Persecution of Roma worsens in Europe

By Tony Iltis
From Green Left Weekly
Saturday, September 4, 2010

Romani people face off riot police during a rally in Montreuil, France. The French government deported hundreds of Roma in August for ‘threatening public order’. 

In scenes reminiscent of the Nazi German occupation, French police rounded up almost 1000 Romani people (sometimes called Gypsies) in August and deported them to Romania and Bulgaria. 

The mass deportations were foreshadowed by President Nicolas Sarkozy in July in a series of inflammatory speeches in which he accused Romani people of being in an “unacceptable situation of lawlessness” linked to “illicit trafficking, deeply unworthy living conditions and exploitation of children for begging, prostitution or crime”.

Romani camps across France were bulldozed and Roma with Romanian or Bulgarian citizenship were given a choice of “voluntary repatriation” (with a payment of 300 euros to each adult and 100 euros for each child) or being deported for “threatening public order”.

On August 31, an administrative court in Lille blocked the deportation of seven Roma, casting doubt on the legality of the “threatening public order” pretext. Romania and Bulgaria have been European Union members since 2007, giving their citizens the right of free movement between EU countries. 

The legality of the deportations has also been questioned by EU and United Nations human rights agencies, as well as Amnesty International.

The Roma are Europe’s largest minority, estimated at between 5 million and 9 million. They have historically faced appalling treatment — subjected to slavery, mass deportations, exclusion and violent pogroms. 

Cooperation among socialists & allies on the refugee issue

By Grant Morgan The refugee issue is almost certain to rise from near invisibility in New Zealand politics to become a strategic battleground. Waves of refugees will be thrown up by the poverty, strife and ecotastrophes of global capitalism’s end times. The Right & Centre & much of the Left in New Zealand politics will seek to portray these waves of refugees as threats to “our way of life”. This could open the way towards authoritarian nationalism which jackboots the NZ working class as well as offshore refugees. NZ socialists and our allies must show that offshore refugees are a resource, not a threat, to the majority of Kiwis under the thumb of corporate bosses and politicians. Refugees are a resource for our side because they are fleeing the poverty, wars and other calamities caused by the same world system which kicks most Kiwis around. They are our natural allies against the unnatural forces of global capitalism. In addition to our duty of solidarity with victims of a hateful system, socialists have a duty of foresight to see the near inevitability of the refugee issue becoming a strategic battleground in Aotearoa. So it was very good to see different socialist groups (Socialist Worker, Workers Party, Communist League) represented at the Auckland protest on 18 January in solidarity with Tamil refugees. These refugees are being held hostage by Indonesian state forces in collaboration with the Australian and New Zealand governments. (See media release by protest organiser Priyaksha Pathmanathan below.) Cooperation among NZ socialist groups on the refugee issue is a positive sign for the future. And so too is the international cooperation among socialists and other activists around the Tamil refugee issue. The Auckland protest was just one small event in a seven-country campaign which embraces Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, United States and England as well as New Zealand. This is a real step forward for practical solidarity among various socialist groups in both the global South and the global North.

NT walk-off: Indigenous community defies racist intervention

by Peter Robson & Emma Murphy 10 October 2009 From Green Left Weekly In early October, Green Left Weekly visited the Alyawarr people’s walk-off camp, three hours north-east of Alice Springs. A statement from the protest camp reads: “On July 14 we, Elders from the Ampilatwatja Aboriginal community, three hours north-east of Alice Springs, walked out of our houses and set up camp in the bush. “We are fed up with the federal government’s Northern Territory intervention, controls and measures, visions and goals forced onto us from outside. We felt [like] we were outcast and isolated from all decision-making — there has been no meaningful consultation. “We therefore have no intention of going back there. We intend to stay here until our demands are met.” The NT [Northern Territory] intervention was launched in June 2007 by the then-federal Coalition government. Its policies, which continue today under Labor, were supposedly designed to mitigate instances of child abuse and neglect in remote NT communities. In fact, the laws making up the intervention were so racially discriminatory they required exemption from the Racial Discrimination Act to be passed. They included the takeover of Aboriginal land under compulsory five-year leases, widespread pornography and alcohol bans, increased police powers and the implementation of “welfare quarantining”. Community-based elected councils were dismissed in favour of broader shires, administered by non-Aboriginal people in regional centres. “Welfare quarantining” transferred half of all payments made to Aboriginal welfare recipients into a “Basics” card, which could only be used in certain stores, and only on food, clothing and medical supplies. Ampilatwatja, part of around 300 square kilometres handed back to the Alyawarra people in 1976, is one of the communities compulsorily acquired under the intervention. Elders at the walk-off camp told GLW they felt shame and anger at the discriminatory measures of the intervention. The previously community-run housing, now the responsibility of Territory Housing, had fallen into such disrepair since it was taken over, that sewage from burst pipes ran in the streets. They decided to leave, and set up camp on an area of their homeland not covered by the government-imposed five-year lease. For the last three months, they have maintained a 30 to 40-person strong presence in the protest camp, despite high temperatures, scarce water and fierce dust storms. Donald Thompson, an elder at the camp, told GLW: “We won’t go back. The government can take [Ampilatwatja] and we’ll keep this one.” He lifted a handful of the red dust of the camp and let it run through his fingers. The elders of Ampilatwatja are not strangers to this sort of protest. Thompson and his colleague, Banjo Morton, said they where involved in strikes, sit-downs and walk-offs from as early as World War II. Morton and Thompson worked as drovers and station hands since they were teenagers, part of the vast and largely unpaid Aboriginal workforce that cleared much of central Australia for white settlements and cattle stations. The Alyawarr people were driven from their traditional lands in 1910. The men were employed as drovers and station hands, working for rations and sent to whatever cattle station required the cheap labour. Women and children lived on the outskirts of the large stations, working as domestic help — again in exchange for rations. For many of the old people, the intervention’s Basics card is a direct reminder of the ration days. “Just like that welfare card, they’re making us go backward, back to the welfare days”, Morton said. “We’re staying here til everything comes good, might be good news from government, something like that … There’s no work for my mob. Things were working good before the shire [and the five-year lease] came in there.” The Basics card is particularly galling for the two men who had spent their entire working lives opening up the country, paving the way for the incredibly lucrative pastoral industry. They told GLW that around the time of WWII they were involved in a sit-down strike for £2 a week on top of the rations they received. A sympathetic police officer agreed to drive the workers back to their traditional lands. Scared to lose his captive workers, the station-owner gave in and paid them. The Lake Nash walk-off was among the first of many such struggles waged by Aboriginal workers in the NT. Thompson was working in Tennant Creek at the time of the historic 1966 Gurintji walk-off, which started as a struggle for wages but went on to become a campaign for the Gurintji people’s right to live on their traditional lands. By the time Ampilatwatja and surrounding country was handed back to the Alyawarra people by the Whitlam government, work on cattle stations had dried up, as station owners sacked Aboriginal people rather than pay them the new wages they were entitled to under the equal wages decision of 1968. “[Pastoralists] are rich now, nothing for Aboriginal people”, said Thompson. “We got a new government and they just follow John Howard’s laws.” The people of Ampilatwatja hope their action will inspire other communities affected by the intervention to follow suit. They are planning a meeting of different language groups to discuss the potential for other communities to walk off. Meanwhile, the Alyawarr elders have no intention of going back. No government representatives have met them on their own terms. Aboriginal affairs minister Jenny Macklin has confirmed that Ampilatwatja will not receive any new housing. They plan to establish a more permanent base than the basic, un-irrigated bush camp in which they now live. They hope to build a new community based entirely on donations from supporters, free from government help. To build support across the country, especially among unions, they have sent their spokesperson, Richard Downs, to eastern states, to profile their struggle in the cities. Downs’ packed schedule includes meeting unions and community groups and speaking at public meetings. Downs was particularly happy with the response from unions so far. After a meeting with the Maritime Union of Australia in Sydney, he told GLW: “They go way back with our mob. Back to the Lake Nash walk-off, Gurintji. They said they’d stand alongside us in this campaign, and tell all their members about it.” In Sydney on October 7, he addressed a packed lecture theatre at the University of Technology Sydney, along with Harry Nelson from Yuendumu and National Indigenous Times editor Chris Graham. Downs spoke of the importance of building support for his people: their struggle wasn’t against white Australia, but the government. He also spoke of an issue affecting us all: climate change. He said in establishing the new camp, his people planned to use renewable technology and permaculture, and become an example of a sustainable community. Reflecting on the fact that, three months after walking out, the protest camp continues, Graham said: “The government might just have underestimated their resilience. This could be the start of something big.” [For details of Downs’ tour, to make donations or for more information, visit www.interventionwalkoff.wordpress.com.]

Hone Harawira on the FTA with China

Hone Harawira, MP for Te Tai Tokerau

24 July 2008

I tera wiki, i whakanuitia ana a Rererangi Aotearoa e te Minita Tapoi e Damien O’Connor, i te whakatuwheratanga o te rere-kotahi, mai i a Beijing, ki Tamaki Makaurau.

Last week, Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor was heaping praises upon Air New Zealand as they launched the first non-stop service between Auckland and Beijing.

E mea ana te minita, “he marea hokohoko tino nui ki Haina, mo ake tonu”.

“This very important long-term Chinese market” was how the Minister put it.

Continue

South African activists call for solidarity against attacks on migrants

Zimbabwean refugees want solidarity in the struggle against Mugabe not racist attacks and xenophobia encouraged by South Africa's ruling elites

by Ken Olende
from British Socialist Worker
20 May 2008

A series of brutal attacks on migrant workers in South Africa in the last two weeks has left dozens dead and forced thousands to flee.

At least 22 people had been killed as Socialist Worker went to press. The mobs carrying out the assaults accuse migrants of taking jobs from local people and causing crime.

Activists in Johannesburg have called a solidarity march to build unity between South African workers and migrants.

The Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) issued a statement against the attacks. “Some 40 percent of all South African citizens are unemployed and this has been the case for many years,” it read.

“This is not the result of immigrants from other countries coming to South Africa but rather, the result of the anti-poor, profit-seeking policies of the government and the behaviour of the capitalist class.”

It also pointed out that “the South African government’s approach to the crisis in Zimbabwe has further contributed to the mass migration of Zimbabweans to South Africa”.

The majority of the migrants have arrived from neighbouring Zimbabwe since the collapse of its economy.

The APF is urgently building this Saturday’s solidarity march against the attacks. Claire Ceruti, editor of the Socialism from Below publication, spoke to Socialist Worker: “Migrant workers are sheltering in police stations, which is ironic since police arrested 1,500 of them in a raid at the end of January.

“The whole police operation suggested that migrants were to blame. It acted as a prologue to the current problems.”

People have been taken by surprise at the level of violence, she adds. “I live in Yeoville, which is normally a vibrant suburb, but is now silent. No kids are out playing, no one is walking on the street. People are just too scared to show their faces.

“But one small example shows the potential for solidarity. In inner city Johannesburg several residential buildings have been organising against evictions by the city government.

“The majority of people in one of the buildings are from Zimbabwe and came under attack over the weekend. But the advice centre that coordinates the anti-eviction campaign mobilised the other blocks, which are almost all South African. The attackers were driven off.

“This issue can still go both ways. The next days will be crucial in ensuring the success of the solidarity march and giving people who oppose the attacks the confidence to come out on to the streets.”

See LINKS for more information on this important struggle.

Principled opposition to FTA with China

We are living in interesting times. The debate on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China is one that will either swing to the right or the left. Inside the Labour Party opposition to the FTA is being cast as a racist stance. When the Maori Party opposed the FTA Phil Goff made a statement on TV 3 news that the Maori Party were "prejudiced". Immediately TV3 news went straight into a story about anti-Chinese racism. This harsh and unfair criticism of the Maori Party's principled opposition to the FTA was in sharp contrast to both Labour and National's response to New Zealand First’s belated opposition, which was based on racism and opportunist scapegoating. Instead Labour and National's response to NZ First was conciliatory and even supportive, both parties said they wanted to keep him on as Foreign Minister. In fact Peter's stance has helped them in spreading their fiction that all opposition to the FTA is based on xenophobia. Goff went as far as saying that Peters’ opposition was bullshit – which is true. According to Fran O'Sullivan he did everything to clear the path for the FTA, including calling on people not to be harsh on China over Tibet. And also manipulating the NZ First caucus to postpone their meeting to decide and announce their opposition until after the deal had been signed. The danger of NZ First pandering to anti-Chinese racism, and so gaining kudos for the right, is a real and present danger. Particularly as we predict the costs for working people of this deal will be negative and possibly extremely so. For a racist right wing anti-union xenophobic party to be the beneficiary of Labour's betrayal of working people would be a tragic side-effect of the FTA. As Chinese and Kiwi workers would be pitted against each other. While big business here and in China laughs all the way to the bank. We should be explaining and arguing that the FTA is final proof that the Labour Party has gone from being the advocate of working people to being the advocate of big business. It’s the corporate elites who’ve been calling for the FTA and who will be its beneficiaries. We must make the argument that the FTA will harm both New Zealand and Chinese workers. And that rather than getting workers to compete against each other we should be putting our hand out to our Chinese brothers and sisters to frustrate the practical implementation of this deal. I’m promoting a call inside the union movement to demand that the Chinese indentured work gangs due to be brought here are paid no less than us and receive all the other work rights that we enjoy.

Broad left party to fight the causes of recession

by Pat O'Dea I found this post on Tumeke. I thought it quite thought provoking. Yes a recession could bring a sharp swing to the right, and the politics of division. As Tim Selwyn points out, the dominos are all lined up and could easily fall that way. But it is not inevitable, and it doesn't have to be that way. I feel Tim Selwyn hasn't given the whole story. History shows that there needs to be a political movement to channel and foster divisions and fear that would come with the slump, and try and take advantage of these fears by scapegoating immigrants and/or minorities. In this country this role has been carried out by NZ First, with mixed results. But their political star is fading. Let's hope it stays that way. The temptation for Winston Peters and his ilk will be to relaunch their party in a much more open and virulently racist way to gain opportunist advantage from the slump. The other factor that would weigh in the opposite direction is the creation of a broad left all inclusive party that wants to fight the causes of the recession and defend grass roots communities from its effects. As a necessary part of this campaign the new Broad Left Party will naturally need to unite all the grassroots peoples and movements to be able to be able to achieve any of their aims, this strategy would leave no room for racism or scapegoating. The R word: Large numbers of immigrants + Local population + Recession = *Racism.* Posted by Tim Selwyn @ 2:28 PM Tuesday, March 18, 2008 http://tumeke.blogspot.com/2008/03/r-word.html%3E/ That's usually how it works. Everything's fine - on the surface - until an economic slump occurs whereby competition intensifies over scarceresources (esp. jobs, govt. assistance and housing) resulting inanimosity between competing groups, viz: the local born (or well-integrated non-identifiably immigrant/foreign) population and the foreign-born (or more readily identifiably immigrant/foreign) population. NZ since the recession of '91-'92, has had rapid immigration growth esp. of people not Maori or European. That time has been marked by modest economic growth. I have argued in the past that it was the immigration itself that has largely contributed to that growth. My question is what happens if that stops? Do the recent immigrants without deep roots here go to Australia (as they have been doing in increasing numbers already)? Or do they return to their country of origin (as some of the more wealthy may have done as they have good connexions and family)? Or do they stay on in NZ? I would say any decrease - substantial decrease - in immigration rates will flow through to lower housing prices very quickly, then after that will come an economic slow-down as consumption drops. If we are hit by a world-wide recession as well we could be in more trouble than soaring diary prices can solve. My concern is that these financial aspects will have repercussions at the social level. We are in uncharted territory here. Having had contact with many different walks of life while imprisoned I was struck by the virrulent racism of many provincial people and that affect could come through into the cities if the situation became acute.

Hone Harawira on the FTA with China

Hone Harawira, MP for Te Tai Tokerau

24 July 2008

I tera wiki, i whakanuitia ana a Rererangi Aotearoa e te Minita Tapoi e Damien O’Connor, i te whakatuwheratanga o te rere-kotahi, mai i a Beijing, ki Tamaki Makaurau.

Last week, Tourism Minister Damien O’Connor was heaping praises upon Air New Zealand as they launched the first non-stop service between Auckland and Beijing.

E mea ana te minita, “he marea hokohoko tino nui ki Haina, mo ake tonu”.

“This very important long-term Chinese market” was how the Minister put it.

E toru ra ki muri, he tirohanga rereke mo tënei ‘marea hokohoko tino nui ki Haina, mo ake tonu’ – na Tatauranga Aotearoa.

Three days later, Statistics New Zealand gave another view about this very important long-term Chinese market.

I te marama o Pipiri, ko heke nga manuhiri no Haina i te 24% i temarama o Pipiri o tera tau, 1600 nga tangata.

Short term visitor arrivals from China in June 2008 were a massive 24 percent down- some 1600 people less than recorded in June 2007.

E rua marama atu i te hainatanga o te Kawenata Hokohoko Noa, kua kite tätou, kaore pea nga huamoni e rite ana ki nga tümanako.

Just two months after the Free Trade Agreement had been signed it appears the economic benefits of the FTA may not be as secure as first envisaged.

Ka matakite te pukapuka a ‘Tü Mai’, a ngä tau tekau e tu mai nei, 61 miriona nga turuhi no Haina, ka haere ki whenua ke. Ko te marea hokohoko whai rawa o Haina tënei, e whakaarohia ana e te Minita Tapoi.

Tü Mai Magazine estimated that in the next ten years, there is a possible 61 million Chinese outbound tourists heading off to distant places. This is the lucrative Chinese Market the Tourism Minister is thinking about.

Engari ko te pätai nui ki a tatou, me pehea te marea hokohoko nei e patari ai ki tenei whenua? He hinaki ranei e mau ai tatou?

But the big question that hangs over all of our heads is – what will it take, to lure this market to our shores? Or will it all be a one-way street?

Ko ngä kaimahi utu-iti, hei maunu ma ngä pakihi o Aotearoa, e raruraru ana i te kainga.

The lure of labour at cheap rates will be an irresistible pull factor for many New Zealand businesses who are struggling to hold it together at home.

Kia penei rawa a Aotearoa nei? Hei kura pae mo Haina?

Is that the type of Aotearoa we want? Just another link in the Made in China brand?

Kua tohutohu mai te ropu Rongomau me te Tika o te Ao, ko te utu ki a tatou, ko ngä turanga mahi rua tekau mano ka ngaro, ko te nuinga he mahi wheketere, i te mutunga o ngä taake hoko mai.

Global Peace and Justice have pointed out that the costs at home may extend up to more than twenty thousand jobs being lost – mostly in manufacturing – as tariffs are phased out and removed.

E maumahara tonu ana tatou ki ngä tau waru tekau – he parekura te whakawateatanga kia hokohoko noa, i pa kino nei ki ngä kaimahi, ara, ngä kaimahi Maori i ngä wheketere.

We all remember the reforms of the 1980s; the savage impact that trade liberalization had for workers, particularly Maori in manufacturing jobs.

E maumahara tonu ana tatou ki te MAI, me tona tahuhu, kia taetae noa mai ngä kamupene nunui o te ao, ki te hoko haere i a tatou rawa.

We remember the Multilateral Agreement on Investment which aimed to allow multi-billion dollar corporates open season on assets in Aotearoa.

A, e möhio anoki tatou, he aitua ki ngä kaimahi o konei, i te wa e whiwhi nui ana ngä kamupene nui o Haina, me ngä taniwha, penei i a Fonterra.

And we know that New Zealand workers will become collateral damage, while Chinese companies and international corporations such as Fonterra will score big time.

Ko ngä hua, e kore e eke ki te utu – engari, ehara te utu i te moni anake.

The stated return is simply not worth the risk – and the costs are not only in monetary terms.

I te wa e ngaro ana te waihanga taputapu ki Haina, ka heke to tatou mana, i etahi atu ahuatanga o tenei piringa, ki to tatou hoa hokohoko hou.

While our manufacturing needs will be outsourced to China, our international reputation will inevitably be tarnished by the other impacts of our relationships with our new trading partner.

I te timatanga o te whakatata haere ki Beijing, e titiro ana te ao ki Haina, kia kitea mena e hiahia ana te kawanatanga ki te whakatika i ana takahanga mana tangata, penei i te whakapai, i te paru ki te one.

As the buildup to Beijing starts cranking up, the international community is looking to China, to see evidence of any political will to clean up its human rights violations as comprehensively as it has got rid of the algae on its beaches.

Engari, aue taukuri e, e ai ki ngä korero a Amnesty International, ka whakawhiu tonu atu te käwanatanga, i ngä kaiwawao, mana tangata.

But sadly the reports from Amnesty International indicate that far from it the official persecution of human rights activists continues.

Kino atu i tera, kei te mauhere tonu ngä kaiwawao, ratou e tohu ana i ngä hara a te kawanatanga, kia tika katoa ai i mua o te timatanga o te Tauwhainga Olympic.

Worse yet, human rights defenders who are speaking out about violations are being detained, imprisoned as part of the pre-Olympics clean-up.

E maumahara ana au ki tetahi kauhau a te Pirimia i te Akoranga Rongomau i te Whare Wananga o Tamaki Makaurau, ka penei ia: “Kei te tino maharahara au, ina whakawaireka te kawanatanga Nahinara ki a ratou o Ahia, e kore e taea, ta ratou whakamaru mana tangata, te kite.”

I am reminded of a speech the Prime Minister once made to the Auckland University Centre for Peace Studies, in which she said, and I quote: “I am very concerned that the National government has chosen a path of ingratiation with those in Asia whose human rights record is poor”.

Kia marama ai tatou, na te tino kino te takahi mana tangata o Haina, ka tuhi atu a Amnesty International i tetahi reta, i runga i ngä aue a te tini mano, huri noa i te ao, e karanga ana kia Haina, kia whakatikangia ngä mana tangata, kua roa ke, e taamia ana.

Just to make it quite clear – the human rights record in the People’s Republic of China is so poor that Amnesty International has sent a letter, inspired by what they describe as hundreds of thousands of voices from around the world, echoing the call to address the longstanding human rights concerns.

Tera ka mate ano te matauranga tuku iho a ngä tupuna, i ngä mahi whakawaireka a te kawanatanga.

Another likely victim of this political path of ingratiation is the risks inherent to intellectual and cultural heritage.

Kua tohu mai tera pukenga pakihi a Aroha Mead, kei totohu ngä toi Maori i te waipuke mai, o ngä taputapu noa.

Maori business senior lecturer, Aroha Mead, has warned about the likely threat that Maori art will become swamped by mass production.

Nana ano te whakatupato, kei waimeha te tohu mana o Toi Iho, i te nui o ngä taputapu tinihanga, e hokona ana.

She has also suggested that the toi iho trademark which protects quality Maori arts and crafts may well be devalued as the market becomes flooded with cheap, gaudy products.

I te wa o te Komiti Tirohanga, ka penei tonu ngä karanga a te Ropu Tapoi Maori o Aotearoa, a Toi Maori Aotearoa, a Ngä Aho Whakaari, ratou ko Kia Kaha (clothing), ko Huia (publishers) e tautoko ana.

During the select committee process, these same concerns came through loud and clear from the New Zealand Maori Tourism Society, Toi Maori Aotearoa, Nga Aho Whakaari (Maori in film, video and TV), supported by Kia Kaha clothing and Huia Publishers.

Ehara enei i te ihu hupe.

These are not lightweights by any means.

He umanga ta pukapuka a Huia kua whiwhi tohu, otira nana ano to matou mana o Aotearoa i whakapumau, na te whakamatau, na te whiriwhiri, na te whakaputa i taua mana motuhake ki te ao.

Huia is not only an award winning publisher but their works have made a significant contribution our identity as a nation - defining, creating and expressing our distinctive edge on the world stage.

Kei a Kia Kaha te tikanga o nga kakahu mo to tatou toa hauporo mo Cambo, mo nga kakahu hoki mo o tatou kapa ki nga tauwhainga o te ao, otira ka hokona atu a ratou kakahu ki Poihakena, ki Amerika, ki Uropi hoki.

Kia Kaha not only has the clothing contract for our top golfer Cambo, and previous Commonwealth Games uniforms, but boasts wholesale and retail customers in Australia, the UK, US and Europe.

Ko Nga Aho Whakaari te ropu o nga kaimahi Maori whakaata, nga kaiwhakatu whakaari, nga ringa tohu, nga kaimahi hangarau, nga kaituhi hoki, puta noa te ao.

Ngā Aho Whakaari is the national representative body for Māori working in film, video and television in New Zealand so includes internationally acclaimed actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers across its reach.

Tena, i te hui tahi ngä ropu nei, ki te tiaki i te rangatiratanga, me mataara te ao, me ki, to tatou ao Maori.

So when these groups get together, out of concern for the protection of rangatiratanga, the world needs to sit up and listen – well at least our world anyway.

I mea atu ratou ki te Komiti, me whakau ngä ture i te tikanga, kia tautoko te Karauna i te rangatiratanga Maori o ngä taonga katoa, tae atu ki te matauranga.

They told the select committee that the legislation needs to reflect the Crown’s active duty to protect Maori authority and control over taonga and matauranga.

E whakaae ana matou ki te take, i kokiritia e te Uru Kahikatea (FOMA), me tupu te ohanga whanui, kia ora ai ngä pakihi Maori.

While we acknowledge the points made by the Federation of Maori Authority, that economic growth is essential for Maori businesses to succeed, we cannot turn a blind eye to the risks and responsibilities we hold to argue for ethical investment.

Engari, e kore matou e whakaae, ki te whakaaro kuware o te Komiti, ma te whai rawa haere o Haina, ma te whakawhanaunga haere ki te ao whanui, e kaha ake ai ta ratou arai i ngä mana tangata.

We simply cannot accept the rather naïve excuse put up by the select committee, that growing prosperity and engagement with the outside world is likely to be linked with better human rights in China.

E kore matou e whakapono, ma te Kawenata Hokohoko Pokanoa me to tatou whenua iti nei, ka kitea a Haina i te maramatanga, kia huri ai rätou, ki te ara tika.
It simply doesn’t wash with us that the Free Trade Agreement China has signed up to with our little country, will make the mighty superpower see the light and change their ways.

Hei whakakapinga korero; i a tatou e whakatata ana ki te waru o ngä ra o Hereturikoka, e mohio ana tatou, kei te whakaaro ngä rangatira nunui o te ao, tera me huri tuara ratou ki te ra whakatuwheratanga o te Tauwhainga Olympic, hei tohu whakahe i te takahanga a Haina i ngä mana tangata, i te mana motuhake o Tibet.

Finally, as we count-down to August 8, we know that international leaders from across the globe are considering whether they might boycott the Olympics Opening ceremonies as a powerful criticism over China’s human rights record and security crackdown in Tibet.

Ka pera ano to tatou whakahe? – ka huri ranei tatou ki te whakawaireka i a Hori Puihi, i a ia e whakawaireka ana ki a Haina?

Will we be prepared to also show our concern - or will we instead be sidling up to President Bush as he in turn sidles up to China?

E kore matou o te Paati Maori e piupiu i te haki whakapono, ki te Kawenata Hokohoko Pokanoa.

We in the Maori Party will not be waving the flag of faith in the FTA.

Tuturu, e tautoko ana matou i te ohanga Maori, e kite ana matou i ngä painga ki ngä iwi e puta mai ana i te hokohoko kaimoana, mahi täpoi ki a Haina.

Of course we want every opportunity to support Maori economic advancement, and we recognize the opportunities that iwi see in China, particularly in the area of seafood exports and tourism.

Engari me pehea mätou, e huri ke i te taamitanga taikaha o ngä reo motuhake o Tibet, he takahanga tera i te tangata whenua?

But how can we with any conscience, overlook the brutal repression of dissent in Tibet which represents a callous disregard for the rights of indigenous peoples.

E mataara ana matou ki ngä tara koi i roto i te hokohoko pokanoa, pai ke ati ki a mätou, te hokohoko tika.

We remain concerned about the fish-hooks in free trade rather than the justice of fair trade.

E rapu ana matou i ngä huarahi e tiakina ai te taiao, ngä mana tangata, me ngä tikanga mahi.

We seek strategies which are about protection of the environment, human rights and worker rights.

I te tonga o te ra, he taumaha rawa te utu o ngä turanga mahi, ngä utu mahi, ngä matauranga mahi, te mana motuhake, e ngari katoa ai. E kore matou e tautoko i te Ture mo te Kawenata Hokohoko Pokanoa me Haina.

And in the long run, we calculate the costs of lost employment, lost wages, lost expertise, lost independence, as a cost too big to bear. We do not support the New Zealand China Free Trade legislation.

DRUMS OF WAR

- PLEASE PASS ON TO YOUR NETWORKS -

Kia ora te whanau,

Our roopu have just recorded a new song about the recent
Police terror raids and the place of Maori within the
so called 'justice' system.
The lyrics are by MC Flowsion
aka Warren Beazley no Nga Puhi,
the beats are by High Stakes Records.

We're selling the tune on CD for a gold coin koha ,
all proceeds will go to the innocent families
caught up in the raids.
We pressed up 50 yesterday but
they already sold out,
so we're putting it up for download here:

http://www.myspace.com/highstakesrecordsnz

We'll be selling more CDs at rallies and
public meetings protesting the
Police actions.

Please support this take in any way you can,
whether it be marching,
writing, singing, painting, hei aha,
every voice counts. He koha iti
tenei mo te Iwi.

Nga manaaki,
Tiopira McDowell
High Stakes Records
highstakesrecords@gmail.com
http://www.myspace.com/highstakesrecordsnz

Galloway in New Zealand- On Film

Solidarity Rally with Aboriginal Australia

No to Howard's Land Grab!

The Auckland branch of Socialist Worker has called for all anti racist and trade union groups to join with them at a protest outside the Australian Consulate this Monday July 2nd at 4.30pm, to oppose John Howard's invasion of Aboriginal lands in the Northern Territories and elsewhere.

"Forced blanket medical testing, the occupation of tribal lands by the trigger happy Australian Army and a racist Police force guilty of the murder of dozens of Black Australians in custody, and a draconian state attack on welfare and human rights is a declaration of war by Johnnie Howard on the Aboriginal people" said organiser Joe Carolan.

"We saw how little Johnnie cynically used the children of the Tampa to win an election before. Now it is Black Australian kids who are being "thrown overboard" by their families! Will Johnnie be sending the army into Sydney's leafy suburbs of North Shore if abuse was ever reported there?"

"The trade union movement in Aotearoa has a proud record of uniting Pakeha, Maori and immigrant workers to fight for their rights. Now its time for us to stand with our brothers and sisters in Black Australia. In particular, we appeal to Maori workers and community groups to rally with us, and stand up against the racism of this odious little man."

BRING ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN, TINO RANGATIRATANGA AND RED FLAGS, TRADE UNION BANNERS

PROTEST-
Meet at Britomart,
4.30pm Monday July 2nd
marching to Australian Consulate
www.unityaotearoa.blogspot.com

"I absolutely agree that this a cynical attack on Australian Aboriginals. I support protest from New Zealand Unions against John Howard on this issue. If there are these problems to address then let the Aboriginals themselves resolve them through adequate support and funding from the Australian government - instead of imposing a police state style attack on people who have had suffer the consequences of past and present racist government policy and racist attitudes. I urge all those who can attend the below to do so."

Kia kaha, kia mau tonu

Georgi Marchioni

Organiser New Zealand Nurses Organisation and Maori Worker against Howard’s Racist Attack

WHEN: Mon 2nd July 2007 @ 4:30PM

WHERE: Auckland, Meet @ QEII Square(Britomart) then head to Australian Consulate

WHY: To show solidarity to the Aboriginal communities and beneficiaries of our neighbouring Australia.

Johnny Howard discovers ‘white man’s burden’

Peter Boyle- Socialist Alliance of Australia

22 June 2007


“I’m taking control”, said Johnny Howard, with a contrived quiver of righteousness in his voice. His face was set into a familiar pastiche of horror and disgust at the degraded behaviour of lesser beings. He also conveyed a weariness — the weariness of shouldering the “white man’s burden”.

We’ve been here before. Remember the fake children overboard incident? Howard’s message then was: how subhuman of those refugees to throw their own children overboard just so they could jump the immigration queue and flood our “cultured and civilised” Australia.

Then, as now, an authoritarian “emergency” solution was presented as necessary, and a lily livered Labor opposition rushed into the shoulder-to-shoulder position.

Will Howard’s replay of this card work?

Will enough people be fooled into thinking he really cares about Aboriginal children, even after he’s dismissed the many appeals by Aboriginal leaders, health and aid bodies for urgent action to address the Indigenous health crisis?

He’s dismissed those who have been pointing to the shameful fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders die 17 years earlier than non-Indigenous Australians, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander infant mortality is three times that of non-Indigenous Australians. He’s dismissed the modest appeal by Oxfam and the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation for spending on Aboriginal health to be increased by a mere $450 million a year.

Howard sheds crocodile tears, but how many Indigenous kids have died as a result of the Howard government’s criminal inhumanity since 1996? How many children have been abused and neglected because entire communities have been left in squalor and hopelessness?

How many would have been saved if there was a real program of positive discrimination for Indigenous people in education and employment? If there was a real Indigenous job creation campaign? How many Indigenous people have died in police and prison custody because of the failure to implement all the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody?

It’s convenient for Howard and the tough-love-sloganeering Noel Pearson to blame everything on the welfare system when it is the absence of any system to actually end the racist oppression, economic marginalisation and poverty of Indigenous communities that is the cause of these problems.

Welfare has never been able to do anything but patch and band-aid, and cannot be expected to address the real issues.

Howard’s grand solution is to send 60 cops to the Northern Territory’s remote Aboriginal settlements to end child sex abuse by banning their access to alcohol and pornography, controlling the spending of welfare benefits and thereby by forcing the kids to go to school.

What is the real record of authoritarian and paternalistic regimes and child abuse? How many commissions of inquiry into that story of institutional abuse have been buried and forgotten?

Howard’s headline-grabbing, prejudice-tapping “emergency program” is not designed to address any real social problem. It’s simply a way to press the racist button in the coming federal elections. It is the Tampa for the 2007 election.

Indigenous Australians are the football in this cynical political game — they are in for a mighty kicking if there is no resistance from those who know what is really going on.

Angela Davis

Moira Nolan looks at Angela Davis, who has campaigned against racism and injustice for over 35 years

In October 2004, the Not In My Name US anti-war coalition took out a full page advert in the New York Times condemning the war in Iraq.

Among the high profile academics and Hollywood stars uniting to oppose George Bush’s war was Angela Davis — a key figure of the black liberation movement in the 1970s.

Davis was catapulted to international renown in 1970 when the FBI put her on its Most Wanted list and issued an “Armed and Dangerous” poster of her — in those days an invitation to any racist cop in the US to gun her down in cold blood.

Yet for millions of black Americans Davis was a symbol of the movement to end the institutionalised racism of the US—and especially its prison system.

As a child in the 1940s Davis grew up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, in an area known as Dynamite Hill because of the vast number of black American houses firebombed by the Ku Klux Klan.

The 1960s civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam war campaigns were springboards for radical change and brought Davis into struggle.

By the late 1960s the mass non-violent campaigns that led to desegregation across much of the South, led by Martin Luther King, had impacted across the whole country.

Black communities were involved in struggles against discrimination in jobs and housing, especially in northern cities such as Chicago and Detroit.

A minority began to see that real liberation for black people could only come about with economic justice and linked individual battles to a wider struggle against the entire capitalist system.

The more radical elements of the black liberation movement began to reject non-violence in the face of the increasing brutal response of the US government.

Organisations such as the Black Panther Party argued for the carrying of arms to use in self defence in the ghettos.

Davis was a Black Panther and a member of the US Communist Party. She argued, “The only true path of liberation for black people is the one that leads towards a complete and total overthrow of the capitalist class in this country.”

Her key campaigning focus was the justice system in the US — she railed, and continues to do so, against the way that the law is used to perpetrate great injustice against black people in the US.

The case of George Jackson was an example of this. He was arrested at 18 for stealing $70 from a petrol station and ended up serving over ten years in jail — seven years in solitary confinement. In 1971 he was killed in a prison riot in the notorious Soledad jail.

From her “respectable” position as a lecturer in philosophy at the University of California, Davis had played a key role in the Soledad Brothers Defence Committee to “Free George Jackson”.

Her uncompromising stance led to an attempt to sack her from her post in 1969.

Ronald Reagan, then governor of California, spearheaded a witch-hunt to get Davis sacked. This met massive resistance across campus and beyond — more than 1,500 students now attended her lectures.

Reagan succeeded when the US state found an excuse to carry his persecution of Davis onto a higher level.

As the movement for black liberation dissipated, the government carried out widespread repression of the Black Panthers.

Some 20 leading members were killed in 18 months and leading figures such as Huey Newton and Bobby Seale unsuccessfully framed for murder.

Davis was accused of supplying guns to Jonathan Jackson, George’s brother. He invaded a California courthouse and took hostages in an attempt to free two black Soledad inmates on trial.

The subsequent FBI manhunt for Davis could easily have led to her death.

After her arrest in New York, Davis was detained for 18 months and became the subject of the kind of campaign for justice she had led for others. She was receiving up to 400 letters a day from around the world.

Her writing from this period is passionate and polemical, and often contains a sharp analysis of race and class.

Women, Race and Class, Davis’s most widely read book, attempts to understand the dynamic between oppression and exploitation in capitalist society.

Her analysis sharply differs from the dominant ideas of many leaders of liberation movements in seeing the struggles for women or blacks as ones that need to engage wider sections of society.

Davis’s engagement with the modern anti-war movement is a testament to her belief that, collectively, we have the power to order the world anew.

Also in the Revolutionary women series:
» Constance Markievicz
» Alexandra Kollontai

Community leaders abhor magazine's 'negative stereotyping' of Muslims

RAM info line 19.4.07:
The following item was issued as a media release on 19 April 2007. You can help to organise against the danger of Islamophobic racism in New Zealand by forwarding it to your family and friends. Thank you.

The March 2007 edition of "Investigate" magazine carried a lengthy article by Ian Wishart which claimed that the New Zealand Muslim community is being infected by "Islamic extremism".

"Mr Wishart's 18-page rant is New Zealand's first full-on example of Islamophobic gutter journalism," said Grant Morgan, organiser of RAM ­ Residents Action Movement.

"The most basic fact is that nobody in the New Zealand Muslim community has ever been charged with any act of 'terrorism', let alone convicted. That puts the lie to his propaganda of fear, suspicion and hate."

"As the organiser of RAM, I was requested by a meeting of senior Muslim leaders in Auckland to pen a letter-in-reply to Mr Wishart's article," said Grant Morgan. "My letter has been co-signed by over 130 community leaders, the vast majority of them non-Muslim, who are equally disgusted at the article's contents."

These community leaders include:

• The mayor of Waitakere City.
• Five regional and city councillors.
• Many religious leaders from Christian, Muslim and other faiths.
• Top academics and lawyers.
• Senior trade union officials.
• Representatives of Maori and ethnic groups.
• Other leaders in the community.
  

"While more signatures are arriving all the time, I have today emailed our letter to Mr Wishart's magazine," said Grant Morgan.

"Will Mr Wishart have the integrity to publish it in full, along with the complete list of co-signatories, without appending the sort of conspiracy fantasies that he regularly attaches to critical letters under the guise of 'editorial comment'? That will be a test of his professed belief in freedom of speech."

For your information, the letter and its full list of co-signatories is printed below.

Please send your feedback to:

GRANT MORGAN
Organiser of RAM ­ Residents Action Movement
gcm@actrix.co.nz
021 2544 515

---

Joint letter to editor of Investigate magazine

Negative stereotyping is
not investigative journalism

Negative stereotyping of New Zealand Muslims. That was the real content of the 18-page article "Helen Hoodwinked by Preachers of Hate" written by Ian Wishart in the March 2007 edition of his Investigate magazine.

Wishart, who describes himself as a "social conservative", had previously labelled people in the peace movement as "extremists" and thereby tried to discredit the global majority who are opposed to George Bush's imperial crusade for oil and power.

A similar method was used in Wishart's article about our Muslim community. His article used the word "extremist" 34 times, "terror"/"terrorist"/"terrorism" 52 times, "suicide attacks/bombings" 13 times, "hate" 7 times, "al Qa'ida" 25 times, "Osama bin Laden" 10 times and "Wahhabism" (supposedly an "extreme" form of Islam) 20 times.

Alongside these negative labels he inserted the names of New Zealand Muslim groups and individuals, like the Federation of Islamic Associations of NZ (33 times), FIANZ president Javed Khan (21 times) and Al Manar (17 times).

Wishart is resorting to the trick of negative transference, where an express or implied association with "bad" people, groups and happenings is used to discredit a viewpoint, in this case Islam.

Here is the most basic fact: Nobody in the New Zealand Muslim community has ever been charged with any act of "terrorism", let alone convicted.

Yet this most basic fact isn't what Wishart wants to hear. Instead, his subtext is that all Muslims adhere to the same ideas, and from this absurd generalisation he attempts to link peaceful Muslims to violent extremists.

Let's use Wishart's absurd generalisation in another context. Because of the "ethnic cleansing" conducted by a faction of Serb Christians in the Bosnian conflict a few years ago, we must condemn as "terrorists" all Christians, including Wishart himself. But that, of course, would be crazy.

In the latest report by the NZ Security Intelligence Service, "local jihadis" are no longer considered a visible threat inside New Zealand. (See intelligence expert Paul G. Buchanan's informative article "A Change of Focus at the SIS" at http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0702/S00257.htm.)

At the very time that New Zealand's internal security agency finally comes to the realisation that chasing New Zealand Muslim "terrorists" is really silly, because they don't exist, Wishart starts a witch-hunt for this non-existent "threat".

You have to ask "Why?" And that brings us back to Wishart's "social conservative" ideology. His article poses 305 references to "Islam" and "Muslims" against 145 references to "New Zealand", "Western", "Christians" and "non-Muslims".

Wishart's subtext is clear: Muslims represent a danger to the values and beliefs of "mainstream New Zealand", to borrow Don Brash's ill-fated phrase. Therefore, instead of conducting a dialogue with New Zealand Muslims, the government should be ordering the security agencies to put local Muslims under severe state control and scrutiny.

This message of community division, which seems designed to pit non-Muslims against Muslims, and also to divide the ranks of Muslims and make them fearful, would of course suit a "social conservative" agenda.

Wishart's negative stereotyping is not investigative journalism, but rather a message of suspicion, fear and hate. It's a message that echoes the Islamophobic racism fuelled by George Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq and the US state's other armed attacks on peoples who stand in the way of American domination of our planet.

The positive alternative is for people across all New Zealand communities, including our Muslim sisters and brothers, to unite for peace, not war. This is a message of hope. On a global scale, it offers humanity a way out of imperial warfare and social injustice.

SIGNED (personal capacity):

• GRANT MORGAN, organiser of RAM ­ Residents Action Movement (Auckland)
• ROBYN HUGHES, RAM councillor on Auckland Regional Council (Manukau City electorate)
• BOB HARVEY, mayor of Waitakere City
• Bishop RICHARD RANDERSON, dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell (Auckland)
• SU'A WILLIAM SIO, Manukau City councillor ­ Otara Ward
• PENNY HULSE, councillor on Waitakere City Council
• Dr. JOHN HINCHCLIFF, Auckland City councillor and former vice-chancellor & president of Auckland University of Technology
• CHRISTINE ROSE, Rodney District representative on Auckland Regional Council
• Dr. DAVID WILLIAMS, professor of law (Ranui)
• Reverend ANTHONY DANCER, social justice commissioner for the Anglican Church (Wellington)
• BARRY WILSON, president of Auckland Council for Civil Liberties
• JAVED KHAN, president of Federated Islamic Associations of New Zealand (Auckland)
• SUE BRADFORD, Green MP (Auckland)
• DAVID WONG, NZ Order of Merit, founding president of North Shore/Rodney Ethnic Council (Auckland)
• PAUL G. BUCHANAN, international security analyst (Auckland)
• Dr. JAMES LIU, deputy director of Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research (Wellington)
• BILL COOKE, vice-president of NZ Association of Rationalists & Humanists and senior lecturer at School of Visual Arts, Manukau Institute of Technology
• RAYMOND BRADLEY, emeritus professor of philosophy (Warkworth)
• ROBERT WHITE, director of Centre for Peace Studies at University of Auckland
• DAVID TUTTY, Auckland Catholic Justice & Peace Office
• MATT McCARTEN, national secretary of Unite Workers Union (Auckland)
• GUL ZAMAN, president of Auckland Indo-Fijian Association
• HEATHER MACKAY, deputy chair of Pakuranga Community Board
• ROGER FOWLER, QSM, manager of Mangere East Community Learning Centre (Auckland)
• MERE KEPA, transcultural educationalist (Auckland)
• MUSTAFA FAROUK, vice-president of Federated Islamic Associations of New Zealand (Hamilton)
• JOHN MINTO, spokesperson for Global Peace & Justice Auckland
• CAMPBELL DUIGNAN, southern regional secretary of Service & Food Workers Union/Nga Ringa Tota (Dunedin)
• HAIDER LONE, executive member of NZ Muslim Association (Auckland)
• SHAUN DAVISON, regional chair of Post Primary Teachers Association (Whangarei)
• Reverend MUA STRICKSON-PUA, chaplain, community worker & Pasifika development tutor (Auckland)
• OMAR FAHMY, president of New Zealand Sri Lanka Foundation (Auckland)
• ANDREW CAMPBELL, campaigns director of Finsec, the finance workers union (Wellington)
• MARGO BAARS, co-ordinator of Human Rights Foundation Aotearoa (Auckland)
• JIM MILLER, professor of Applied Language Studies & Linguistics at University of Auckland
• NASREEN HANNIF, national representative of Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand (Auckland)
• Reverend GILLIAN WATKIN, Methodist presbyter at Mt Eden (Auckland)
• JUDITH McMORLAND, secretary of Action for Children & Youth in Aotearoa (Auckland)
• ISRAR SHEIKH, general secretary of New Zealand Muslim Youth & Sports Association (Auckland)
• Reverend BRUCE KEELY, co-president of Council of Christians & Muslims (Auckland)
• JILL OVENS, northern regional secretary of Service & Food Workers Union/Nga Ringa Tota (Auckland)
• MARION HANCOCK, director of The Peace Foundation (Auckland)
• Venerable AMALA WRIGHTSON, spiritual director of Auckland Zen Centre and member of Auckland Interfaith Council
• MOHAMED MOSES, secretary of Mt Roskill Islamic Trust (Auckland)
• GIAMPIETRO FREN, representative of Italian community in Hamilton
• JOAN BROCK, secretary of Council of Christians & Muslims (Auckland)
• MAAN ALZAHER, organiser of Working Together Group (Auckland)
• Sister CLARE O'CONNOR, Cenacle sister (Wellington)
• HANNAH SPIERER, environmental affairs officer for Auckland University Students Association
• JOE CAROLAN, secretary of Solidarity Union (Auckland)
• MAURICE WARD, professor at Faculty of Human & Environmental Studies, Kanto Gakuin University (Yokohama, Japan)
• ABDUL ELAH ARWANI, chair of South Pacific Mosque (Auckland)
• Reverend STUART VOGEL, Presbyterian minister and Council of Christians & Muslims (Auckland)
• SYD KEEPA, convenor of Council of Trade Unions Runanga Te Roopu Kaimahi Maori and apiha Maori for National Distribution Union (Auckland)
• OLIVER WOODS, organiser of The Decembrists, a tertiary student social justice coalition (Auckland)
• Reverend DENISE KELSALL, St Matthew-in-the-City (Auckland)
• FIONA LOVATT-DAVIS, co-host of Kia Ora Show, Radio Watea (Auckland)
• ANNE MOODY, Anglican priest, member of Third Order Society of St Francis (Auckland)
• JULIA ESPINOZA, organiser for ClimAction, Auckland's climate change coalition
• ANILA KETAN, president of Auckland Muslim Girls Association
• LEIGH COOKSON, director of Arena and co-convenor of GATT Watchdog (Christchurch)
• MIKE WILLIAMS, trade unionist (Wellington)
• BERNIE HORNFECK, president of Rotorua People's Advocacy Centre
• CLIVE ASPIN, PhD, senior research fellow at University of Auckland
• Reverend DON BORRIE (Porirua)
• LEN PARKER, co-chair of RAM ­ Residents Action Movement (Auckland)
• ROSEMARY ARNOUX, senior lecturer in French at University of Auckland
• BAKER POSTELNIK, environmental activist (Kaiwaka)
• ISMAIL WAJA, editor of Al Mujaddid Media (Auckland)
• LUKE COXON, organiser for National Distribution Union (Auckland)
• GERARD BURNS, Catholic priest at St Anne's parish, Newtown (Wellington)
• PAUL BRUCE, lead meteorologist at MetService NZ & co-ordinator of Latin American Solidarity Committee Aotearoa (Wellington)
• NUREDIN HASSAN, team manager of Muslim Students Association at Auckland University of Technology
• Dr. LISA GUENTHER. senior lecturer in philosophy, University of Auckland
• KYLE WEBSTER, West Coast representative on board of directors of NZ Nurses Organisation (Greymouth)
• JIBRIL MUSSA, president of NZ Nejashi Trust (Auckland)
• VAUGHAN GUNSON, artist and socialist (Whangarei)
• CAMERON BROADHURST, Zen Society of Auckland
• JANFRIE WAKIM, Palestine Human Rights Campaign (Auckland)
• DAPHNE LAWLESS, editor of UNITY journal (Auckland)
• Dr. MALCOLM BROWN, lecturer in sociology at University of Auckland
• SHAWN TAN, organiser for Finsec, the finance sector workers union (Auckland)
• TAHAE TAIT, Te Arawa iwi & spokesperson for Tait whanau in Rotorua
• JO McVEAGH, environmental activist (Auckland)
• SIMON OOSTERMAN, publicity officer for National Distribution Union (Auckland)
• MOHAMMAD THOMPSON, chair of Voice of Islam TV (Auckland)
• PAT O'DEA, executive member of RAM ­ Residents Action Movement (Auckland)
• DEAN PARKER, NZ Writers Guild (Auckland)
• Dr. HILARY CHUNG, lecturer at University of Auckland
• JIM HUNT, Council of Christians & Muslims (Auckland)
• MIKE TREEN, national director of Unite Workers Union (Auckland)
• AHMAD ESAU, teacher and founder of Aotearoa Islamic Impressions, an Islamic art group (Auckland)
• DONNA GARDINER, Maori mother and grandmother (Auckland)
• MALCOLM FRANCE, organiser for ClimAction, Auckland's climate change coalition
• OMAR HAMED, organiser of Students for Justice in Palestine (Auckland)
• JIM HOLDOM, social justice advocate (Hamilton)
• VALERIE JABIR, NZ Council of Christians & Muslims (Auckland)
• DION MARTIN, organiser for National Distribution Union (Palmerston North)
• MOHAMED HASSAN, senior writer of e-newsletter NZDawa (Auckland)
• PAUL MAUNDER, NZ Writers Guild (Blackball)
• NIK JANIUREK, technical manager of Maidment Theatre (Auckland)
• TAYYABA KHAN, peace activist and former president of Auckland Muslim Girls Association, winner of the Sonja Davies Peace Award in 2005
• TOM BUCKLEY, organiser for Unite Workers Union (Auckland)
• MERYL ZOHRAB, Anglican priest and plunket nurse (Auckland)
• TRACEY McINTOSH, senior lecturer in sociology at University of Auckland
• EVA NAYLOR, peace & environmental activist (Wellington)
• QUENTIN FINDLAY, education co-ordinator of Lincoln University Students Association (Canterbury)
• MEREDYDD BARRAR, spokesperson for Citizens Against Privatisation (Waitakere City)
• CATHERINE BINDON, ex-organiser for National Distribution Union (Wellington)
• DON POLLY, retired journalist (Paekakariki)
• MOHAMED & FARHANA NALAR, Working Together Group (Auckland)
• VALERIE MORSE, Peace Action Wellington
• FELICITY PERRY, lecturer at Victoria University (Wellington)
• ANJUM RAHMAN, Islamic Women's Council of New Zealand (Hamilton)
• GRAEME YOUNG, ex-organiser of National Distribution Union (Christchurch)
• CHRIS SULLIVAN, Catholic (Auckland)
• LYN DOHERTY, Maori mother and grandmother (Auckland)
• RICHARD KELLER, peace activist (Wellington)
• HEATHER LYALL, social worker (Auckland)
• ILIYAS DAUD, pharmacist and sports administrator at Ponsonby Soccer Club (Auckland)
• DON ARCHER, delegate for Engineering, Printing & Manufacturing Union (Christchurch)
• MADENEYAH GAMILDIEN, commodity trader (Auckland)
• FRANCO MANAI, senior lecturer in Italian at University of Auckland
• BILL ROSENBERG, researcher for Campaign Against Foreign Control in Aotearoa (Christchurch)
• GRANT BROOKES, delegate for NZ Nurses Organisation (Wellington)
• NIBRAS KARDAMAN, marketing co-ordinator (Auckland)
• SALLY McARA, PhD candidate and author (Auckland)
• GARRICK MARTIN, mental health nurse (Wellington)
• VICTOR BILLOT, national president of Alliance Party (Dunedin)
• EMILY BAILEY, environmental & community worker (Wellington)
• OMAR KHAMOUN, Wellington Palestine Group
• GLYNNIS PARAHA, daughter, grand-daughter, sister, niece, aunt, grand-aunt & friend (Auckland)
• AFIFA CHIDA, Bachelor of Design student (Auckland)
• WARREN BREWER, secretary of Socialist Party of Aotearoa (Auckland)
• TIM HOWARD, community worker (Whangarei)
• JOHN POLKINGHORNE, undergraduate student in economics & chemistry (Auckland)