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INDONESIA: Fighter for democracy dies

BY MAX LANE On February 22, Haji Ponke Princen died. Princen, who was 76, was one of Indonesia's finest militant democrats. As a young man, Princen was sent to Indonesia as a Dutch soldier to fight against the Indonesian people's struggle for

The Murdoch effect

Here in Australia, the "threat" of the "flood" of illegal asylum seekers (no more than 4000 arrive in a year, most of them genuine) is said to have given Prime Minister John Howard his election victory last November. The decisive

Darwin high school students condemn government lies

BY BRIANNA PIKE DARWIN — "Resistance called this high school walkout to demonstrate our anger at the federal government's treatment of the world's most desperate people", Resistance organiser Chris Atkinson told Green Left Weekly. Students from

ZIMBABWE: Was Tsvangirai 'stung' by Mugabe agents?

BY NORM DIXON The SBS Dateline current affairs program on February 13 broadcast a special report — “Killing Mugabe: The Tsvangirai Conspiracy” — and a follow-up report on February 20, by Walkley Award-winning Australian journalist Mark

On the box

Actively Radical TV — Sydney community television's progressive current affairs producers tackle the hard issues from the activist's point of view. CTS Sydney (UHF 31), every Sunday, 9pm. Ph 9565 5522. Visit <http://www.channel31.org> for

Should students support disaffiliation from NUS?

BY SHUA GARFIELD HOBART — Students at the Hobart campus of the University of Tasmania (UTas) will vote in a referendum on whether to remain affiliated to the National Union of Students (NUS) on February 25-March 1. The Hobart campus is one of

ACEH: Student leader arrested

BY MAX LANE The chairperson of SMUR (Students in Solidarity with the People), Mahmudal, was arrested in Banda Aceh on February 19 during a demonstration organised by ORPAD (Acehnese Women's Democratic Organisation). SMUR is an

Write on: Letters to the editor

ALP The federal Australian Labor Party is not doing a very good job of resurrecting itself to be a political alternative. First, it was unable to produce a majority to support a principled stand on refugees. Now it is allowing itself to be

An expose of Australia's racism

Rabbit Proof FenceDirected by Phillip NoyceIntroducing Evelyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury and Laura MonaghanWith Ningali Lawford, David Gulpilil, Deborah Mailman and Kenneth BranaghScreening at Dendy Newtown and cinemas across Australia REVIEW BY KIM

Labor for Refugees forms in western sydney

BY MARGARET GLEESON SYDNEY — Thirty ALP members and trade unionists attended Labor for Refugees general meeting on February 17. Federal MP for Sydney Tanya Plibersek told the meeting that the February 12 protest rally outside Parliament House

Cuban Communist Youth: 'Che Lives'

BARBARA CANTERO, a representative of the Cuban Communist Youth (UJC), recently visited Australia to explain the activities of he organisation, learn more about the political situation in the Asian region and request increased solidarity for the Cuban

ISRAEL: Divisions grow over war

BY ROHAN PEARCE Israeli society is becoming increasingly polarised. On one side there are those who have lost, or are losing, faith in a military strategy to crush the current intifada, and who are beginning to understand that without justice for