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News & Events – Filef Australia

Category: News & Events

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News & Events

Thousands of refugees to be guaranteed permanent visas

ABC News

Thousands of refugees to be granted permanent visas as Labor moves to fulfil election promise

By political reporter Nour Haydar  12th February, 2023

 

Thousands of refugees across Australia who have lived “in limbo” for years will be eligible to stay in the country permanently as Labor moves to enact its pre-election commitment.

From Monday, around 19,000 refugees who arrived in Australia before Operation Sovereign Borders started in 2013 will be able to apply to transition to a permanent Resolution of Status (RoS) visa.

The move affects people who hold Temporary Protection Visas (TPV) and Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEV) which Labor promised to abolish at the last election and have been described as cruel by human rights groups.

Those granted a new visa will have the same rights and benefits as all other permanent residents, and will be immediately eligible for social security payments, access to the NDIS and higher education assistance.

They will also be permitted to apply to become citizens once they meet the necessary citizenship requirements and will be able to sponsor family members to come to Australia.

Read full article on ABC News here

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News & Events

Israel far-right minister enters Al-Aqsa in ‘provocation’

Israel far-right minister enters Al-Aqsa in ‘provocation’

Palestinians and several Arab countries condemn Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit, which they fear is aimed at changing the holy site’s status quo.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have joined Palestinians in condemning a far-right Israeli minister’s brief visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, with the Palestinian leadership calling the intrusion “an unprecedented provocation”.

Tuesday’s visit by Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir risks stoking tensions with Palestinians, with the Hamas group that governs the besieged Gaza Strip warning that such a move would cross a “red line”.

Jordan, Egypt and the UAE, which have peace treaties with Israel, have condemned what they called Ben-Gvir’s “storming” of Al-Aqsa. Amman summoned the Israeli ambassador and said the visit had violated international law and “the historic and legal status quo in Jerusalem”.

Saudi Arabia, with which Netanyahu wants to forge a peace deal, also criticised Ben-Gvir’s action. Turkey, which has recently ended a long-running diplomatic rift with Israel, condemned the visit as “provocative” as well.

Read full article here.

What is the status of Al-Aqsa?

  • The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound (also known as al-Haram al-Sharif by Muslims and the Temple Mount by Jews) is a wide, walled plaza in the heart of the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem. It incorporates the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
  • It is considered holy by both Muslims and Jews and is a Palestinian national symbol.
  • One of the walls of the compound, the Western Wall – also referred to as the Wailing Wall or the Buraq Wall – is a holy site for Jewish prayer. Jews pray undisturbed on the side of the wall that is outside the compound.
  • Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967. The occupation is illegal under international law.
  • The compound has been managed continuously by Muslims, under a waqf (religious endowment), for hundreds of years.
  • The Jordanian-funded waqf has continued to administer the site since 1967, while Israel has security control. Under a longstanding agreement, the status quo of the site only permits Muslim prayer, and visits from non-Muslims are only permitted at specific times.

 

Who is Itamar Ben-Gvir?

Safa Ben Said
11 November 2022 15:32 UTC | Last update: 2 weeks 2 days ago
A far-right provocateur turned politician. Here is what you need to know about Itamar Ben-Gvir, a key winner in the Israeli elections. Play video here

 

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News & Events

UN seeks International Court of Justice opinion on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine

UN seeks ICJ opinion on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine

Updated: 31 Dec 2022 08:53 PM (GMT)
The United Nations General Assembly adopts a historic resolution referring the question of #Palestine & the legality/illegality of the #Israeli prolonged occupation to the International Court of Justice
The court will also address the responsibility of third states to bring the occupation to an end.

The UN General Assembly asked the ICJ to give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s “occupation, settlement and annexation … including measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and from its adoption of related discriminatory legislation and measures”.

The UN resolution also asks the ICJ to advise on how those policies and practices “affect the legal status of the occupation” and what legal consequences arise for all countries and the UN from this status.

The ICJ last weighed in on the issue of Israel’s occupation in 2004, when it ruled that Israel’s wall in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem was illegal. Israel rejected that ruling, accusing the court of being politically motivated.  Full article here

Editor’s note: Australia was one of the countries which voted AGAINST the resolution
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News & Events

53rd Anniversary of the attack – Piazza Fontana, 12 dicembre 1969/12 December, 1969

12 December 1969 is the 53rd anniversary of the neofascist attack on La Banca Nazionale dell’Agricoltura in Piazza Fontanza, Milano, which killed 17 people and wounded 88. It was the start of the campaign to destabilise Italy, a joint effort by Fascists and the Italian and US State Security Services.
The bombing was the work of the right-wing group Ordine Nuovo (“New Order”), whose aim was to prevent the country falling into the hands of the left-wing by duping the public into believing the bombings were part of a communist insurgency.
Further attacks occurred in the Piazza della Loggia in Brescia, 8 killed, 102 wounded; the bombing of the trains, Italicus in 1974, 12 killed and 48 wounded; the Rapido 904 in 1984, 16 killed and 267 wounded; the bombing at Bologna central railway station. 85 killed and 200 wounded.
Piazza Fontana was not an isolated tragedy but a part of an international ‘strategy of tension’ which saw escalating violence, rather than suppressing it, as being the most effective way to prevent a communist revolution.

 

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News & Events

Francesco Giacobbe for the Senate

Scrive Francesco Giacobbe –

Quando, nel 1982, decisi trasferirmi in Australia, la vita da emigrato era molto diversa da oggi. Tante cose sono cambiate, ma molte possono ancora essere migliorate per agevolare i giovani che vogliono cercare fortuna altrove o vogliono rientrare in Italia dopo un periodo trascorso all’estero.
Negli anni che ho trascorso in Senato ho avviato alcuni progetti che, spero, potranno trovare attuazione nella prossima legislatura.
Fra questi ci sono:
– Il riconoscimento dei titoli di studio e delle qualifiche con accordi bilaterali con diversi Paesi
– L’assistenza sanitaria in Italia per gli iscritti all’AIRE
– L’anagrafe dei ricercatori
– Le agevolazioni per chi rientra
– Creare condizioni di lavoro simili a quelle che si hanno all’estero
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News & Events Nuovopaese 2022

nuovo paese agosto 2022

Nuovo paese agosto 2022 | august 2022

La mano della distruzione
Il 6 e il 9 agosto di 77 anni fa fu commesso il crimine probabilmente più barbaro contro l’umanità, con lo sgancio delle bombe atomiche su Hiroshima e Nagasaki.
Il bombardamento statunitense, che uccise all’istante circa un quarto di milione di giapponesi quando le due città furono disintegrate, segnò la drammatica fine della Seconda Guerra Mondiale.
È inspiegabile come le implicazioni morali e legali dell’uso spietato di tale forza distruttiva non siano state valutate, date le norme e i trattati riguardanti i non combattenti.
Ironia della sorte, quell’esperienza sta probabilmente smorzando l’entusiasmo americano verso un coinvolgimento più diretto nella guerra in Ucraina, dopo la velata minaccia del presidente russo Vladimir Putin ai paesi della NATO.
Keiko Ogura, 84enne sopravvissuto di Hiroshima, ha paura che la storia stia per ripetersi con l’invasione russa dell’Ucraina, preludendo a una nuova Guerra Fredda. In un’intervista all’Australian Financial Review (22 luglio 2022) ha dichiarato di temere la prospettiva che, per la terza volta nella storia, una bomba nucleare possa essere utilizzata in guerra.
“Sono preoccupato non solo per Putin, ma per il modo di pensare della NATO, dell’America e degli altri paesi, tutti di nuovo disposti a usare le bombe nucleari. Pensano che non si faranno male da soli.’’
Tuttavia, i confini nazionali non possono limitare i rischi incombenti che l’umanità deve affrontare e, proprio come le guerre che hanno implicazioni globali, lo stesso vale per il cambiamento climatico e per la forza dirompente dei mercati guidati dai capitali.
Chi non è convinto degli attuali rischi ambientali ed economici può essere persuaso dalla regressione sociale e psicologica, che fa parte del mondo che l’uomo ha plasmato.
La gravità di questa situazione si può percepire guardando la cooperazione tra i ministri della solitudine e dell’isolamento del Regno Unito e del Giappone, nell’affrontare quella che vedono come un’importante sfida internazionale.
The hand of destruction
On 6 and 9 August 77 years ago arguably, the most barbaric crime against humanity was committed with the dropping of the atomic bombs respectively on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The US bombing – that instantly killed about a quarter of a million Japanese when it disintegrated those two cities – signalled a dramatic end to WWII.
It is unexplainable how the moral and legal implications of the merciless use of such destructive force were not, and have not been assessed, given norms and treaties regarding non-combatants.
Ironically, that experience is probably dampening American eagerness for a more direct involvement in the Ukraine war following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s veiled threat to NATO countries.
Hiroshima survivor Keiko Ogura, 84, fears history is about to repeat itself with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatening a new Cold War, and in an interview with the Australian Financial Review (22 July 2022) dreads the prospect that for a third time a nuclear bomb might be used.
‘‘I am worried, not only about Putin, but the way of thinking of NATO and America and other countries. Countries are again willing to use nuclear bombs if they think they will not get hurt themselves.’’
However, national borders cannot confine the looming risks humanity faces and just like wars that have global implications so do climate change and the disruptive force of capital driven markets.
Anyone who is not convinced of the current environmental and economic risks may be persuaded by the social and psychological regression that is also part of the world humans have shaped.
The seriousness of that is hinted at by the cooperation between the UK and Japanese Ministers for Loneliness and Isolation to tackle what they see as an important international challenge.
 
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News & Events Nuovo Paese Nuovo Paese 2021

Nuovo Paese dicembre|december 2021

Nuovo Paese – dicembre|December 2021

Read as PDF here   

or online here

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News & Events

Report claims Australian-supplied helicopters used by Indonesia in West Papua ‘genocide’ By Cathy Harper

 

Report claims Australian-supplied helicopters used by Indonesia in West Papua ‘genocide’

By Cathy Harper
Posted , updated 

A new report claims Australian-supplied helicopters were used by Indonesia’s military to kill civilians in West Papua in the 1970s.

The allegations are among other abuses detailed in the report, by the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHCR), which contains graphic detail of the alleged murder, rape and torture of more than 4,000 Papuans by Indonesian military in the late 1970s.

It names numerous Indonesian military commanders, including the late Indonesian President, General Suharto, as those responsible for ordering or failing to stop the violence, and says they should be tried by a human rights court.

The report “The Neglected Genocide – Human Rights abuses against Papuans in the Central Highlands, 1977 – 1978” attempts to document violence that occurred when Indonesia launched several military operations around Wamena, in response to independence uprisings after general elections in 1977.

The AHRC conducted field visits, interviewed witnesses and examined historical records.

It has collected the names of 4,146 people it believes were killed by the Indonesian military and claims the total number of victims who died from torture, disease and hunger as a result of the violence could be well over 10,000.

Indiscriminate shooting

Papuans of the mountain areas in the 1960s.(Asian Human Rights Commission)

The report says Papuans in the Central Highlands were victims of napalm bombing and indiscriminate shooting from the air, sometimes from aircraft supplied to the Indonesian military by Australia and the US.

It says two Australian-supplied Iroquois helicopters, along with US-supplied Bell UH-1H Huey helicopters, were among aircraft used by local command in the attacks

In one reported incident, villagers in the Bolakme area were told they would be receiving aerial aid from Australia, only to be bombed by American-supplied planes.

The ABC has contacted Australia’s defence and foreign affairs departments, and the office of the foreign minister, and has been told they’re looking in to the matter.

The report also contains details of independence supporters being burned alive, boiled alive, and being forced to perform sexual acts in public.

In other incidents, the report claims women and children were targetted: children’s heads were cut off, women were raped and had their breasts cut off and internal organs pulled out.

AHCR’s Policy and Programs director, Basil Fernando, has told Australia Network the acts amount to genocide.

“What those gruesome details show is that there was a humiliating element, to humiliate the people into submission,” he said.

“So that is the basis – the killings and the other sufferings imposed on the people – and trying to bring them to submission – the we have named [this] as genocide.”

The report names 10 Indonesian commanders and senior military leaders it says were responsible for either ordering or failing to prevent the violence perpetrated by various battalions.

Among those responsible, according to the report, is the former President Suharto, as Supreme Commander of the Indonesian military.

Mr Fernando says some of those named in the report are still in positions of power within the Indonesian military.

The report calls for an ad hoc human rights court to be set up to hear the allegations and try those responsible, as well as the establishment of a truth commission.

The AHRC is calling on the international community to demand the Indonesian government be held to account for human rights violations in Papua.

Posted , updated 
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News & Events Nuovo Paese Nuovo Paese 2021

NP Nov 2021

NP Nov 2021

Leaf through NP via this link  or the pdf

editoriale

Usi medicinali dell’autoritarismo

La pandemia ha dato origine a un percettibile autoritarismo, limitando i cittadini con blocchi, coprifuoco e chiusure delle frontiere.
I governi hanno agito con un’autoritarismo raramente mostrato in passato, nonostante i molti mali sociali endemici e l’incombente catastrofe ambientale.
Senza tante domande, la polizia ha isolato gli appartamenti delle commissioni pubbliche e soldati ed elicotteri hanno sorvegliato i residenti mentre a migliaia di australiani è stato impedito di tornare a casa dall’estero o dagli altri stati.
Una simile mancanza di responsabilità è stata mostrata quando il governo federale ha distribuito fenomenali somme di denaro con uguale fervore dittatoriale a società non toccate dalla pandemia.
Al contrario, i governi sono stati servili verso le aziende farmaceutiche, sovvenzionate per sviluppare vaccini di cui stanno tuttora raccogliendo i profitti.Non è democraticamente sano se i governi sono duri con i deboli e mansueti con i forti.
La pandemia è un problema di salute pubblica da trattare con il know-how medico e non con l’autoritarismo, che può mascherare mali socio-economici.
Al 31 ottobre l’Australia ha registrato 1.734 decessi su 170.458 casi di Covid. Circa 1.450 di questi erano persone di 70 anni o più, la maggior parte in cattive condizioni di salute. Ci sono stati decessi trascurabili o nulli nei gruppi di età inferiore ai 40 anni.
Queste cifre del Dipartimento federale della sanità indicano i vulnerabili e le priorità per la distribuzione delle risorse.
Ciò contribuirebbe a ridurre la paura di casi di infezione allarmanti che sono privi di significato, senza che il virus impatti sugli individui.
 Per quanto riguarda la questione controversa dell’obbligo dei vaccini, può essere utile considerare i risultati di uno studio pubblicato online da The Lancet (28 ottobre 2021).
Sebbene lo studio abbia riscontrato che la vaccinazione riduce il rischio di infezione della variante delta e accelera la clearance virale, ha anche concluso che:“Tuttavia, gli individui completamente vaccinati con infezioni rivoluzionarie hanno una carica virale di picco simile ai casi non vaccinati e possono trasmettere efficacemente l’infezione in ambienti domestici, anche ai completamente vaccinati”.

Editorial

Authoritarianism’s medicinal uses

The pandemic has given rise to a discernible authoritarianism, limiting citizens with lockdowns, curfews and border closures.
Governments acted with a determinant authority rarely displayed notwithstanding many endemic social ills and looming environmental catastrophe.
Without much questioning police cordoned off public commission flats and soldiers and helicopters surveilled residents while thousands of Australians were stopped from returning home from overseas or interstate.
A similar lack of accountability was displayed as the Federal Government handed out phenomenal amounts of money with equal dictatorial fervour to unaffected companies.
In contrast governments have been servile to pharmaceutical companies, who were subsidised to develop vaccines and are reaping the profits.
It is not democratically healthy when governments are tough on the weak and meek with the strong.
The pandemic is a public health issue to be treated with medical know-how not authoritarianism, which can mask socio-economic ills.
At October 31 Australia registered 1,734 deaths from 170,458 Covid cases. About 1,450 of those were people of 70 years or older, most in poor health. There were negligible or no deaths in the under 40 year age groups.
These Federal Health Department figures point to the vulnerable and to priorities for resources.
This would help reduce the fear from alarming infection cases that are meaningless without facts about the virus’ impact on individuals.
As for the divisive issue of mandating vaccines it may be useful to consider the results of a study published online by The Lancet (28 October 2021).
Although it found that vaccination reduces the risk of delta variant infection and accelerates viral clearance, it also concluded that:
“Nonetheless, fully vaccinated individuals with breakthrough infections have peak viral load similar to unvaccinated cases and can efficiently transmit infection in household settings, including to fully vaccinated contacts.”
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News & Events Nuovo Paese 2021

Nuovo Paese ottobre/october 2021

NP ottobre/october 2021 

or Leaf through NP via the link ==>>>   https://online.fliphtml5.com/xenbs/ofpg/

Editoriale

Affari straordinari

L’atteggiamento politico che circonda l’annuncio del mese scorso di AUKUS, il patto di difesa a tre vie, ha omesso di citare il suo valore commerciale agli interessi degli Stati Uniti.
La decisione dell’Australia di rompere il suo accordo sui sottomarini da 90 miliardi di dollari con la Francia a favore di una flotta a propulsione nucleare con gli Stati Uniti e la Gran Bretagna è stata un’impresa americana magistralmente presentata come politica di difesa.
 Quando l’Australia annunciò che la Francia avrebbe costruito la sua flotta di 12 sottomarini, fu considerato uno dei contratti di difesa più redditizi al mondo.
 Una lunga trattativa ha preceduto l’annuncio del primo ministro Malcolm Turnbull, il 26 aprile 2016, di assegnare al consorzio francese il contratto multimiliardario, il più grande nella storia degli appalti per la difesa australiana.
 C’erano ancora problemi da chiarire, non ultimo quanto del lavoro sarebbe stato svolto in Australia, con il proposito di aumentare la produzione e l’occupazione locali.
 Tuttavia, il primo ministro Scott Morrison ha inaspettatamente annullato l’accordo francese, con costi da determinare, e lo ha consegnato al complesso industriale militare statunitense.
 Con AUKUS, Morrison, per conto dei contribuenti australiani, ha firmato quello che potrebbe essere definito un assegno in bianco, dato che tutti i dettagli sui costi e sulla produzione sono da definire.
 Il grande annuncio di AUKUS potrebbe aver contribuito a rendere tranquillo il presidente Joe Biden, dato il modo spettacolare con cui ha ottenuto un contratto così importante per l’industria della difesa del suo paese.
 Consentire a quel “fellah down under” di annunciare AUKUS, una “fase nuova e strategica” nella difesa, è stato un piccolo prezzo da pagare per Biden.
 In cambio, l’Australia viene ulteriormente coinvolta nelle infruttuose e spesso ingiustificate disavventure militari globali dell’America.
 Questa è stata la conclusione dell’ex primo ministro liberale Malcolm Fraser che ha affermato: “L’Australia ha bisogno della sua alleanza con gli Stati Uniti per la sicurezza, ma l’Australia ha bisogno di sicurezza solo per la sua alleanza con gli Stati Uniti”.

Editorial

Extraordinary business

The policy posturing surrounding last month’s announcement of AUKUS, the three-way defence pact, overlooked its commercial value to US interests.
Australia’s decision to break its $90 billion submarine agreement with France in favour of a nuclear-propelled fleet with the United States and Britain was masterly American business paraded as defence policy.
When Australia announced that France would build its fleet of 12 submarines, it was considered to be one of the world’s most lucrative defence contracts.
A lengthy tendering process preceded Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s announcement on 26 April 2016 awarding the French consortium the multi-billion dollar contract – the largest in Australian defence procurement history.
There were still issues being clarified, not the least how much of the work would be done in Australia and its scope to boost local manufacturing and jobs.
However, unexpectedly Prime Minister Scott Morrison cancelled the French deal, at a cost to be determined, and handed it to the US military industrial complex.
Under AUKUS Morrison, on behalf of Australian taxpayers, has signed what could be described as a blank check, given that all details about costs and production are to be finalised.
It may have contributed to President Joe Biden’s ultra-relaxed mode in the zoomed AUKUS announcement, having spectacularly gained a considerable contract for his country’s defence industry.
Allowing that ‘fellah down under’ to take the lead in announcing AUKUS, a ‘new and strategic phase’ in defence, was a small price to pay for Biden.
In return Australia gets to be further embroiled in America’s unsuccessful, and it could be argued unwarranted, global military misadventures.
That was certainly the conclusion of former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser who said: “Australia needs its alliance with the USA for security, but Australia only needs security because of its alliance with the USA.”
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Nuovo Paese agosto/August 2021

Nuovo Paese agosto/August 2021

Leaf through NP via this link =>>    https://online.fliphtml5.com/xenbs/gloq/      or the =>> pdf

L’alibi dell’esperto

Mai prima d’ora i governi si erano affidati così pedissequamente agli esperti come nel caso del Covid-19.
Se il governo degli Stati Uniti avesse ascoltato gli scienziati del progetto Manhattan, che sostenevano che sarebbe stato sufficiente lasciare che i giapponesi assistessero ad un test atomico, non avrebbe ucciso in massa i cittadini di Hiroshima e Nagasaki.
Oggi i governi continuano a ignorare i terribili avvertimenti della comunità scientifica sulle conseguenze catastrofiche per l’umanità dei cambiamenti climatici.
Eppure i governi stanno usando “l’opinione medica degli esperti” per giustificare le misure economiche e di polizia, evitando il giudizio sulle loro decisioni.
 La pandemia deve essere prima di tutto un problema di salute pubblica invece che un imponente spettacolo di polizia nelle comunità stressate dal punto di vista socio-economico (si  pensi a quello che è stato fatto negli appartamenti della commissione per gli alloggi di Melbourne e nel sud-ovest di Sydney).
 Il braccio forte della legge avrebbe dovuto essere usato per sfruttare la capacità dei produttori farmaceutici di produrre vaccini sufficienti, in gran parte sviluppati con denaro pubblico.
 Il problema economico chiave con Covid-19 dovrebbe essere l’allocazione di denaro sufficiente per le risposte mediche.
 Si immaginino le risorse sanitarie (vaccini, strutture di quarantena, servizi ospedalieri) che avrebbero potuto essere schierate con i miliardi dati alle aziende che non avevano bisogno del sussidio ‘jobkeeper’.
 Nella caccia all’illusoria percentuale di vaccinazione comunitaria ritenuta soddisfacente, è irresponsabile non vaccinare i più vulnerabili, lasciandoli morire di Covid-19.
 Secondo i dati del Dipartimento federale della sanità al 27 luglio di quest’anno, il 93% dei decessi per Covid-19 riguardava persone di età superiore ai 70 anni.
 È un mistero il motivo per cui proprio quella categoria vulnerabile non sia stata contattata direttamente, offrendo test e vaccinazioni, come avviene normalmente con i programmi di prevenzione come gli screening per il cancro dell’intestino e del collo dell’utero.
 Ciò consentirebbe un approccio medico a coloro che soffrono di Covid-19 ma è improbabile che muoiano, offrendo vaccini e test invece di traumi, per gestire il Covid e le sue varianti.

Expert alibi

Never before have governments deferred so slavishly to experts as in the case of Covid-19.
If the US government had heeded scientists of the Manhattan project, who argued that it would suffice to let the Japanese witness an atomic test, it would not have en mass murdered Hiroshima and Nagasaki citizens.
Today governments continue to ignore dire warnings from the scientific community about the catastrophic consequences to humanity from climate change.
Yet governments are using ‘expert medical opinion” to justify policing and economic measures, thereby avoiding scrutiny and accountability.
The pandemic must be first of all a public health issue instead of an imposing show of police in socio-economic stressed communities as was done in Melbourne housing commission flats and Sydney’s southwest.
The strong arm of the law should have been used to harness pharmaceuticals’ capacity to produce sufficient vaccines – that were in large part developed with public money.
The key economic issue with Covid-19 should be the allocation of enough money for medical responses.
Imagine the health resources (vaccines, quarantine facilities, hospital services) that could have been marshaled with the billions given through jobseeker to companies that did not need it.
In the chase for the illusive percentage of community vaccination deemed satisfactory, it is irresponsible to leave unvaccinated those most vulnerable of dying from Covid-19.
According to Federal Health Department figures to 27 July this year, 93% of Covid-19 deaths were of people over 70 years of age.
It is a mystery why that vulnerable category has not been directly contacted, offering testing and vaccination, as is done with preventative programs such as bowel and cervical cancer screenings.
This would allow a medical approach to those who suffer Covid-19 but are unlikely to die, while offering vaccines and testing, not trauma, to manage Covid and its variants.
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Calls for Canberra to Impose Sanctions on Apartheid Israel – Paul Gregoire

Sydney Criminal Lawyers

by Paul Gregoire

Calls for Canberra to Impose Sanctions on Apartheid Israel

 

….And its due to Israel’s ongoing crimes against humanity – specifically those of apartheid and persecution – that one of the largest Australian human rights and international law petitions – containing 21,991 signatures – was presented to the federal House of Representatives on Monday.

Organised by a number of civil society groups, including the Federation of Italian Migrant Workers and Families (FILEF) and BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanctions) Australia, the document calls on the Morrison government to impose sanctions upon the Israeli settler colonial state.

“Despite the many UNHRC resolutions condemning Israel’s actions in occupied Palestinian lands, Israel continues to disregard them and continues its aggressive war of occupation against Palestine,” said FILEF secretary and principal petitioner Bruno di Biase.

“This means that direct, nonviolent actions such as sanctions are the only option left to people and governments in order to achieve any positive actions towards peace and recognition of Palestine’s sovereignty by Israel,” he told Sydney Criminal Lawyers…..read the full article here

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News & Events

Media Release: Sanction Israel petition presented to Australian Parliament

Media Release

 

Petition to Sanction Israel presented to Australian parliament


A petition calling on the Australian government to apply targeted sanctions and an arms embargo against Israel will be presented to the federal parliament on Monday Aug 9.

This petition of 21,990 signatures is one of the largest petitions on human rights and international law to be presented to the Australian parliament. It shows that Australian citizens want to see the rule of law applied equally by Australia in its sanctions regime which targets governments and individuals which perpetrate grave human rights abuses.

Due to Israel’s actions over many decades against Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in Israel and the diaspora, the Australian Government has a responsibility as a signatory to numerous international treaties to take action against Israel due to these grave violations of international law, which are also criminal offences under Australian law.

Mr Bruno di Biase, Principal Petitioner – Federation of Italian Migrant Workers and Families

“Despite the many UNHRC resolutions condemning Israel’s actions in occupied Palestinian lands, Israel continues to disregard them and continues its aggressive war of occupation against Palestine. This means that direct, non-violent actions such as sanctions are the only option left to people and governments in order to achieve any positive actions towards peace and recognition of Palestine’s sovereignty by Israel.”

Susan Connelly, Josephine Mitchell, Jan Barnett – Sisters of St Joseph
“Regardless of religion or ethnicity, all human beings can be scapegoats––the weak victimised by the strong. The Jewish people, indigenous peoples, catholics, protestants, muslims, atheists and others have all been victimised. Humanity has now woken up and realises that scapegoats are innocent. As a result, humans often play the victim, thus grotesquely giving themselves a self-righteous permission to scapegoat others––and we can all do it. The Jewish state is victimising Palestinians. Applying sanctions and an arms embargo to Israel is a necessary and civilised action in a world that must continue to resist the victimisation of others.”

Greg Barnes, SC – Australian Council for Free and Fair Speech

“Some Australian politicians led the way globally in arguing for the imposition of sanctions on apartheid South Africa, and rightly so. To fail to do so now in circumstances which clearly demonstrate that apartheid is being practised and in fact is embedded in the Israeli legal system would be shameful. Apartheid is not confined to South Africa.”

 Professor Peter Slezak – Deputy Convenor, BDS Australia
“Israel continues with impunity to perpetuate its long-standing violations of human rights and international law in their blockade of Gaza and brutal occupation of the West Bank. It’s a simple matter of conscience to support justice for Palestinians by targeted sanctions and an arms embargo.”

Emeritus Professor Stuart Rees OAM – Australian Council for Free and Fair Speech
“To speak without fear or favour on the human rights of Palestinians would display respect for the principles of free and fair speech, hence requests to MPs to speak to the ‘Israel Sanctions’ petition coming before parliament on Monday.”

Further information:

Sanction Israel petition, Australian government petition, May 2021
Sanctioning Israel: The Courage to Present Petition to Parliament, Aug 8, 2021
Palestine calls for arms embargo and sanctions at UN, May 16, 2021
A Threshold Crossed, Israeli authorities and the crimes of apartheid and persecution, Human Rights Watch Report, April 27, 2021

 

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News & Events

SANCTION ISRAEL – E-Petition EN2715 – House of Representatives

SANCTION ISRAEL  

Successive Israeli governments have severely discriminated against and brutally dominated Palestinians since the Nakba of 1948.  The latest attacks in Gaza(May 2021)  and throughout East Jerusalem, the West Bank and inside Israel show that the Nakba has never ended. The systematic oppression of Palestinians amounts to grave breaches of international law and the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution. Palestinians have been subject to ongoing largescale military assaults and an illegal 14-year physical and economic blockade in Gaza; a brutal 54-year military occupation; decades-long restrictions on freedom of movement; widespread imposition of an illegal settlement enterprise; confiscation of land and mass denial of residency rights. These actions intentionally and severely deprive millions of Palestinians of key fundamental rights and protections including the right to self-determination, the right of return, the right to equality and non-discrimination, and the rights to life, liberty, health, water, and security. The Australian Government has a responsibility as a signatory to numerous international treaties to take action against Israel due to these grave violations of international law, which are also criminal offences under Australian law.

SIGN HERE  =>  https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN2715

We therefore ask the House to

1) publicly condemn Israel’s assaults on Palestinians.

2) support targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on Israel.

3) support the suspension of defence cooperation with Israel and end defence industry partnerships.

4) introduce legislation to ban all settlement goods and services from entering Australia.

5) prevent Australian companies from operating, trading, or investing in settlements or contributing to their maintenance and/or expansion.

 

 

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News & Events

Petition: Stop Australian military aid to the Philippines

To: Minister for Foreign Affairs the Hon Marise Payne

Stop Australian military aid to the Philippines

Supported by Australian military aid, the Philippine government, police force, and military are violently cracking down on Filipino activists and civil society.

The Foreign Affairs Minister must immediately end all military aid to, and training operations in, the Philippines.

Why is this important?

318 human rights workers and activists murdered. 27,000 lives lost to extrajudicial killings. 122 children caught in the crossfire.

In the Philippines, a humanitarian crisis is raging out of control.

Since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed office in June 2016, thousands have lost their lives in his administration’s confected “War Against Drugs” and bloody crackdown on civil society.

Emboldened by Duterte’s encouragement to “go ahead and kill [suspected drug dealers and users] yourself”, the Philippine National Police, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, and armed vigilante groups have mercilessly gunned down “suspects” — some as young as 17 years old — on the basis of false or non-existent evidence.

Only three police officers have ever been convicted for their role in the killings.

Under cover of the COVID-19 pandemic, Duterte has escalated his assault on activists, civil society, and the urban poor. While the Philippines braces for a third wave of the virus, police continue to harass and criminalise community pantries, murder Indigenous land rights activists, and “red-tag” (designate as a terrorist and place on a Government watch list) who dares speak out.

As long-term supporters of the Philippine Military and Police Force, Australia has blood on its hands. Yet the Morrison Government refuses to condemn President Duterte and distance itself from his fascist regime.

In February, The Sydney Morning Herald revealed that Australian security agencies provided “technical assistance” over 3 years to help draft the Filipino Anti-Terror Law that experts have dubbed a “‘human rights disaster”. The law provides legal basis for incorrectly labelling activists and humanitarian and civil society groups “terrorists” and allows their harassment, criminalisation, and murder.

The Morrison Government does not publicly disclose the exact monetary value of military aid provided to the Philippines each year. However, the Australian Defence Force provides annual training for personnel from the Philippines Coast Guard and Department of National Defence. The Australian Government has also previously provided military personnel and equipment to the Philippines and trained over 10,000 Filipino army and marine personnel “in urban combat, air strike tactics in an urban environment” — the same tactics used to terrorise Filipinos and Filipino civil society.

In solidarity with activists in the Philippines and the Filipino community in Australia, BAYAN Australia, Migrante Australia, and the Sydney and Melbourne chapters of Anakbayan call on Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Minister for Defence Peter Dutton to immediately cease all military aid to the Philippines.

Will you join us in demanding the Australian Government end its role in the bloodshed in the Philippines by immediately ending all military aid to, and training operations in, the Philippines?

Sign the petition