30 October Newsletter
30 October, 2007
STUFF HAPPENING AT JUST FOCUS
Kia ora koutou!
Lately we’ve been doing lots of brainstorming and thinking about how we can make the Just Focus network bigger and better and how to involve more people. Part of that is getting some local stuff going on…
The Wellington Just Focus group is in a good groove (that’s a couple of them in the picture!), meeting every second Tuesday at Zeal for anyone who’s keen to talk about global issues and take action Email Will on wellington@justfocus.org.nz if you’re up for it.
The Just Focus groups in Auckland and Christchurch are going to take a slightly different form from next year. We’re going to be building on the success of Media That Matters Aotearoa and trying to work with other groups in the cities already doing really choice stuff. Watch this space for more on that…
We’re also hatching master plans to make the website cooler, so email us know if you have any ideas! We’re always stoked to hear from JFers…
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING AROUND AND ABOUT
The New Zealand activist community has been rattled by the arrest of 17 activists in the last fortnight. It started on October 15 with raids across the country on the homes of activists involved in tino rangatiratanga environment and peace movements. The media is awash with hype and hysteria, but from what we understand the activists have been arrested on firearms charges but were denied bail on the grounds that they are being investigated for crimes under the Suppression of Terrorism Act.
There is LOADS of info out there about the whole saga, but here are just a few places to start:
- Extensive coverage on Scoop, including comment from pretty much everyone
- Activist perspectives on Indymedia Aotearoa
- A Civil Rights Defence Campaign has set up to rally behind the activists, click here for the website
- You can read the Suppression of Terrorism Act here
Violence between Turkish soldiers and the rebel Kurdish group PKK (the Kurdish Workers’ Party) has reportedly been stepped up in recent weeks, with several skirmishes together resulting in hundreds of deaths on both sides. You can read some background on the long history of fighting between the Kurds and the Turks on The Guardian’s site. The fighting has been centred around Eastern Turkey and the Iraqi border and is looking unlikely to come to end quickly or peacefully. UK -based group Kurdish Human Rights Project claims there has been no escalation of violence as is being reported - simply that the rhetoric around the situation has increased. You can read their perspective on the situation here.
Tokelau has voted for the second time in 18 months to continue to be administered by the New Zealand government. The Pacific Island nation is the last of New Zealand’s colonies; all those that live on the series of atolls are New Zealand citizens. Read about the very close election result and what that means at Scoop.
IMPORTANT THINGS GOING ON THIS MONTH:
The Global Day of Action to Ban Cluster Bombs is on November 5 this year, one month before an international conference in Vienna in which governments will discuss future treaties on the use of cluster bombs. For more on why cluster bombs are more violent than other weapons used in war and what the global day of action is all about, go to www.stopclustermunitions.org. Or if you’d like to know what New Zealand is doing about it, check here.
If you’d like to sign a petition against cluster bombs, click here.
If you want to see for yourself the impact cluster bombs have think about going to see Australian photographer John Rodsted this month. Rodsted has a compelling presentation of still and video images documenting the lethal impacts of cluster munitions landmines and other explosive remnants of war in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Laos, and elsewhere. He’s coming to Christchurch, Wellington, Auckland and Dunedin, click here for dates.
Also on November 5 is the anniversary of the invasion of the peaceful Taranaki settlement of Parihaka. The community at Parihaka were using non-violent methods before the likes of Gandhi to protest Maori land confiscations. You can read more about the Parihaka story here.
For those of you who like to motivate yourselves to take global action by watching a few films, check out DOCNZ – the Documentary New Zealand festival is running in Christchurch until November 4 and will grace Wellington’s screens from November 8 - 24. There are a huge number of interesting documentaries with global themes, including Just Focus favourites - A Grandmother’s Tribe and Crude Impact.
SOME INTERESTING STUFF
Real News Junkies‘ latest debate is on why the US is threatening Iran. You can see a fast-paced preview of the debate here.
Nominations for this year’s Roger Awards close tomorrow! The Roger Awards recognise the transnational corporation working in New Zealand which has the most negative economic, political, social and environmental impact on our country.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT…
… The ‘terrorist’ raids in New Zealand?
… The PKK and Turkey still fighting?
… GAP still using child labour?
You can have a rant about this stuff and anything else you want on www.justfocus.org.nz… in case you didn’t know that already.
NEW STUFF ON THE JUST FOCUS WEBSITE 
Check out Rachael Stace’s article on human trafficking, as published in September’s issue of JET Magazine.
WANNA GET MORE INVOLVED?
Want to add stuff to the next newsletter or the Events Page, or to write an article/review, or take a photo/create an image for the Just Focus website? Reply to us at info@justfocus.org.nz, it’s always great to hear from you.
Peace!
