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PALESTINE: Bush backs Sharon's war

BY ROHAN PEARCE Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's visit to Washington presented few surprises. It was so predictable that journalists could have written the story even before he left Israel. US President George Bush backed Sharon's bloody

Write on: letters to the editor

Disaster Day On October 19, 2001, an asylum-seeking vessel sank and 353 refugees drowned while on the way from Indonesia to Christmas Island. If we are to accept the possible explanation by former Australian diplomat Tony Kevin, writing in the

The rise and fall of the Pankhursts

The rise and fall of the Pankhursts The Pankhursts By Martin Pugh Allen Lane, Penguin Press, 2001 537 pages, $49.95 (hb) REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON What foul crimes did this family commit? Emmeline and her daughters — Christabel,

Unreliable tests used to deport refugees

BY TERRICA STRUDWICK The Australian government is using dental and wrist x-rays as a means of determining the age of refugees. Critics say these tests are highly inaccurate and scientifically unfounded. Legislation was passed by the Senate in

Meatworkers still waiting for jobs despite 'victory'

BY TERRICA STRUDWICK ROCKHAMPTON — Consolidated Meat Group employees voted to return to work on April 27 after a five-month dispute over a new enterprise agreement. However, CMG has broken its promise to reinstate all employees who were working

Refugees' rights protests planned

BY NIKKI ULASOWSKI Plans for large protests on June 22-23 to "welcome refugees and end mandatory detention" are well underway in cities across Australia. Rallies and marches are already being planned for the weekend, which falls within World

ISRAEL: More soldiers refuse to serve

BY ROHAN PEARCE Soldiers and officers continue to refuse to serve in Israel's reoccupation of the West Bank and Gaza. More than 450 reserve officers have signed the "Combatants letter", a statement pledging refusal to "continue to fight beyond the

Age bans cartoon critical of Israel

BY BUSTER SOUTHERLY ABC TV's Media Watch on May 6 revealed that the Melbourne Age refused to publish a cartoon drawn by Michael Leunig that was critical of Israel's war against the Palestinians. The first panel of the cartoon shows a Jewish

300 rally for Palestine

BY KYLIE MOON MELBOURNE — On May 11 300 Palestinian supporters commemorated Al Nakba — otherwise known as "the catastrophe" — the destruction by Israel, between 1947 and 1950, of 415 Palestinian villages, creating a million refugees. The

Ruddock picketed

BY BONNY CAMPBELL SYDNEY — On May 7, about 80 protesters converged outside the Immigration and Population Conference at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern where immigration minister Philip Ruddock was due to speak. Fortunately for

A Weed

Soursobs. Bitter sobs?Can you hear them crying?I don't think so. Wrong name.Defiant of lawnmowers, in cracks, understones conserving future colourin summer-silent bulbstill they can again thrustthough in the middle of winterin the middle of human

Breaking the peace (M1)

Hey you, stop beating meyou can't scare me to be silentyou may blame the refugeesyou, you can't see the realenemy, behind the wallwhere the refugees sing,singing softlyjerking tearsblame them, beat the silencetheir sown up lipstheir ripped up