GLW issue number 982

Pakistan: 'Anti-terrorism' court jails left-wing activists for peaceful protest

A terrible disaster unfolded in 2010 in the Hunza Valley in Gilgit Baltistan (a formerly self-governing territory occupied by Pakistan since 1948). For protesting for people's rights in the aftermath of this disaster, three left-wing activists have been sentenced to 10 years jail. In July 2010, a huge landslide blocked the Hunza River and formed a gigantic 19 kilometre-wide lake, which submerged four villages. About 25 people lost their lives and 6000 people were displaced.

Free Ahmad Qatamesh, Israel's longest-held administrative detention prisoner

Ahmad Qatamesh is a 62-year-old Palestinian University academic, writer and political activist who has been held in an Israeli jail under administrative detention for more than two years. Under Israel’s policy of administrative detention, people can be held without charge or trial for indefinite periods.

Australian News

Socialist councillor seeks re-election

Socialist councillor Sam Wainwright is one of three Fremantle councillors facing a challenge in the local government elections that open on September 26. Mayor Brad Pettitt, a member of the Greens, also faces a challenge from defeated federal Liberal candidate Matthew Hanssen. The city of Fremantle has a relatively progressive council. All the challengers are more conservative than the incumbents.

Israel-Palestine peace talks 'a sham': UN expert

"Over the past 20 years since the Oslo Accords were signed, we have seen the continued reduction of Palestinian sovereignty over their legitimate territory,” Richard Falk told a forum at Sydney University on September 19. “Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon and elsewhere are consigned to a permanent never-never land. The oppression of the Palestinians by Israel over the past decades is one of the most unspeakable denials of human rights in the world today.” Falk is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, and a leading legal academic from the US.

Further Australian News

International News

US cops shoot dead injured Black man seeking help

If after Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, and Darius Simmons, you thought that you could be sickened by racist violence but no longer shocked, you need to know the story of Jonathan Ferrell.

Letter from the US: Wealth inequality grows fives years on from Lehman collapse

Further International News

Comment and Analysis

Exports to blame for high gas prices

Research by The Australia Institute has found Australian gas prices are set to double over the next few years — not because there is a gas crisis, but because gas companies are exporting Australian gas for much higher prices, driving up the price of domestic gas. Mark Ogge from The Australia Institute explained this research in a speech to a meeting of Stop CSG Illawarra in Wollongong on September 15. ***

The Australian gets it wrong on climate

A media campaign began this month to discredit the findings of the fifth major report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), due to be released on September 27. The Australian published a front page story on September 16 headlined: “We got it wrong on warming, says IPCC”.

Further Comment and Analysis

Cultural Dissent

Aboriginal rappers tell their stories in 'Real Talk'

Real Talk: Aboriginal Rappers Talk About Their Music & Country By Mat Ward 100 pages Download for free Australian hip-hop pioneer Urthboy told The Music Network last year: “I was asked to write about the state of hip-hop in Australia. I’d prefer to shine a light on what may be the future of it: Indigenous Hip-Hop. “Indigenous artists carry a profoundly engrossing and intriguing story for international audiences, yet it’s barely understood by many Australians.”

POEM: Greed

It smells like everything sweet and nice but you can never get enough of it. It tastes like chocolate that turns into vinegar but you can’t stop eating it because the chocolate’s so good and you think one more bite can’t hurt. It sounds like drums echoing in the hallway drawing you into a small room, almost controlling you. It feels like you have everything but not enough. It looks like a moth attracted to a burning flame only soon to turn into ashes. [Jada Pearl Narkle is a 12-year-old student in Perth.]

Further Cultural Dissent

Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

What's new on Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

World's longest running strike sets example Mike Marquesee looks at the ongoing struggle of South Africa's ex-Midrand Council workers. They are engaged in what is surely the world's longest running industrial dispate, starting in 1994. They are still fighting. Capitalism, sexual violence and sexism

FEATURED CONTENT

Messages to congratulate Green Left's 1000th issue

Green Left Weekly published its 1000th issue on March 12. To commemorate this, GLW has collected many messages of solidarity and for pledges to its 2014 Fund Appeal that will keep it fighting for system change.

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John Pilger

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