Global Peace And Justice Auckland Newsletter #106, September 9, 2005

Website http://www.gpja.pl.net/ Contact details: Forums - John Minto, (09) 846 3173, jbminto@xtra.co.nz; Newsletter Editor - Mike Treen 027 525 47440 / 09 845 4027 mike@unite.org.nz; Web page - bobo@enzyme.org.nz. Donations can be sent to GPJA, 6a Western Springs Rd, Morningside, Auckland. All communication regarding the GPJA mailing list (email or snail) should be addressed to gpja@xtra.co.nz

Dear friends,

A GPJA organizing meeting will be held this Monday evening at 7.30pm, Unite Office, 6a Western Springs Rd, Morningside. This meeting is open to anyone who wants to help with its activities. We’ve been very active over the last few weeks helping organise a several thousand strong protest in solidarity with the Tongan strike and a picket of the Casino as part of the Parasites on Poverty campaign. The Tongan strike leaders said our protest which was broadcast live in Tonga was a great help in tipping the balance to a major victory for workers rights and democratic reform. (See Best on the Web below)

QUOTES

“What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty and democracy?”: Mohandas Gandhi.

"We need food and water and they sent us men with guns" : Katrina survivor

ANNOUNCEMENTS

FOUR KIWIS VISIT PHILIPPINE FRONT LINES OF “WAR ON TERROR”: And Find That The Filipino People Are The Ones Being Terrorised. The Philippines is not on the radar of the NZ media when it comes to the “War On Terror”, with attention being firmly focused on Iraq, Afghanistan or, more recently, London. But several years ago, President Bush, with the eager cooperation of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, declared the Philippines to be America’s “second front” in the “War On Terror”. Occasionally there has been some coverage of this in the NZ media, usually involving the long running war between the Philippine military and Muslim separatists in the far south of the country. The reality however, is that the “War On Terror” has become the latest excuse for the Philippine military, with the full backing of the US, to terrorise its own people, firstly as part of the war on Communism (the New People’s Army of the Communist Party of the Philippines has been waging a guerrilla war throughout the countryside since 1969), and also as part of the war on Islamic separatism (that war, in the south, has been going since the 1970s). The human rights situation under President Macapagal-Arroyo has become steadily worse and worse (and the Philippine human rights situation was bad enough to start with). In late August, an International Solidarity Mission of approximately 80 foreigners from several countries spent a week visiting the front lines of the five worst areas for human rights violations, and then convening an International Tribunal in Manila to report on their findings and to call on their home governments, and the international community at large, to condemn the Philippine government for waging a War Of Terror on its own people. Four of them were New Zealanders – Tim Howard (Whangarei), Rod Prosser (Wellington), Mary Ellen O’Connor (Nelson) and Josephine O’Connor (Wellington). They all went to different parts of the Philippines and all saw different cases of the political murders, disappearances, abductions, torture, imprisonment, and terrorisation that constitute daily life for so many of the Filipino people. To give just one example, one of them met a boy who was made to dig his own grave by the military (the kid escaped with his life). All four Kiwis are happy to speak to meetings, seminars, etc and have copious material gathered from their trip. In the case of Tim Howard, he spent more than a month in the Philippines before the Mission, and travelled extensively to numerous hotspots, including the southernmost islands where the war on Islamic separatists is at its fiercest.

WHAT’S ON IN AUCKLAND

Friday, September, 9, 7pm, Unite Office, 6a Western Springs Rd, Morningside SCREENING OF DOCUMENTARY “SALVADOR ALLENDE” to remember the anniversary of the other September 11 – the day of the 1973 coup against the Allende government in Chile.

Friday, September 9, 7.30pm, Somervell Church, Auditorium,497 Remuera Rd, 'FUTURE OF FOOD' a US precautionary film on genetic engineering in food and our environment;a dvd 89mins. Jon Carapiet, national spokespersonfor GE Free New Zealand, will introduce the film, answer questions and facilitate discussion at the end of the screening.Suggested minimum koha $10 per person. Refreshments provided at the end of the meeting. Enquiries:Margarita 520 5067 .

Saturday, September 10, 12 noon, Blamoral KFC, Cnr Dominion and Balmoral Rds.

SUPERSIZE MY PAY - WORKERS CHARTER CAMPAIGN. The Workers Charter is calling a protest at the grand opening of the new Balmoral KFC this coming Saturday. The Workers Charter is protesting the corporation's plans to invest millions into tarting up their 95 KFC stores while KFC workers are paid chicken feed. KFC workers start on the close to the minimum wage: $8 16 & 17 year olds and $9.50 for adults. They advertise Kiwi For Chicken, but they really want Kiwis For Cheap. The Workers Charter says they stand for Finger Lickin' Greed. For KFC staff and other low-paid workers to get a living wage, we must unbake the bosses' secret recipe of youth rates, low pay, casual workforce and union busting. The Workers Charter says that KFC workers should start on no less than $12 an hour. The Greens, Maori Party, Progressives and NZ First all agree that $12 should be the minimum wage. So does the Unite Workers Union. The Workers Charter is calling on all progressive-minded people and organisations to support the Supersize My Pay campaign. Contact Grant Morgan, 021-2544 515, (09) 634 4432 (day & evening), workerscharter@actrix.co.nz

Saturday, September 10, 11am-2pm, Broadway, Newmarket and Ponsonby Road areas

MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY STREETOUTREACH. Dedicated MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY volunteers will hit the streets to hand out free information, sell white bands, and give people the opportunity to sign an action letter to politicians. 10th September is international Day of Action for the MakePovertyHistory campaign – this is calling for governments to take urgent action to support the elimination of poverty at the UN Summit on 13-17th September and for NZ political parties to commit to joining the fight against poverty. Please let others know and get involved.

Sunday, September 11, 3-5pm, Hobson Room, Parnell Conference Centre, Jubilee Building [formerly Foundation for the Blind], 545 Parnell Road, Auckland

KUPU TAEA invite you to the launch of their report MEDIA AND TE TIRITI O WAITANGI 2004 with Judy McGregor and Paul Diamond. Finger food provided. RSVP by Friday September 2 to - Dr Tim McCreanor (timm@pl.net); Dr Raymond Nairn (09 631 5192) or Mandi Gregory (027 295 7010).

Monday, September 12, 7.30pm, Unite Office, 6a Western Springs Rd, Morningside GPJA ORGANISING COMMITTEE MEETING. HELPERS NEEDED.

Tuesday, September 13, Cnr Mt Eden and Mt Albert Rds, Three Kings. DUMP METROWATER! Overcharging has produced $79 million in profit in 7 years. Protest outside Metrowater’s office. For info ph 8469825 go to www.water-pressure-group.org.nz

Tuesday, September 13, 7.30pm, St Peters Church, 71 Udys Road, Pakuranga “NEW ZEALAND AS A GOOD GLOBAL CITIZEN”. Your chance to find out about the Pakuranga election candidates views on foreign policy issues such as human rights and poverty. Sponsored by Amnesty International, Oxfam, UN Association. For further information contact: Kirsty@oxfam.org.nz or 09-3559852

Monday, September 19, 7.30pm, St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont St, Opposite the Mosque

PEACE AT LAST FOR ACEH? Maire Leadbeater speaks about her recent visit to Aceh and the hopes for the peace agreement. Slide presentation Plus a short documentary film about the peace and reconstruction process "Working after the tsunami". All welcome. IHRC box 68-419, Auckland. email: maire@clear.net.nz

Friday, September 16, 10.30am, The Academy, Lorne St, City. free. [For three hours].

FREE FILM – ‘ISTER’: a film on Heidegger's philosophy of technology, culture and society, discussing his ideas and the geo-politics of middle Europe through a trip up the Danube from the Black Sea, Romania, to its source in Germany. During the film, three philosophers discuss Heidegger, giving their account of his ideas on culture and where they distinguish themselves from him. I think that it is really valuable and it is a rare chance to see a film that is something of a landmark in film-making for this region and in philosophy.

And a chance to engage with theoretical issues in an easy format. It has been written up in Artforum this year by Daniel Birnbaum very favourably, and is visually a great film to sit through. You must see it [please] and can you get as many people as you can to come along? I brought it over so students, artists and the rest could go, and to make a contribution to the culture here. So spread the word. Thanks, and ring me for any more information if you need to. Richard Dale, 376 1079, wwwdocnzfestival.com

Monday, September 19, 7.30am-9.30am, Alexandra Park, Auckland

FROM VICTIMS TO VICTORY – CHALLENGES FOR FEMINIST MUSLIM WOMEN IN NZ -

Women’s health action suffrage day breakfast. Anjum is a feminist Muslim woman – yes there are plenty out there. She is active in promoting and working for the rights of her sisters in NZ and will compare how they fair alongside their non Muslim sisters. She will also talk about the experience of Muslim women post ‘terrorist attacks’ as they become targets for abuse all over the world – including in NZ. Tickets are $30 each or $275 for a table of 10. For more info or bookings call 09 520 5295, email info@womens-health.org.nz Linda McKay, Coordinator, Women's Health Action, email linda@womens-health.org.nz Ph 09 520 5295 Fax 520 5731, P O Box 9947 Newmarket, Auckland

Saturday, September 24, 11am, US Consulate, Customs St, Downtown

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST THE WAR

BEST ON THE WEB

NEW ZEALAND

Origin Energy deal 'illegal for a month' - Origin Energy's $1.68 billion purchase of just over half of Contact Energy was illegal for a month because Origin failed to confirm it with the Overseas Investment Commission in the required time.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/print/0,1478,3401963a13,00.html

QPEC Report on Education Policies of Main Parties: Two months ago QPEC sent a questionnaire to the main political parties asking for responses to 24 key policy points at the heart of high quality public education.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED0509/S00013.htm

The individual party responses can be read on our website at

http://www.qpec.org.nz/Election-2005.html

Solidarity grows for Tongan strikers

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/641/641p18.htm

TONGA

Strike Ends! PSA signs MOU calling for democratic reforms

http://www.matangitonga.to/article/tonganews/government/strikeends040905.shtml

Big march calls for dismissal of Tongan Prime Minister

http://www.matangitonga.to/article/tonganews/government/bigmarch060905.shtml

KATRINA

As I'm sure you have, I've spent much of the last several days watching the painful images and stories still unfolding from New Orleans. As we learn more and more about what happened, it's difficult not to share the growing frustration and anger many are feeling over how officials responded to the disaster, and about the larger issues -- especially around poverty and race -- that Katrina has exposed.

http://www.iwtnews.com/Katrina_essay

The real costs of a culture of greed: Instead of the much-celebrated American can-do machine that promises to bring freedom and prosperity to less fortunate people abroad, we have seen a callous official incompetence that puts even Third World rulers to shame.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10168.htm

Fidel Castro: No Reply: What Cuba Has Offered the People of the Gulf Coast

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10140.htm

How the Free Market Killed New Orleans: Everyone was expected to devise their own way out of the disaster area by private means, just as the free market dictates, just like people do when disaster hits free-market Third World countries.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article10118.htm

WAR ON DEMOCRACY

John Pilger: The rise of the 'democratic' police state

http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2005/641/641p11.htm

AUSTRALIA

Wrong Turn: Radical labour reform is on the horizon but some workers, like Sydney bus driver Yvonne Carson, have seen it all before, writes Jim Marr.

http://workers.labor.net.au/features/200509/b_tradeunion_bus.html

CUBA

OPEN LETTER TO MR. ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - According to the information supplied by the International Press, on August 9, 2005, the Court of Appeals of the Eleventh Circuit Court of Atlanta declared null and void the decision passed in Miami which had condemned Gerardo Hernández Nordelo, René González Sehwerert, Ramón Labañino Salazar, Antonio Guerrero Rodríguez and Fernando González Llort for infiltrating the extremist Cuban American groups in the south of Florida in order to obtain information about terrorist activities directed against Cuba. Their prison sentences have already been declared illegal by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations. For the past seven years, these five young men have been held in maximum security prisons; they have been held incommunicado in isolated cells for long periods of time and two of them have been denied the right to receive family visits. At this present time, considering the nullification of the sentence, nothing justifies their incarceration.

This arbitrary situation which is extremely painful for them and their families, cannot be allowed to continue. We, who have signed below, are demanding their immediate liberation. To sign go to:

http://www.liberenlos5.cult.cu/index.php?lang=2

USA

Labor Day 2005: A Long Way to Go

http://www.cepr.net/columns/weisbrot/2005_09_05.htm

The Mounting Costs of War and the Case for Bringing Home the Troops: A Study by the Institute for Policy Studies and Foreign Policy In Focus

http://www.ips-dc.org/iraq/quagmire/#iraq

TAIWAN

Thai workers riot against `unfair' firm - `INHUMAN TREATMENT': Hundreds of Thai workers in Kaohsiung took the law into their own hands to protest what they call unacceptable treatment by their employer

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2005/08/23/2003268802

Taiwan labor minister resigns after workers' riot--report

http://news.inq7.net/breaking/index.php?index=3&story_id=49038

OIL CRISIS

The Silent Oil Crisis: In this article we look at how just because developed economies are not suffering like they did during the 1970s that the oil crisis has not already begun. The final oil crisis has begun, silent to us, but dangerously there.

http://www.countercurrents.org/po-howard050905.htm

ENDS

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