Photo: The Guardian
Britain’s Judicial Office announced on Tuesday 11th June that Julian Assange’s appeal against extradition to the US would be heard on 9th and 10th July 2024. Continue reading Julian Assange’s extradition appeal to be heard on 9th & 10th July 2024
Photo: The Electronic Intifada – Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza after an Israeli airstrike on 11th May 2024.
In a press release published 3rd June 2024, Oxfam International highlighted aspects of the ongoing horror inflicted on Palestinian civilians, including women and children, by Israel’s relentless ground and air assaults in the Gaza Strip.
The press release opens with the following observations:
Israel’s relentless air and land bombardment and deliberate obstruction of the humanitarian response is making it virtually impossible for aid agencies to reach trapped, starved civilians in Gaza, Oxfam said today, as the latest ceasefire deal negotiations continue. Continue reading Oxfam: Famine risk increases as Israel makes Gaza aid response virtually impossible
Photo: A Palestinian flag was raised outside the Irish Parliament to mark its recognition of Palestinian statehood. BBC News
On Tuesday 28th May, Spain, Ireland and Norway officially recognised Palestinian statehood. This move adds to the Israel’s increasing isolation since its genocidal war on Gaza started almost eight months ago.
Statements by each of these European countries explained that they wanted to accelerate efforts to secure a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and that they aimed to encourage other European Union countries to follow suit. Continue reading Spain, Ireland and Norway have recognised a Palestinian state – what’s stopping Australia?
Speech by Mary Kostakidis prior to Daniel Duggan’s extradition hearing in Sydney, 24 May 2024. Video: J Atkins/MPG
Daniel Duggan, a former US marine pilot who obtained Australian citizenship on 26th January 2012, was adjudged eligible for extradition to the US in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Friday 24th May 2024. Continue reading Ex-US marine pilot Daniel Duggan loses legal bid to block extradition to US
| Video source: Politico |
On Friday 10th May 2024, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution which upgrades Palestine’s rights and privileges as an Observer State and calls on the UN Security Council to favourably reconsider Palestine’s request for full membership.
The 193-member General Assembly approved the Arab and Palestinian-sponsored resolution by 143 votes for, 9 against (including the United States and Israel) and 25 abstentions. Australia decided to join the vast majority of member states by voting in favour of this resolution.1 Continue reading UN General Assembly supports symbolic move to allow Palestine full membership
| Video: Peter Boyle/Green Left |
A media conference in Sydney/Gadigal land on 24th April 2024 discussed alarming new figures released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) which showed that world military expenditure increased for the ninth consecutive year to an all-time high of $2,443 billion. For the first time since 2009, military expenditure went up in all five of the geographical regions defined by SIPRI, with particularly large increases recorded in Europe, Asia and Oceania and the Middle East. Continue reading Global military spending surges amid war, rising tensions and insecurity
This year’s Anzac Day Reflection was held at the traditional site of Richardson’s Lookout – Marrickville Peace Park on Thursday 25th April. Organised by the Marrickville Peace Group (MPG), it attracted over 100 people. In addition, a combined choir, assembled from three local choirs and comprising around 40 singers, sang a number of peace songs during the event. Continue reading Anzac Day Reflection – 25th April 2024
An Earth Day Picnic for Peace was organised by the Blue Mountains Peace Collective on Sunday 21st April 2024.
Held at Wilson Park in Wentworth Falls, the event attracted around 50 people and featured a teach-in and launch of a brochure entitled ‘War Costs the Climate’.
Confronting the threats of war and ending the AUKUS security pact were identified as essential to combating the climate emergency.
Additional topics highlighted during the event included:
– the high greenhouse gas emissions generated by the world’s militaries with Australia and its AUKUS partners, the UK and the US, being among the worse polluters; Continue reading Blue Mountains Peace Collective: Picnic for Peace – 21st April 2024
At the conclusion of Julian Assange’s extradition appeal hearing in London’s High Court in February 2024, the two judges presiding reserved their decision pending the submission of certain assurances by the U.S. administration. Continue reading Julian Assange extradition: U.S. fails to guarantee First Amendment protection
President Joe Biden has said that he is considering a request from the Australian government to drop the decade-long U.S. drive to prosecute Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Assange has been indicted on 17 charges under the U.S. Espionage Act of 1917, plus one charge of computer misuse, as a result of publishing classified U.S. military records and diplomatic cables on the WikiLeaks website almost 15 years ago. These documents exposed war crimes committed by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other matters of public interest. If convicted, Assange faces a sentence of up to 175 years in a U.S. maximum security or supermax prison. Continue reading Biden “considering” request to drop Julian Assange’s indictment
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Daniel Duggan, a former US marine pilot who obtained Australian citizenship in 2012, is currently fighting extradition to the U.S.
At the request of U.S. authorities, Duggan was arrested by the Australian Federal Police on an extradition warrant on 21st October 2022. He is currently being held in solitary confinement in Lithgow’s maximum security prison. Continue reading Daniel Duggan loses bid to delay U.S. extradition trial
News services have reported that during the night of Monday 1st April 2024, an Israeli airstrike killed six international aid workers and a Palestinian driver in central Gaza.
Those killed included Melbourne-born Lalzawmi “Zomi” Frankcom, aged 43. Of the other victims, one was from Poland, three were from United Kingdom, and another was a US-Canada citizen. Continue reading World Central Kitchen wants independent probe into Israeli attack on aid convoy
Melissa Parke, executive director of International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), will be visiting Parliament House in Canberra this week to urge the Albanese Labor government to sign and ratify the United Nation’s Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), also known as the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty. Continue reading When will Australia join the TPNW?
As Julian Assange fights extradition to the U.S. while imprisoned in London’s Belmarsh high security prison, so too is Daniel Duggan fighting extradition to the US while imprisoned in Lithgow’s high security prison. Continue reading Daniel Duggan’s fight against extradition to the US
Al Jazeera English’s Listening Post: ‘”Who is the superpower? The US or Israel?” The absurdity of airdrops in Gaza.’
You’ve seen the images in the media coverage: the US air dropping aid into northern Gaza to feed hungry Palestinians. Headline news but also a textbook case of cognitive dissonance on Washington’s part – dropping food while continuing to provide Israel with bombs to pulverise Gaza. Continue reading “US airdrops into the Gaza Strip are pure theatre”