Banner drop on the July 25 International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners for #antifa prisoner Jock Palfreeman from Sydney NSW, who is currently incarcerated in Bulgaria for defending a young Roma from being killed by a gang of racist football hooligans.
You can read more about Jock Palfreeman here:
https://bivol.bg/…/charlie-hebdo-midnight-express-in-sofia.…
27 July – A solidarity action took place outside the Turkish consulate in Melbourne on Monday in response to Turkish state complicity in the Suruç Massacre and in response to the international call out made by Anarşi İnisiyatifi (Anarchy Initiative) who lost four of their comrades in the attack.
A group of about 20 mostly anarchist activists gathered outside the consulate at around 5PM with banners and signs condemning the massacre and the involvement of the Turkish state, there were also signs expressing support for the ongoing Rojava Revolution. Of the two large banners that were unfurled outside the consulate, one read: ‘Solidarity With Suruç From Melbourne! Stop Turkish State Sponsored Terror!’ while the other banner read: ‘In Memory Of Evrim Deniz Erol, Alper Sapan and Medali Barutçu – Solidarity Is Our Weapon!’
There were two speeches made with the speakers expressing solidarity with the people of Suruç, the Kurdish struggle in Rojava and elsewhere in Kurdistan, condemning the Turkish state for their involvement in the Suruç massacre and for their recent airstrikes against the PKK as well as the shelling of YPG/J positions inside Rojava. Mention was also made of the brutal crackdown against the Kurdish movement and the Turkish left inside Turkish state controlled territories – a crackdown that has resulted in mass detentions and the extra-judicial killings of at least 3 young activists.
As expected there was the usual over the top presence of both state and Federal police officers who were stationed in front of the consulate doors and across the road from where the demonstration took place. A staffer from the consulate was also observed taking photographs of the action.
Solidarity With The People of Suruç!
Long Live The Memories of Evrim Deniz Erol, Alper Sapan, Medali Barutçu And All The Young Revolutionaries Who Died In The Suruç Massacre!
Long Live The Rojava Revolution And The Kurdish Resistance!
Increase The Pressure Against Turkish State Terror!
28 July – With sadness and anger, people demonstrated at Turkish consulates in Sydney and Melbourne Australia yesterday 5pm to condemn the Turkish state’s complicity in the Suruc massacre and commemorate those fallen in the attack.
We stand with those fighting both the overt and covert state sponsored terrorism of the Turkish state, with Kurdish liberation fighters, and with all who are brave enough to resist in the face of such repression. Let it be known, as our banner read ‘We stand with Kobane’ and are inspired and strengthened here by the resistance over there, thank you.
In Sydney attempts by local police to intimidate us on social media, demanding forms be filled out to determine our protest ‘legitimate’ were ignored, supposedly justifying the heavy policing on the day. We do not recognise the authority of the white colonial state known as Australia.
Standing with the Aboriginal flag, we remind ourselves of the historical and ongoing state violence against First Nations people here. With its bloody and racist policies, we are disgusted by the hypocrisy of the so-called Australian state attempting to tell us what is ‘legitimate’ or not. Decolonise now- full sovereignty for Aboriginal communities! Kurdish liberation now!
‘We stand with Kobane’
‘Turkish state = terrorist state’
Rojava Solidarity Australia unequivocally condemn the cowardly and barbaric attack against the young people who were gathered in solidarity with Kobane that took place in Suruç on 20.07.15.
This callous, inhumane act that was committed against young activists who were preparing to cross the border into Kobane, Rojava in order to deliver gifts for war-affected children and to assist in the reconstruction of the war-ravaged city is nothing short of an atrocity carried out by enemies of humanity who falsely believe that they can crush the international Rojava solidarity movement via acts of terror and cowardice.
We would like to express our deepest sympathies and condolences to the many people who lost loved ones in this cowardly attack. Our thoughts are also with the many people who were injured and we wish them all swift recoveries.
Even though what took place was a horrific and terrible crime of the highest magnitude we take some degree of comfort in the knowledge that this despicable attack will not in any way alter the resolve of the international Rojava solidarity movement to continue actively supporting both the Rojava revolution and the reconstruction of Kobane.
Rojava Solidarity Australia
21.07.15.
21 Jul – Carrying a self-styled Aboriginal passport, Nganyaywana man Callum Clayton-Dixon has also recently entered and departed the Solomon Islands.Mr Clayton-Dixon, chair of the Aboriginal Provision Government (APG), told jourmalists that he arrived in Brisbane from Honiara on June 30.
“They warned me if I made any false declaration that could involve some penalty under the law but I didn’t make any false declaration,” he said.
“I just kept on insisting I’m an Aboriginal person returning to my country on my Aboriginal passport, and this is the travel document I’m choosing to use.”
“I just kept on insisting I’m an Aboriginal person returning to my country on my Aboriginal passport, and this is the travel document I’m choosing to use.”
In a statement to SBS, immigration said the Australian Government does not recognise the Aboriginal passport as a valid travel document.
“In certain circumstances where a traveller presents at the border and is seeking to enter Australia without a bona-fide travel document, authorities will take action as appropriate to determine the identity of the traveller,” it read.
“If such a person is subsequently confirmed to be an Australian citizen, their entry is permissible; although certain conditions will apply.”
The first country to officially accept the Aboriginal passport was Libya in 1988.
Tasmanian lawyer Michael Mansell led a group of Aboriginal activists on a visit to challenge Australian sovereignty in the bicentennial year.
“If you think that you belong to an Aboriginal nation, then you have to fight for it”.
“If you think that you belong to an Aboriginal nation, then you have to fight for it,” Mr Mansell told SBS at the time.
“There are ways of doing it without necessarily being violent, and stand up to the government and stand up to the white reaction in this country and you can get away with it.”
The APG relaunched the passport in 2012, issuing them to Aboriginal people, asylum seekers, former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Canadian authorities refused to accept the Aboriginal passport last year, but this is the second time this year that an APG activist has entered the Solomons on one.
When Mr Clayton-Dixon departed for the Solomons from Brisbane his Aboriginal passport was rejected by immigration officials and an Australian passport was produced.
On arrival in the Solomon Islands, he was issued with a six week visitor’s visa in his Aboriginal passport and then an exit stamp on departure.
Both times he was not challenged, despite the Aboriginal passport not being recognised in the country’s Migration Act.
Carrying a self-style Aboriginal passport, Nganyaywana man Callum Dixon-Clayton has also recently entered and departed the Solomon Islands. (SBS)
Trevor Long, former Qantas general manager of facilitation, told SBS that the activists were making a political statement.
“But the problem with making a political statement is the vast majority of countries won’t recognise the Aboriginal passport,” he said
“What will happen is if they present an Aboriginal passport in a first-world country and many third-world countries they will not get in and be turned away.”
On departure, Virgin Airlines in the Solomons refused to check-in Mr Clayton-Dixon with the Aboriginal passport and an Australian one was again presented.
Mr Long said it showed the security system for checking passengers heading to Australia works, even in the Solomons.
“What would have happened here is when Virgin started to check the passenger in, they would have collected the data from the passport, sent it in to the immigration service, who would have sent it back saying, ‘we don’t know this passenger and they’re not to board until you get clearance from us,” Mr Long said.
On the three-hour flight to Brisbane, Mr Clayton-Dixon handed his Australian passport to a travel companion.
Presenting the Aboriginal passport at immigration in Brisbane, he was led away and detained.
About an hour later, he was admitted to the country through a side door at the international terminal without officials seeing his Australian passport.
“I suspect the department would get a bit peeved with that and do something about it but, at the end of the day, if they can prove that they are Australians, then they’ll be admitted,” Mr Long said.
Aboriginal Provisional Government activists say they will continue to use their passport.
19 July – Anti-police graffiti action taken against the Australian embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal. The words ‘Australian police protect racists’ and ‘Antifa’ were spray-painted on the embassy wall in solidarity with antifascist activists in Melbourne who came under vicious attack by police for counter-protesting a rally organized by fascist organizations Reclaim Australia and United Patriots Front.
18 July – There have been chaotic scenes on Melbourne’s streets as anti-racism protesters and nationalists clash in demonstrations.
Anti-Islamic groups Reclaim Australia and the United Patriots Front (UPF) held rallies in several cities and towns on Saturday.
Subsequent anti-racism groups launched counter rallies in response to the protests, holding banners saying “No Room for Racism”.
There were violent scuffles in Melbourne, reminiscent of scenes when the two groups met during demonstrations earlier this year.
Bottles were thrown in the streets, protesters from both sides were punched and kicked as the rival groups clashed.
Some masked protesters attempted to barge through the police blockade but were met with force as officers resisted.
About 400 police members were on hand including officers mounted on horses who rammed through the crowds.
Officers used capsicum spray to subdue the crowds and protesters were seen on the ground having milk poured in their eyes.
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Leane said the use of capsicum spray was justified.
“The [police] were at significant threat of having their lines over run and it was a tool we had to use at the time,” he said.
Police said at least four people were arrested for violence-related offences including attacks on police horses.
Assistant Commissioner Leane said he was disappointed hardline protesters from both sides were involved in the violence.
Black Nations Rising (BNR), published by Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, is a grassroots Aboriginal magazine dedicated to the cause of decolonization and self-determination. Our publication, launched in January 2015, promotes symbols, stories and strategies of indigenous resistance and revival. We have published two editions of BNR so far, and will publish another two this year.
1st edition http://is.gd/dCdOMI
2nd edition http://is.gd/iqR4NE
Published independently, BNR receives no government or corporate funding. The magazine is operated by a small but strong group of Aboriginal volunteers:
· Coeditors: Pekeri Ruska (Goenpul) & Callum Clayton-Dixon (Nyaywana)
· Printing/Distribution: Merinda Meredith (Darumbal)
· Cartoonist: Jade Slockee (Gumbaynggirr)
With the help of several unions, universities and Aboriginal organizations, we managed to print and distribute over 3,000 copies of Black Nations Rising issue one. It was distributed at rallies, via the Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy (BASE) Food Program, and posted out to several hundred subscribers. As we believe Aboriginal media is an essential service for our people in pushing for social and political change, the magazine is free for Aboriginal people. We ask non-Aboriginal people to pay a $50 yearly subscription fee to help subsidize the postage costs.
BNR is an evolution of Brisbane Blacks magazine, an activist publication of BASE. Brisbane Blacks magazine was born out of discussions around the fire in Musgrave Park. Six editions of Brisbane Blacks magazine were printed and over 6000 copies distributed between August 2013 and November 2014.
Our goal is for Black Nations Rising magazine to turn into a monthly print publication with a circulation of 10,000 copies each issue. In order to do this, we need the financial capacity to enable consistent printing and distribution. To gather and produce the content necessary for a monthly magazine, we need the money to provide basic wages for a skeleton staff. We’re aiming to raise $50,000 to cover operation costs for 2016.
The Aboriginal print media landscape has deteriorated dramatically over the past few years. Tracker magazine was axed in 2014, and the National Indigenous Times (NIT) shut at the start of 2015. That’s two of the three major Aboriginal print publications gone, and both were active in promoting an Aboriginal rights agenda. BNR was established in an effort to fill the void left by Tracker and the NIT. But we also intended BNR to break new ground as a fully independent platform for the free expression of marginalized Aboriginal views and ideas, with a heavy focus on the views and opinions of young Aboriginal activists. Our publication was never meant to be separate to the Aboriginal movement. In fact, BNR was set up to be an organ of the movement.
A new era of Aboriginal activism dawns, and with it comes the need for strong independent Aboriginal media to echo its calls, to bolster the anticolonial agenda. Our movement and media must be one and the same. Black Nations Rising is a publication of the movement, by the people, for the future. We hope you can support us in building this publication into a powerful force for positive change.
Yours in the cause,
Black Nations Rising team
blacknationsrising@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/BlackNationsRising
To Contribute Money: http://www.gofundme.com/BlackNationsRising
Riot police try to avoid petrol bombs during heavy clashes with anti-austerity protesters in Athens.
16 July – Two Melbourne police officers, honeymooning in Athens have been tear gassed during a violent protest outside the parliament where rocks and molotov cocktails were thrown at police.
While inside the parliament, Greek MPs debated over the latest round of austerity reforms.
Rebecca Amore and her husband, both police officers, told 3AW radio they got caught up in the violence.
“It was very interesting to say the least, our hotel is literally a minute walk from Syntagma Square,” she said.
“We set out for a nice romantic evening on our last night of our honeymoon.
“We had a perfect spot on a balcony in a beautiful restaurant and then things started to take a turn from there.
“We were on the balcony and all of a sudden we saw the police and they started to put their helmets on.
“All of a sudden we heard bang, bang, bang and it literally shuddered through you, we thought there was fireworks.”
Ms Amore said everyone rushed inside as the tear gas came in.
“All of a sudden I got that tickle in my throat I’ve had a million times before,” she said.
“I looked at my husband, I got up off the table because my eyes started to well.
“Soon enough the whole restaurant ran inside, it was so potent.
“Lucky they had bi-fold doors, otherwise we would have been in serious trouble and people were just running in seeking refuge from everywhere.”
Meanwhile an Australian citizen was arrested during the clashes, allegedly for painting graffiti in Syntagma Metro station. They were arrested along with a number of other foreigners, including four Germans, two French citizens, one Ukrainian, one Dutch and three Poles. There were given charges relating to damage of a metro station.
A protester burns a Greek flag
Punks in Yangon handing out food to the city’s homeless. Photos by Charlotte Bauer
13 July – Every Monday night, a group of black-clad, silver-studded punks meet beneath the overpass bridge that crosses Sule Pagoda Road in downtown Yangon, to distribute food to people living on the streets. On the evening VICE attended, even after the torrential monsoon rain had turned gutters into rivers, about 30 punks and hangers-on had gathered to help combat Yangon’s rising homelessness crisis.
Given the big turnout, we were split into two groups before making our way around the city, handing out meals of fried rice, bananas, and bottled water. The meals, which the punks cook themselves, are financed by donations. The night before, the group had been given a 50,000 Burmese kyat donation, about $44 US, which helped fund this evening’s supplies. Meals differ from week to week, and often clothing is also distributed.
Punk band Rebel Riot runs the food program. Image by Jirka Pasz
This project is the Burmese chapter of Food Not Bombs. It’s been running for three years now, led by members of local punk band Rebel Riot. The worldwide Food Not Bombs movement involves volunteers providing vegetarian meals to people in need. It was established in the States in 1980 and has an antipoverty and nonviolence ethos. The Yangon group is in contact with the main movement, albeit with “different opinions and directions.”
“I realized I had to do something, rather than just sing about changing the system,” said Kyaw Kyaw, a singer and guitarist in the band. He believes the current government has no understanding of the plight of the city’s homeless, whose numbers are growing. “Big companies come to Myanmar to make business, so it’s more and more expensive for land, homes, and flats, especially in Yangon, because it’s a major city.”
Continue reading “Myanmar: Meet the Burmese Punks Feeding Their Country’s Homeless”
6 July – When 16-year-old Singaporean Amos Yee recorded an expletive-ridden video attacking the country’s founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, following his death in March, he goaded the government to “come at me, motherfucker” — and officials quickly obliged. The outspoken blogger was hauled into detention and eventually convicted in May on charges of insulting Christians in the video as well as of obscenity for posting a crude image depicting Lee in a compromising sexual position with Margaret Thatcher, the former UK prime minister.
Late last month, a judge overseeing the case ordered a two-week psychiatric evaluation for Yee in a mental institution ahead of sentencing to determine if he had a mental disorder. Yee faced at least 18 months in “reformative training” for juvenile offenders.
But in a surprising turnaround amid growing international pressure from human rights groups to free the teen, the court released him on Monday, sentencing him to time already served.
Yee spent a total of 50 days in detention since the afternoon of March 29, when he was apprehended shortly after an elaborate state funeral was held for Lee, who is widely regarded as independent Singapore’s founding father. In one of the video’s more colorful lines, Yee complains that “all day you see 24-hour news coverage of necrophiliacs sucking Lee Kuan Yew’s dick.”
The 8-minute long video, titled “Lee Kuan Yew Is Finally Dead,” and the image of Lee and Thatcher have been shared on social media and viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
The video briefly compares Lee to various dictators before Yee likens him unfavorably to Jesus Christ: “They are both power hungry and malicious but deceive others into thinking that they are compassionate and kind.” It also vigorously criticized what Yee described as misconceptions about Singapore’s wealth, income distribution, and civil liberties.
Yee’s time in detention was sporadic — he was released, but returned to custody after breaching his bail conditions several times. Earlier in June, a doctor speculated that the teen might suffer from autism-spectrum disorder, but the court-ordered mental evaluation determined that Yee has no psychiatric problems.
The teen’s continued detention received international attention and was condemned by Human Rights Watch. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also urged Yee’s release, noting that it would be in line with Singapore’s commitment under the UN Convention on the Rights of Child. Prosecutors ultimately dropped their request for a lengthy period of reformative training after Yee put in writing that he would take down the video and image and never re-post them — though Yee has violated previous pledges to do so.
In sentencing Yee to four weeks’ detention on Monday, the court backdated his sentence to June 2, allowing him to walk free. The blogger is expected to appeal his convictions, his lawyer said.
Photos and video footage showed Yee appearing sullen as he was greeted by a crush of press as he left the court after his release. He was chaperoned by his father and mother, who wore a shirt with a picture of her son sitting in a yellow submarine. Below the design was the hashtag #FreeAmosYee.
In a similar incident, Malaysian anarchist blogger Ali Abdul Jalil was locked up late last year on sedition charges for insulting the monarchy:
28 September 2014 – Ali Abdul jail is currently in jail, facing 6 charges of sedition for insulting the monarchy. Funny, I never knew that we, as tax paying citizens, whose money is being used to finance the monarchies, are not allowed to criticize them.
Ali, an activist with Anti-Facist Malaysia (Antifa) s the brother of Ahmad Abdul Jalil, who
coincidentally was also charged for criticizing the Sultan of Johor in 2012. He was kept in uncomfortable conditions and in solitary confinement. Also, during his remand, he was question repeatedly for up to 8 to 9 hours a day, till the time of his release. If that wasn’t bad enough, his home was raided by the police.
And you wonder why Ali has nothing nice to say 
about the Johor Sultan.
I had the opportunity to meet Ali, at a Bantah GST meeting. That, fortunately and unfortunately was the first and last time I met him. About two weeks later, at the Bantah GST Roadshow, we found out that Ali was arrested under the Sedition Act 1948. It was at this Roadshow that I also found out that Ali believed, in order to get his point through, he felt he had to be arrested. Thus, when I heard about his brother, it was easy to see that he knew what he was talking about and he meant it.
For those who have never met Ali, he is exactly as you would see in the picture. The smiling prisoner of conscience isn’t just a moniker. It isn’t away of gaining publicity. A means of putting a friendly face to a, to an unjust political crackdown. That is Ali Abdul Jail. Friendly, polite and kind are the first impression one get when they meet him.
He has no business being in jail and definitely, should never be tortured because he had an opinion and was willing to bravely state it and stand by it. If anything, this type of personality must be promoted, especially amongst our so called leaders.
KUALA LUMPUR: After facing the full wrath of the law for criticising the Johor monarchy, student activist Ali Abdul Jalil has fled the country to seek political asylum in Sweden.
According to a report on Rakyat Times, Amnesty International Sweden took him under their wing and are advising Ali on the legal process to obtain political asylum. He will also be provided with legal representation.
Earlier while speaking to the Malay Mail Online, Ali’s sister Asiah refused to reveal his whereabouts except to confirm her brother had fled Malaysia to escape sedition charges and that he had informed the family of his safety upon touching down Tuesday.
Asiah also said Ali was likely to be granted political asylum after having been interviewed by a human rights group there.
He already has a temporary visa and a work permit that allows him to start work immediately.
Ali was detained in Malaysia on September 8, released on September 23 and promptly rearrested and charged at the Shah Alam Sessions Court under the Sedition Act 1948.
He was charged for allegedly mocking the Johor Sultanate and calling for the state’s monarchy to be abolished.
Amnesty International Malaysia has made an urgent plea to the Malaysian government to drop all charges against Ali while GHAH (Gerakan Hapus Akta Hasutan) have also denounced the torture that allegedly took place while Ali was under detention.
The authorities however have remained unmoved from their earlier decision to charge him and have refused to comment on the alleged torture.
“This is the fifth issue of FTP zine, our biannual report on anti-colonial, anti-state resistance, compiled within occupied Cadigal territory.
Like previous issues we have chosen to highlight acts of resistance to the Australian state and its control of this territory, such as attacks on its police, its prisons, its monuments and its schools.
The entirety of the content in this publication was found as public information online, and later compiled for this zine. Nothing here is the original content of those who may be responsible for this project.
The contents include communiqués, media releases, photos, posters and
leaflets which have been found on radical blogs. The remaining content has been culled from the websites of corporate newspapers and TV stations. Many texts have been condensed for reasons of space.
We make no claims to the intentions behind the unclaimed actions. We have simply chosen to highlight acts which open possibilities for a more libertarian, less polluted future. Actions which, if generalised, have the potential to fundamentally disrupt and weaken the Australian state and its ability to
govern.
The actions and opinions expressed in this zine do not necessarily reflect the perspectives or attitudes of any other individual or group mentioned in this publication.
This report is only partial as most acts of resistance are not reported in the mainstream press, and most people who stand up to state authority don’t write self aggrandising communiqués of their actions.
This magazine is in no way a for-profit publication. We encourage the printing, sharing, translating, and widespread distribution of this magazine by anyone with resources to do so.
– July 2015 (ftpzine.wordpress.com)”
