a free trade agreement between Thailand and New Zealand would hurt jobs, wages and working conditions, and damage the environment in both Thailand and NZ. Speakers from Thailand: Dr Jakkrit Kuanpoth associate professor of law at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Ms Sripai Nonsee, labour organiser and ex-factory worker. From NZ - Jane Kelsey, Professor of Law, Auckland University. Tour supporters include: Action Research Education Network Aotearoa, Asia Pacific Workers Solidarity Links, Brass Razoo Solidarity Band, Campaign Against Foreign Control in Aotearoa, Clothing, Laundry and Allied Workers Union, Envision New Zealand, Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, MADENZ, NZ Council of Trade Unions, Trade Aid. For more information on what's wrong with the deal and how to object to it, write to/e-mail Fair World Links, P.O. Box 13 367, Wellington 6004 links@actrix.co.nz

Thursday, September 16, 7.30pm, Room 039, Clock Tower Bldg, 22 Princes Street, Bldg No. 105 University of Auckland Continuing Education Seminar: POST SEPTEMBER 11: WHO HAS PAID THE PRICE? Jim Headley, PhD; Heval Hylan, LLB; Margaret Taylor. Three years on who is paying the price for the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centre and the resulting "war on terror"? This seminar will look at how governments have used the fight against international terrorism to legitimise policies directed against secessionists within their states, with special reference to Russia and Chechnya. The impact of the "war against terror" on human rights both internationally and in New Zealand will be highlighted with discussion around specific cases where people have been detained without charge or trial for extended periods, for example, suspected terrorists held by the US at Guantanamo Bay, and the Ahmed Zaoui case in New Zealand. The consequences of the removal of Saddam Hussein and the reality of "post-war democracy" in Iraq will also be discussed. There will be opportunity at the conclusion of the seminar for questions and debate. Course Code: G3.291. Cost: $25/$18 (students, unwaged). To enrol ph: 3737599 ext 87831/87832 Pre- enrolment essential

September 16-20, The Capitol, Dominion Rd, Balmoral News Update! THE DATE PALM FILM FESTIVAL (formerly the Middle Eastern Film Festival), will be hot on the heels of the Telecom New Zealand Film Festival 2004. The 2004 Date Palm Film Festival focuses entirely on the Middle East and North Africa and will include six feature and three documentary films from Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, Palestine, Israel and Iran - comedy, classical, romance, social issue, gay and political themes. The majority of these films are recent award winning productions and are unlikely to come back to mainstream cinema, New Zealand television or your local video shop so make the most of it! Festival details of screenings are now on our website at www.meff.org.nz If you would like to receive the Festival catalogue please email your postal details or download a form from the website. (www.meff.org.nz) Best wishes from the team at the Date Palm Nadra Zarifeh, Festival Director, Date Palm Film Festival, P.O Box 11-494, Wellington, New Zealand. Tel 064 -4-236 0100, 064-025 285 1194. www.meff.org.nz. Date Palm Film Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of our "Friends of the Festival", Sassi Solutions, Waymark Solutions, Innovative Travel, WelTec, Avery Ford, the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, SKYCITY Auckland Community Trust, Wellington City Council, Creative Communities Auckland City, Creative Communities NZ Christchurch City.

September 30 to October 13, The Academy Theatre, Auckland Public Library Si! Cuba! is a season of ten films celebrating forty years of film production in Cuba. The Cuban films have been selected by the organisers of the New Zealand Film Festival and will be presented in Auckland and Wellington commencing late next month. The season is the second event in the inaugural New Zealand-Cuba Film Exchange that began in February this year with extensive New Zealand film programmes in Havana and Matanzas. "ICAIC, Cuba’s film institute, opened their vaults to us and we have selected ten films to illustrate the strength, diversity and changes that have taken place in filmmaking during the Castro era. We'll be showing such classics as the historical epic Lucia to the recent hit Life is to Whistle, a lyrical drama of life in contemporary Havana." says Film Festival director, Bill Gosden.

Wednesday, October 13, 7pm, Trades hall, 147 Great North Rd, Grey Lynn MARIE HILAO-ENRIQUEZ, FILIPINO HUMAN RIGHTS LEADER TOURING NZ OCTOBER 2004 THE PHILIPPINES IN THE FIRING LINE - AMERICA'S "SECOND FRONT IN THE WAR ON TERROR’" AND THE IMPACT ON HUMAN RIGHTS. Marie Hilao-Enriquez is the head of Karapatan, one of the biggest and best known human rights groups in the Philippines, and also of Selda, the organisation of former political prisoners from the 1970s and 80s martial law dictatorship of the late Ferdinand Marcos. Marie herself was a Marcos prisoner and her family suffered badly (one sister was murdered by the military, another two siblings were imprisoned). Marie has been a leading figure in the Philippine human rights movement for the past 30 years. For Auckland details contact: Luke Coxon; ph (09) 8276059; mobile 027 2487005; e-mail: luke.coxon@finsec.org.nz Donations are welcome, to help with costs. Please make cheques to PSNA, with a note saying that it is for the Hilao-Enriquez Tour. Or you can make a donation directly into our bank account. If you do so, record it as a donation for the Hilao-Enriquez Tour and include your name. Send us an e-mail to tell us and let us know your name and address. Our account details: Philippines Solidarity Network, Kiwibank, 155 The Terrace, Wellington. Account number 389000 0792619 00. Details re other centres contact Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa, Box 2450, Christchurch, New Zealand cafca@chch.planet.org.nz http:// http://www.converge.org.nz/psna

December 2-5, Massey University, Albany An International Interdisciplinary Conference on Restorative Justice to be held at Centre for Justice and Peace Development Massey University Albany Auckland. "NEW FRONTIERS IN RESTORATIVE JUSTICE: ADVANCING THEORY AND PRACTICE" To express interest in attending and/or to offer a presentation email newfrontiers@massey.ac.nz or write to Dr. Warwick Tie, Centre for Justice and Peace Development, School of Social and Cultural Studies, Massey University, Private Bag 102 904, North Shore MSC, Auckland. Closing date for the submission of abstracts is the 31st May 2004. Conference URL: http://justpeace.massey.ac.nz/

BEST ON THE WEB

NEW ZEALAND No benefit for workers in free trade deal http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0409/S00024.htm China deal threatens future of manufacturing http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0409/S00020.htm Citizenship Bill Erodes Rights Of Pacific Island Babies Olinda Woodroffe, an Auckland lawyer specialising in immigration issues, is appalled at New Zealand Government moves to remove automatic citizenship to children born to mothers who are not New Zealand citizens or permanent residents. http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PO0409/S00004.htm The Greens Ask Who Is Watching The Watchers? Answers to a parliamentary question from Green MP, Keith Locke, reveal New Zealand's Security Intelligence Services received less than two hours scrutiny in the last year. See... SIS Gets Two Hours Parliamentary Scrutiny A Year [1] . See also... Spy-watchers neglect their duties [2] [1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0409/S00013.htm [2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0409/S00023.htm NZ should protest against Australian missiles http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/PA0408/S00500.htm NZ activist on solidarity trip to Palestine http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0408/S00234.htm

GUANTANAMO A law unto themselves Terry Hicks brought humanity to Guantanamo Bay this week, while human rights observers brought a swag of questions about justice. Marian Wilkinson reports. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/27/1093518096488.html Vanessa Redgrave: Guantanamo's torture regime is a shameful disgrace: The British intelligence services and the Foreign Office appear complicit in the torture http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=554088

ARHUNDATI ROY Pulbic power in the age of empite http://www.democracynow.org/static/Arundhati_Trans.shtml

GABRIEL KOLKO Alliances and the US elections http://fairuse.1accesshost.com/news2/smh27.htm

PALESTINE/ISRAEL Solidarity workers witness IDF shoot boy in neck http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0408/S00212.htm "For all I care, they can starve to death!" announced Tzahi Hanegbi, after Palestinian prisoners declared an open-ended hunger strike against prison conditions. Thus the Minister for Internal Security added another memorable phrase to the lexicon of the ... http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0408/S00222.htm US deal 'wrecks Middle East peace' http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1288826,00.html Chomsky: A Critique Of Left Apologetics Regarding Palestine - It's particularly interesting in the case of Palestine to see where US intellectuals and progressives decide that it's necessary to be ''realistic'' and where ''principled''; where they choose to accept more or less the general media consensus about ''the boundaries of acceptable discourse'' and where they reject it. http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0408/S00272.htm

IRAQ Iraqi soccer players angered by Bush campaign adds http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/olympics/2004/writers/08/19/iraq/ End the Iraq War - Reasons why http://question-everything.mahost.org/Socio-Politics/Iraq.html Sovereign’ Iraq just as deadly to US forces http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-fg-military31aug31,1,3826717.sto ry

COLUMBIA Colombia's oil pipeline is paid for in blood and dollars: Trade unionists are the prime target of the US-funded 18th Brigade http://www.guardian.co.uk/colombia/story/0,11502,1287156,00.html

ANTIWAR UK Mother brings war to Prescott http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1287112,00.html "My big brother died at the age of 19, and what for? A war over oil and money, that's what I think the war is all about. There was no such thing as weapons of 'mass destruction'. "I think that you should withdraw all of our soldiers from Iraq. After all, it's not our war, it's America's. So why did we, the British, have to get involved?" http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=553303 Dyke: Blair's world of 'lies and bullying': Greg Dyke, former director-general of the BBC, today lays bare the astonishing inside story of the war waged by the Prime Minister and Downing Street against the BBC over its coverage of the Iraq war and the controversial issue of weapons of mass destruction. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/kelly/story/0,13747,1293259,00.html

ANTIWAR USA New York protest http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/cvn_convention_protests911 omissions http://www.nypress.com/17/34/books/hicks.cfm John Pilger: Bush vs Kerry the fake debate http://pilger.carlton.com/print/133343

VENEZUELA Lead vs Machete "It's a classic case of the rich against the poor, but in this case, the government and armed forces are backing the poor." http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/special_packages/focus/8504687.htm Bolivarian Perspective On Chavez's Victory - The Venezuelan government's victory on August 15 is not only a victory for the people of Venezuela, but for working people worldwide. The Venezuelan voters decisive rejection of the right-wing bid to recall President Hugo Chavez has http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0409/S00025.htm

CIVILISATION VS BARBARIANS Our men . . . have killed to exterminate men, women, children, prisoners and captives, active insurgents and suspected people from lads of 10 up.... Our soldiers have pumped salt water into men to "make them talk," and have taken prisoners people who held up their hands and peacefully surrendered, and an hour later. . . stood them on a bridge and shot them down one by one, to drop into the water below and float down, as examples to those who found their bullet-loaded corpses.": Philadelphia Ledger newspaper in 1901, from its Manila [Philippines] correspondent during the US war with Spain for the control of the Philippines

"The only place you and I disagree . . . is with regard to the bombing. You're so goddamned concerned about the civilians, and I (in contrast) don't give a damn. I don't care.". . . "I'd rather use the nuclear bomb. . . Does that bother you? I just want you to think big.": Richard Nixon to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on the Watergate tapes

Henry Kissinger gave Argentina's military junta the green light to suppress political opposition at the start of the "dirty war" in 1976, telling the country's foreign minister: "If there are things that have to be done, you should do them quickly," according to newly-declassified documents published yesterday. State department documents show the former secretary of state urged Argentina to crush the opposition just months after it seized power and before the US Congress convened to consider sanctions. "We won't cause you unnecessary difficulties. If you can finish before Congress gets back, the better," Mr Kissinger told Admiral Cesar Augusto Guzzetti, the foreign minister, according to the State Department's transcript. - Guardian August 28, 2004

Lesley Stahl on U.S. sanctions against Iraq: We have heard that a half million children have died. I mean, that's more children than died in Hiroshima. And, you know, is the price worth it? Secretary of State Madeleine Albright: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price--we think the price is worth it." --60 Minutes (5/12/96)

Mike

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