France bans pro-Palestine protests
βFrance's Socialist government provoked outrage today by becoming the first in the world to ban protests against Israeli action in Palestine,β the Daily Mail on July 18.
βIn what is viewed as an outrageous attack on democracy, Socialist Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said mass demonstrations planned for the weekend should be halted β¦ Thousands were set to march against the ongoing slaughter in Gaza.
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You know, there is a lot of ridiculous and quite unfair criticism of Israel floating around, simply because it has been relentlessly bombing 1.5 million people trapped in a 360 square kilometre open-air prison over which it maintains a brutal siege and has slaughtered hundreds of people including dozens of children, supposedly in retaliation for homemade rockets fired from Gaza that has kill a total of one person in the current conflict.
But there is a little reported story that shows exactly what Israel's true values are.
The Community and Public Services Union (CPSU) has slammed a move by the federal government's biggest department, the Department of Human Services, which incorporates Centrelink, Medicare and the Child Support Agency, to force staff to work extra time for no additional pay. The department wants its 35,000 staff to work an additional half hour a week in negotiations for a new industrial agreement.
In a September 2006 article for the Electronic Intifada, I defined the Israeli policy towards the Gaza Strip as an incremental genocide.
Israelβs present assault on Gaza alas indicates that this policy continues unabated. The term is important since it appropriately locates Israelβs barbaric action β then and now β within a wider historical context.
Numerous wind farm developments across Victoria may face termination due to the highly inflexible and restrictive nature of the Denis Napthine governmentβs anti-wind farm laws and permit rules.
The Weekly Times reported that the 20 companies granted permits before the introduction of these laws have to their turbines.
Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has launched an βSOS Palestineβ campaign to demand an end to Israelβs ongoing bombardment of Palestineβs Gaza strip, said on July 12.
βEnough already, Iβve joined the campaign,β he told supporters during a televised broadcast. β#SOS Palestina, letβs launch it.β
Holding up a handwritten placard, he asked fellow citizens to join the campaign, stating, βThe Palestinian people have the right to live in their ancestral lands in peace.β
One petition I saw circulating recently called for both Israel and Hamas to put down their weapons. I dispute this approach that blames both sides equally. Israel is the aggressor. Not only is Israel bombing indiscriminately with a view to maximising civilian casualties, it continues to maintain its inhumane and illegal siege of Gaza.
The kidnapping and murder of the Israeli teenagers was simply a pretext. There is no evidence that it was a Palestinian or a Hamas member who killed the teenagers.
Israel has set itself as judge, jury and executioner.Β
News has broken that Israel has now followed its sustained air bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip, which has already killed at least 230 people, with a ground invasion. This weekend, rallies are being held in cities across Australia to rally for Palestine int he face of Israel's carnage (details below).
ABOUT 10,000 PEOPLE rallied in Melbourne on July 12 to protest against Israel's attack on Gaza.
Samah Sabawi, a playwright, poet, political analyst and human rights advocate originally from Gaza, gave the speech below to the rally.
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As Israel continues its ruthless bombardment of the Gaza Strip, Palestinians in Gaza have been sending their messages to the world using social media. They want us to hear their voices and to carry them to those around us. I will start by honouring their request and sharing with you some of their messages.
The Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has asked for another $104 million from the federal government to hold hearings until the end of 2017.
The commission has released an , for which they held more than 1600 private sessions and received more than 1600 written accounts from survivors of sexual abuse.
The unofficially successful bid for presidency Joko Widodo (popularly known as Jokowi) is βunprecedented thus far in post-authoritarian Indonesiaβ, according to Dr Vannessa Hearman, a lecturer in Indonesian Studies at the University of Sydney.
The bid survived a vicious anti-communist smear campaign by supporters of Jokowi's sole contender for presidency β the sacked former Suharto-era general Prabowo Subianto.
Joint statement by Asia-Pacific left organisations
In the past week, Israeli military forces have escalated their offensive on the Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes have increasingly targeted houses, civilian-populated areas and civilian facilities in the Gaza strip.
Israeli warplanes have destroyed a number of houses while their residents were inside, without any prior warnings, killing and wounding many Palestinian civilians.
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