Conghaileach
14th September 2003, 20:48
The Plough
-E-mail newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party-
Number 5
Date 12th September 2003
1. Grave Attacks in Glengormly
2. UN Report on Human Development
3. Anti War Meeting In Belfast
4. Socialist Workers Party
5. The World Trade Organisation
6. Welcoming a Terrorist
7. What's On
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DAILY LIFE IN GLENGORMLY
Glengormly is a town on the outskirts of Belfast where there is a growing
catholic population. Every year the local Catholic Church holds what is
called Cemetery Sunday when the local Priest blesses local catholic graves.
Over the past number of year¹s local loyalist protests, bomb scares and
attacks both on catholic graves and the local church have disrupted this
ceremony. This year is no different. A number of Celtic crosses over
catholic graves were smashed earlier in the week. On Wednesday night
slogans were painted on the local church door. The slogans were KAT which
means KILL ALL TAIGS. Taig is a term of abuse used against Catholics. This
time the local priest has taken a courageous stand and decided not to rub
out the slogans. He is leaving them on the church doors as a reminder of
the deep anti-Catholic hatred in the Northern State. On a main thorough
fare in Sandy Row in Belfast City Centre, a major crossroads is bedecked
with loyalist flags and the slogan KAT was daubed all over a local block of
private residential flats. So far no action by the authorities even though
the flags and slogans are within 200yards of the local police station.
Another success for the Good Friday Agreement.!!!
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U.N. REPORT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
This year's UN Report on Human Development once again reminded us of global
injustice. The ten percent richest people on earth earn 124 times more than
the poorest ten percent. The 1% richest earn more than 57% of world
population combined. In 2001, the world¹s GDP was 45 000 billion dollars.
If this wealth was divided equally, a family with three children, be they
living in Africa, Asia or in the USA would have a monthly income of 2260
Euros – enough to have a comfortable life. Every human being on earth would
have 14 dollars per day, but 2.8 billion are currently living on two
dollars or less, and 1.1 billion on one dollar or less. One person out of
three has no electricity, and one out of five no drinking water. Every day,
30 000 children die of hunger and preventable diseases. More children died
of diarrhea during the 1990s than the total number of people who died in
armed conflicts since the end of the Second World War.
Every year, 10 million human beings die of hunger. Yet, there is an annual
surplus of food for at least 600 million people. But 800 million people
suffer from hunger: one person out of three in sub-Sahara Africa, and one
out of four in South East Asia. In India alone, 200 million suffer from
hunger. However, the solution is fairly easy. Saving them would only cost
5.2 billion dollars, the equivalent of one month of US occupation of
Iraq. The report also notes that only 35 billion dollars would suffice to
prevent the annual death of 8 million people from preventable diseases like
tuberculosis, malaria and diarrhea. That is less than the 40 billion
dollars spent by the US for their war in Iraq between March and April this
year.
What is scandalous about those figures is that all this misery is
preventable. Compare on the basis of this UN report socialist China and
capitalist India for example. In India, more than 200 million people suffer
from hunger and more than 400 million have to live on less than one dollar
a day. If India provided the same health care as China, every year 1.5
million children could be saved. Proportional to population, China spends
three times as much as India on health care. India has an illiteracy rate
of 35 per cent compared to China¹s rate of 16 percent. The average Chinese
can expect to live until 71, the average Indian 64. India¹s infant
mortality rate is twice that of China. In Cuba, there is one medical
doctor for 170 people. In the rest of Latin America, the proportion is of
one doctor for 613 people. Cuba spends per inhabitant twice as much on
health care and education than the rest of Latin America. In those
countries, the ten percent richest people earn 46 times what the poorest
ten percent earn. In Cuba, the proportion is five times. A quarter of Latin
Americans have to survive on 2 dollars a day or less. In Cuba, less than
two percent do. This is a reminder that a more equitable organisation of
society is possible.
LiamORuaric
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ANTI WAR MEETING
An anti war meeting was held at Queen's in the Peter Frogatt Centre QUB
Belfast, on Tuesday Night featuring John Rees from the Stop the War
Coalition in London and organiser of the 2 million strong march on February
15th, Jamal Iweida from the Belfast Islamic Centre, Monica Mc Williams from
the women¹s¹ coalition and Carmel Gates from the trade union movement. The
meeting was well attended and the speeches clear, articulate and to the
point. However in the pursuit of building an alliance those elements
involved in the anti-war coalition sometimes tend to hide or conceal their
politics or else trim their political beliefs to the prevailing wind. One
of the demands of the coalition is for the withdrawal of the occupation
troops from Iraq. It sounds a sensible and reasonable demand that many
should support. However I believe that not the withdrawal but the defeat of
the occupation forces is what is needed. Obviously the defeat of in
particular British and USA Imperialism would be a major blow to
international capitalism.
At the moment there is armed resistance to the invaders in Iraq. It is as
yet unclear as to what groups make up the resistance. Some may well be the
remnants of the old regime; some may be Al Qaeda group. We have no truck
for the politics of either group.
But there is a growing mass resistance campaign in Iraq that combines many
shades of political views. I believe that resistance whether armed or mass
should be supported.
One of the sadder aspects of the meeting was the rivalry between the SWP
(NI)and the Socialist Party(NI). When a member of one spoke inevitably a
member of the other party felt the need to get up and put their Party line.
Even sadder was the almost cult like repetition of a party line that calls
on the working people of Iraq (or Palestine and Israel) to build a
socialist Government. Much of the sloganising does not take into account
the actual existing realities of life in Iraq or Palestine ignores
questions of nationality and self determination and transfers abstract
concepts from a British perspective onto almost every other country in the
world. Such an attitude demeans socialism and alienate potential supporters
John Martin
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THE SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY
In Plough-3 we dealt with an article that Eamon McCann had written in the
Belfast Telegraph in which he had a sideswipe against the IRSP. We now see
that the paper of the SWP carries the same article. Does this mean that the
politics of the Belfast Telegraph and the SWP are the same? We don't think
so but surely this should cause some questioning in the ranks of the SWP
over the use of their pages to deliver snide sideswipes at other socialists
without any clear analysis.
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THE WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION
1. The WTO Is Fundamentally Undemocratic
The policies of the WTO impact all aspects of society and the planet, but
it is not a democratic, transparent institution. The WTO rules are written
by and for corporations with inside access to the negotiations. For
example, the US Trade Representative gets heavy input for negotiations from
17 "Industry Sector Advisory Committees." Citizen input by consumer,
environmental, human rights and labour organisations is consistently
ignored. Even simple requests for information are denied, and the
proceedings are held in secret. Who elected this secret global government?
2. The WTO Will Not Make Us Safer
The WTO would like you to believe that creating a world of "free trade"
will promote global understanding and peace. On the contrary, the
domination of international trade by rich countries for the benefit of
their individual interests fuels anger and resentment that make us less safe.
3. The WTO Tramples Labour and Human Rights
WTO rules put the "rights" of corporations to profit over human and labour
rights. The WTO encourages a 'race to the bottom' in wages by pitting
workers against each other rather than promoting internationally recognised
labour standards. The WTO has ruled that it is illegal for a government to
ban a product based on the way it is produced, such as with child labour.
It has also ruled that governments cannot take into account "non commercial
values" such as human rights, or the behaviour of companies that do
business with vicious dictatorships such as Burma when making purchasing
decisions.
4. The WTO Would Privatise Essential Services
The WTO is seeking to privatise essential public services such as education,
health care, energy and water. Privatisation means the selling off of public
assets - such as radio airwaves or schools - to private (usually foreign)
corporations, to run for profit rather than the public good. The WTO's
General Agreement on Trade in Services, or GATS, includes a list of about
160 threatened services including elder and child care, sewage, garbage,
park maintenance, telecommunications, construction, banking, insurance,
transportation, shipping, postal services, and tourism. In some countries,
privatisation is already occurring. Those least able to pay for vital services -
working class communities and communities of colour - are the ones who
suffer the most.
5. The WTO Is Destroying the Environment
The WTO is being used by corporations to dismantle hard-won local and
national environmental protections, which are attacked as "barriers to
trade." The very first WTO panel ruled that a provision of the US Clean Air
Act, requiring both domestic and foreign producers alike to produce cleaner
gasoline, was illegal. The WTO declared illegal a provision of the
Endangered Species Act that requires shrimp sold in the US to be caught
with an inexpensive device allowing endangered sea turtles to escape. The
WTO is attempting to deregulate industries including logging, fishing,
water utilities, and energy distribution, which will lead to further
exploitation of these natural resources.
6. The WTO is Killing People
The WTO's fierce defence of 'Trade Related Intellectual Property' rights
(TRIPs)-patents copyrights and trademarks-comes at the expense of health
and human lives. The organisation's support for pharmaceutical companies
against governments seeking to protect their people's health has had
serious implications for places like sub-Saharan Africa, where 80 percent
of the world's new AIDS cases are found. Developing countries won an
important victory in 2001 in Doha, Qatar, when the important life-saving
mechanisms of parallel importing and compulsory licensing were agreed to,
so that countries could provide essential life-saving medicines to their
populations less expensively.
7. The WTO is Increasing Inequality
Free trade is not working for the majority of the world. During the most
recent period of rapid growth in global trade and investment (1960 to 1998)
inequality worsened both internationally and within countries. The UN
Development Program reports that the richest 20 percent of the world's
population consume 86 percent of the world's resources while the poorest 80
percent consume just 14 percent. WTO rules have hastened these trends by
opening up countries to foreign investment and thereby making it easier for
production to go where the labour is cheapest and most easily exploited and
environmental costs are low.
8. The WTO is Increasing Hunger
Farmers produce enough food in the world to feed everyone -- yet because of
corporate control of food distribution, as many as 800 million people
world-wide suffer from chronic malnutrition. According to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, food is a human right. In developing
countries, as many as four out of every five people make their living from
the land. But the leading principle in the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture
is that market forces should control agricultural policies-rather than a
national commitment to guarantee food security and maintain decent family
farmer incomes. WTO policies have allowed dumping of heavily subsidised
industrially produced food into poor countries, undermining local
production and increasing hunger.
9. The WTO Hurts Poor, Small Countries in Favour of Rich Powerful Nations
The WTO supposedly operates on a consensus basis, with equal
decision-making power for all. In reality, many important decisions get
made in a process whereby poor countries' negotiators are not even invited
to closed door meetings -- and then 'agreements' are announced that poor
countries didn't even know were being discussed. Many countries do not even
have enough trade personnel to participate in all the negotiations or to
even have a permanent representative at the WTO. This severely
disadvantages poor countries from representing their interests. Likewise,
many countries are too poor to defend themselves from WTO challenges from
the rich countries, and change their laws rather than pay for their own
defence.
10. The WTO Undermines Local Level Decision-Making and National Sovereignty
The WTO's "most favoured nation" provision requires all WTO member
countries to treat each other equally and to treat all corporations from
these countries equally regardless of their track record. Local policies
aimed at rewarding companies who hire local residents, use domestic
materials, or adopt environmentally sound practices are essentially illegal
under the WTO. Developing countries are prohibited from creating local laws
that developed countries once pursued, such as protecting new, domestic
industries until they can be internationally competitive.
11. There are Alternatives to the WTO
Citizen organisations have developed alternatives to the
corporate-dominated system of international economic governance. Together
we can build the political space that nurtures a democratic global economy
that promotes jobs, ensures that every person is guaranteed their human
rights to food, water, education, and health care, promotes freedom and
security, and preserves our shared environment for future generations.
12. The Tide is Turning Against Free Trade and the WTO!
There is a growing international backlash against the WTO. The massive
protests in Seattle of 1999 brought over 50,000 people together to oppose
the WTO - and succeeded in shutting the meeting down. When the WTO met in
2001 Qatar, the Trade negotiators were unable meet their goals of
dramatically expanding the WTO's reach. The WTO plans to meet in Cancún,
Mexico this September 10-14, so now's the time to mobilize to express our
opposition.
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WELCOMING A TERRORIST - Ariel Sharon
On Monday, despite protests from many quarters, India rolled out for its
Israeli guest the proverbial red carpet, literally red with blood. Today,
he stands out as the most successful symbol of terrorism at its ruthless
and remorseless worst. He is not only the prime minister of a state (of
Israel) created and sustained by terrorism, but was himself an active
terrorist in his younger days. It is no exaggeration to claim that three
Jewish terrorist gangs, namely the Hagannah, the Irqun and the Stern Gang,
created the state of Israel. Between the end of the war in Europe, in May
1945 and the creation of Israel, in May 1948, they brought from Europe
around 45,000-armed Jewish refugees‹in the most spectacular act of
Œcross-border¹ terrorism‹to exhaust the patience of the British
colonialists and to drive out or to coerce into submission the local Arab
population. They were remarkably successful in creating a Jewish state
comprising around 78% of Palestine, where till the outbreak of the Second
World War the Jews numbered less than a lakh out of a total population of
about 5 million‹the rest being Arab Muslims. They succeeded mainly because
they could effectively tap the near-universal sympathy they received as
victims of the Nazi holocaust, in which between 5 to 6 million European
Jews were believed to have been killed in cold blood. Emotionally the
world approved of the idea of a Jewish homeland, without a rational
examination of its inevitable consequences. The victors were anti-Arab in
their inclinations, because the pro-German activities of men, like Rashid
Ali Geelani in Iraq and of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Besides, the
Western powers, especially the US, wanted to have in the new state of
Israel an outpost of their influence in the heart of the Muslim
Middle-East. The Soviet Union too, for once, agreed with them, because it
would enable them get rid of their troublesome Jewish population,
peacefully. So, the state of Israel was created in what was till then
Palestine, on 16 May 1948. But, the price that the world paid in human
terms for the creation of Israel was high indeed. Between the murder of the
British minister, Lord Moyne, in 1944 and that of the UN representative,
Ralph Bunche in 1948 Palestine, known as the Holy Land, was the scene of
some of the cruelest acts of terrorism the world has seen, so far. On 22
July 1946 the Irgun blew up the King David Hotel at Jerusalem and killed 91
people and in March 1947, 14 were killed when the British Officers Club
there was targeted. In between, the worst massacre was carried out when 245
Arabs were killed at Deir Yasin. Even many Israeli's were shocked by this
wanton cruelty. But, the perpetrator of this massacre, Menachim Begin, who
later became Israel's prime minister, justified his action by saying;
"There would have been no state of Israel without the victory at Deir Yasin".
Later, our honoured guest, Ariel Sharon himself carried out a commando
attack on the Arab village of Qibliya killing 69 of its inhabitants. The
terror tactics that he later used to stun, expel or to eliminate Arabs in
Gaza in 1971 and in their refugee camps at Sabre and Chattily in Lebanon,
in September 1982, now forms a part of history. As six young Israeli
officers told the press in May 1982 about their experience in the West
Bank, "the daily reality in the territories is one of violence and
brutality". The indiscriminate and unrestrained use of tanks, mortars and
missiles that he as the prime minister has unleashed on the Arabs of the
West Bank and Gaza as well as on their refugee camps in neighbouring
Lebanon are the daily stuff of the world media. He has also passed a
rabidly racist law prohibiting Israeli Arabs from bringing in their
Palestinian spouses. Now, he is engaged in building an 8 metre high and 650
KM long wall to keep the West Bank separate from Israel. And, remember,
Israel so far is the only state that has for 36 years defied the UN
resolution asking it to vacate the Golan Heights occupied unlawfully since
1967.
Still, India is now seeking the warm embrace of a terrorist state for our
so-called fight against global terrorism. The powers that he have suddenly
forgotten India¹s glorious past of anti-colonialism and fight for justice
for the under-dog and are trying to cosy up to those and their minions who
are ever on the alert to seek out any potential challenge or opposition and
to snuff it out with massive application of modern fire-power. Now New
Delhi is openly speaking of an Indo-Israeli-US triangle to fight terrorism.
India is busy buying hi-tech weapons and other gadgets from them and is
virtually justifying the ruthless measures they are taking, in pure
self-interest, in Afghanistan, Iraq and in Palestine. Indian rulers have,
obviously, found some thing encouraging in the visibly anti-Muslim triangle
of alliance with Israel and the US. They do not mind the hurt they inflict
on our 150 million Muslims, or the suspicion we thus arouse across the
entire arch of Islam from Indonesia to Morocco through our well-advertised
change of side. Perhaps they welcome a consolidation of their anti-Muslim
vote bank. In any case, they have converted the one-time champion of
anti-colonialism into a seeker of crumbs beside the neo-colonialists¹
table. What a fall?
Kashmir Times is published in the Hindu heartland of Kashmir, in the city
of Jammu in Indian-occupied Kashmir. Its publishers/editors are Kashmiri
Hindus. It is a progressive paper and editorially fully supports the
majority (Muslim) Kashmiri resistance to Indian occupation and for Kashmiri
self-determination. Its editor, Ved Bhasin is highly respected by the
Kashmiri people for his outspoken support for Kashmiri independence.
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Lee Kyung-hae, a South Korean farmer and activist, has killed himself at
the fences in Cancun behind which the WTO are meeting. His suicide was
designed to highlight the plight that farmers across the world are facing
thanks to the policies of the WTO and against their illegitimate meeting in
Cancun.
Already tens of thousands of other farmers, workers, students and peasants
have been converging on the city to oppose the policies of the WTO.
Globalise Resistance have called a demonstration outside City Hall in
solidarity with those demonstrating and we are encouraging as many people
as possible to join us against the organisation which puts profit before
the needs of people across the world. People should bring down placards,
pots and pans, flags, bannerŠ basically anything to make a lively demo.
These people aren¹t only demonstrating for their own livelihoods, they are
also demonstrating against the water charges we face here at home, the bin
charges down south and against the sell off of our schools and hospitals.
SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE WTO
SOLIDARITY WITH DEMONSTRATIONS IN CANCUN
SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER
3.30PM, OUTSIDE CITY HALL, BELFAST
FROM Dan Buckley- [email protected] -07762363147
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Subject: Belfast Anti Racist Meeting
Dear Brothers and Sisters
Over the past while we have seen the rise of racist incidents and attacks
on ethnic minorities around Northern Ireland. We have also seen the overt
rise of racist material, graffiti and groups springing up in various areas.
This would be of concern to all those progressive forces that looking to
seek a socially just and inclusive society. Following a recent meeting held
in the Multi Cultural Resource Centre in Belfast attended by human rights
organisations, ethnic minority support groups, Asylum seeker lawyers,
practitioners, development organisations, and other interested parties, it
was decided a second meting should be held. This meeting is to discuss any
practical and visible strategies that can be developed to raise awareness
and to tackle this increasing problem. Various groups and organisations are
and have been actively trying to tackle this problem but it was suggested a
broader meeting to discuss all the various strategies and maybe finding
some practical activity together, could be yet another way of helping to
bring this issue to the fore.
The meeting is to be held in the Multi Cultural Resource centre, Sept 17th
at 7pm. Address 9 Lower Crescent Bt7. {The street across from the Empire,
and is beside the One World Centre in S/Belfast}. Those groups,
organisations and individuals who would be interested in attending the
meeting are welcome. It will be informal and open to all to have an input.
For further information contact Nathalie at the Multi Cultural Resource
Centre at [email protected] or alternatively you can contact myself at
[email protected], PH 07974632485.
Davy Carlin
Agreed Convenor
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NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL
Public meeting-Liberty Hall, Dublin-7.30pm WEDS SEPT 17th
Speakers:
Elizabeth Adeyinka Salako (Mother of Irish children- facing deportation)
Dr Ronit Lentin (Ethnic and Racial Studies, Trinity College)
Joe Carolan (Globalise Resistance)
Rosanna Flynn (Residents Against Racism)
and speaker from SIPTU
Eleven thousand asylum seekers face immediate deportation under new laws
announced by Minister of Injustice Michael Mc Dowell. On 17 July Mc Dowell
announced that parents of Irish children were also to be deported- his
officials immediately issued the first 400 notices of deportation. They
were told that they only had 15 days to appeal- but without legal aid for a
process that could cost between 2-4,000 euro.
This follows a disgraceful Supreme Court decision in February removing the
right of parents to remain with Irish born children. While these Irish
children cannot be legally deported, they will be forced to leave the
country with their families. In effect, this marks the beginning of a new
definition of what it means to be Irish- it will now be officially racialised.
FF/PDs scapegoat immigrants for their own mistakes
Ireland is now the most globalised economy in the world. Giant
multinationals are free to open (and all too often, close) their factories
here, with huge tax breaks and subsidies. They expatriate billions of Euros
profit from Ireland everyday- in reality; they are the real
parasites. Their friends in Fianna Fail and the PDs always boast how this
corporate globalisation is good for Ireland, yet they are now attacking the
human face of globalisation: a multicultural Ireland, whose children have
parents from elsewhere. Fianna Fail and the PDs are deeply unpopular- they
won the last election by pretending that the Celtic Tiger boom would
continue. The economy is going into recession, and they have made a mess
of our hospitals, public transport and services. Now, rather than have us
turn our anger on them and their rich friends who ripped this country off
during the boom, they want us to scapegoat immigrants to take attention off
themselves. Human Globalisation versus Corporate Globalisation
Globalise Resistance believes that everybody has the right to live and work
in this new global economy. If capital and corporations are free to move
around the world, then so too should people. We oppose all forms of
racism, whether on the streets or from official channels. We think
ordinary people have more in common with each other than with the
governments or corporations, and that we should unite for a multicultural
world free from racism, hunger and war. We agree with the revolutionary
James Connolly, who in the 1916 proclamation declared that all the children
of the nation should be cherished equally. That means not ripping their
families apart.
Globalise Resistance needs volunteers to help with the resistance to
McDowell's deportations. If you can help in any way, please text us at 087
9032281 or email us at [email protected]
NO BORDERS, NO FRONTIERS-IMMIGRANTS ARE WELCOME HERE!
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Robert Emmet
With plans by RTÉ to screen a 'Mint Production' documentary on Robert Emmet
on the anniversary of his execution (i.e. September 20th) people may be
interested to know that a commemoration to mark the 200th Anniversary of
the execution of Robert Emmet will be held in Dublin on Saturday, September
20th next; the procession will assemble at the Garden of Remembrance in
Parnell Square at 1.30 pm and march to St Catherine's Church in Thomas
Street, where those present will be addressed by author Seán Ó Brádaigh.
(From R.S.F.)
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The 3rd All Ireland Social Forum Gathering
Co-operation not Competition
Human Rights Not Privatisation
Sunday, September 21st
10:30-5:30, followed by evening social events
Crescent Arts Centre, 2-4 University Rd.
Belfast
The NEISF is organising a one-day event under the title 'Co-operation not
Competition, Human Rights not Privatisation'. The event will examine issues
of privatisation, neo-liberalism, human rights, peace and democracy. The
gathering will also discuss the future development of the Irish Social
Forum and its European and World counterparts. This event is open to all
those involved in the evolving Irish Social Forum networks, all those who
are opposed to neo liberalism, privatisation and global capitalism and all
those who believe that 'another world is possible.'
Agenda
Morning Plenary Discussion: 10.30 - 12.00
Neo-Liberalism - From the local to the global
Communities Against Water Tax (Manus Maguire), Fire brigades Union (Jim
Barbour), ICTU (Alisa Keane), Refugee Rights (Refugee Action Group). Chair
(Emily Kawano)
Morning Workshops: 12.15 - 1.45
Workshops on
- Trade justice
- Anti war
- Another world is possible
- Poverty
- Ireland in the global economy
- Consensus facilitation skills
- Ghandi¹s
- Open
- Open
- Open
Lunch: 1.45 - 2.45
Food Not Bombs
Lunch will take the form of a public food Not Bombs event at the Venue.
Afternoon Discussion: 3.00 - 5.30
The Future of the ISF
The agenda of this session will not be set until one week before the event.
Participants should feel free to e-mail their suggestions or issues they
would like to discuss by September 15th. Possible elements to the session
could be:
- Reports from regional social forums
- Workshops on specific themes such as ISF national structure, priorities etc.
- Open plenary to discuss workshop report backs and decision making on way
forward
Social Event: 7.00
Theatre followed by,
World Music Disco, with resident DJ Steve Mc in Crescent Arts Centre
Additional Details
For more information or to suggest topics for workshops or the afternoon ISF
Session contact:
Eoin O'Broin at [email protected]
John Barry at [email protected]
Emily Kawano at [email protected]
Childcare
If you would like to register for childcare provided on-site, please rsvp
to Emily Kawano, [email protected] or phone 9060 5091. Please provide name
and age of each child, special needs and your contact details. There may be
a small fee charged per child (approx. £3-£5). Spaces are limited, so
please reply ASAP.
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IRSP General Belfast meeting
Tuesday September 23rd September 2003-09-11
Open to all Party members sympathisers and friends.
For more details contact
[email protected]
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International Day of Action
Dublin/Belfast
Saturday, 27th September
March against the War
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The Annual Seamus Costello Anniversary Commemoration will take place on
Sunday 5th of October, Assembly Point Old Town Hall Little Bray. March and
Rally with Band and Colour Party. Main Speaker will be Ex Political
Prisoner and Blanket man, IRSP Ard Comhairle Member, Paul Little.
Seamus Costello Remembered
26th Anniversary Commemoration
Organised By the IRSP Commemoration Committee.
Contact and Transport Details, contact Daithi on 0877570109 or
[email protected]
All Welcome.
"I Owe My allegiance to the Working Class" Seamus Costello
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GEORGE MONBIOT
George Monbiot, a regular feature writer in The Guardian, is the author of
Captive State and The Age of Consent. The One World Centre, The New Ireland
Group and The de Borda Institute have organised the following events:
1 GEORGE MONBIOT The 2nd One World Centre annual lecture, 12 noon to 2
p.m., Thursday 9th October, Room G07, Peter Frogatt Building, Queen¹s
University. Everyone welcome.
Further information available from The One World Centre, 4 Lower Crescent,
Belfast BT7 1NR, Tel 90241879, e-mail [email protected]
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2 GEORGE MONBIOT "Unionism, Nationalism or Globalisation?" 7.30 for
7.45 p.m. on Thursday 9th October, in The Elmwood Hall, Belfast Tickets £5
(concessions £2.50), includes a free glass of organic wine from the Belfast
Food Co-op.
Tickets and further information available from either The New Ireland
Group, 7 Slievedarragh Park, Belfast BT14 8J
[email protected] or The de Borda Institute, 36 Ballysillan
Road, Belfast BT14 7QQ [email protected]
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James Byrne Commemoration Committee
1st November 2003-09-11 Monument Unveiling & 90th Anniversary Commemoration
Assemble 2pm Main Entrance Deansgrange Cemetery, Deansgrange, Co. Dublin,
Ireland. The newly-commissioned monument over the grave of Trade Union
Martyr, James Byrne, District Organiser, ITG&WU, who died on 1st
November 1913 following a hunger & thirst strike during the Great Lock-Out
1913 will be unveiled by Des Geraghty, President, SIPTU. All trade
unionists, political activists and members of the Public welcome! [No Party
Political Banners, please!]
The James Byrne Commemoration Committee has organised the erection of a
fitting memorial over the grave in Deansgrange Cemetery [Co. Dublin,
Ireland] of James Byrne, a trade union martyr who died on 1st November
1913 as a result of the effects of a hunger and thirst strike during
imprisonment for his role in the Great Lock-Out of that year. James was
District Organiser of the Irish Transport & General Workers Union and held
leadership roles in both Bray and Kingstown [Dún Laoghaire] Trades Councils.
In the course of James Byrne¹s funeral oration James Connolly said:
"James Byrne truly died a martyr as any man who ever died for Ireland."
The Committee believes that the monument is a fitting tribute to James
Byrne and hopes that his grave may become a place of pilgrimage and source
of inspiration for trade unionists and socialists in the future. We are
particularly pleased that the descendants of James Byrne are fully
supportive of the work of the Committee.
Jason Mc Lean. PRO- James Byrne Commemoration Committee.
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European Social Forum
Paris, St Denis
12-15 November
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It is the policy of the Plough to acknowledge information and articles from
other sources.
Subscribe to the bi-monthly
"The Starry Plough/An Camchéachta"
P.O. Box 1981, Derry, BT48 8GX, Ireland.
THE VOICE OF REPUBLICAN SOCIALISM!
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://irsm.org/irsp/starryplough
-E-mail newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party-
Number 5
Date 12th September 2003
1. Grave Attacks in Glengormly
2. UN Report on Human Development
3. Anti War Meeting In Belfast
4. Socialist Workers Party
5. The World Trade Organisation
6. Welcoming a Terrorist
7. What's On
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DAILY LIFE IN GLENGORMLY
Glengormly is a town on the outskirts of Belfast where there is a growing
catholic population. Every year the local Catholic Church holds what is
called Cemetery Sunday when the local Priest blesses local catholic graves.
Over the past number of year¹s local loyalist protests, bomb scares and
attacks both on catholic graves and the local church have disrupted this
ceremony. This year is no different. A number of Celtic crosses over
catholic graves were smashed earlier in the week. On Wednesday night
slogans were painted on the local church door. The slogans were KAT which
means KILL ALL TAIGS. Taig is a term of abuse used against Catholics. This
time the local priest has taken a courageous stand and decided not to rub
out the slogans. He is leaving them on the church doors as a reminder of
the deep anti-Catholic hatred in the Northern State. On a main thorough
fare in Sandy Row in Belfast City Centre, a major crossroads is bedecked
with loyalist flags and the slogan KAT was daubed all over a local block of
private residential flats. So far no action by the authorities even though
the flags and slogans are within 200yards of the local police station.
Another success for the Good Friday Agreement.!!!
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U.N. REPORT ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
This year's UN Report on Human Development once again reminded us of global
injustice. The ten percent richest people on earth earn 124 times more than
the poorest ten percent. The 1% richest earn more than 57% of world
population combined. In 2001, the world¹s GDP was 45 000 billion dollars.
If this wealth was divided equally, a family with three children, be they
living in Africa, Asia or in the USA would have a monthly income of 2260
Euros – enough to have a comfortable life. Every human being on earth would
have 14 dollars per day, but 2.8 billion are currently living on two
dollars or less, and 1.1 billion on one dollar or less. One person out of
three has no electricity, and one out of five no drinking water. Every day,
30 000 children die of hunger and preventable diseases. More children died
of diarrhea during the 1990s than the total number of people who died in
armed conflicts since the end of the Second World War.
Every year, 10 million human beings die of hunger. Yet, there is an annual
surplus of food for at least 600 million people. But 800 million people
suffer from hunger: one person out of three in sub-Sahara Africa, and one
out of four in South East Asia. In India alone, 200 million suffer from
hunger. However, the solution is fairly easy. Saving them would only cost
5.2 billion dollars, the equivalent of one month of US occupation of
Iraq. The report also notes that only 35 billion dollars would suffice to
prevent the annual death of 8 million people from preventable diseases like
tuberculosis, malaria and diarrhea. That is less than the 40 billion
dollars spent by the US for their war in Iraq between March and April this
year.
What is scandalous about those figures is that all this misery is
preventable. Compare on the basis of this UN report socialist China and
capitalist India for example. In India, more than 200 million people suffer
from hunger and more than 400 million have to live on less than one dollar
a day. If India provided the same health care as China, every year 1.5
million children could be saved. Proportional to population, China spends
three times as much as India on health care. India has an illiteracy rate
of 35 per cent compared to China¹s rate of 16 percent. The average Chinese
can expect to live until 71, the average Indian 64. India¹s infant
mortality rate is twice that of China. In Cuba, there is one medical
doctor for 170 people. In the rest of Latin America, the proportion is of
one doctor for 613 people. Cuba spends per inhabitant twice as much on
health care and education than the rest of Latin America. In those
countries, the ten percent richest people earn 46 times what the poorest
ten percent earn. In Cuba, the proportion is five times. A quarter of Latin
Americans have to survive on 2 dollars a day or less. In Cuba, less than
two percent do. This is a reminder that a more equitable organisation of
society is possible.
LiamORuaric
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ANTI WAR MEETING
An anti war meeting was held at Queen's in the Peter Frogatt Centre QUB
Belfast, on Tuesday Night featuring John Rees from the Stop the War
Coalition in London and organiser of the 2 million strong march on February
15th, Jamal Iweida from the Belfast Islamic Centre, Monica Mc Williams from
the women¹s¹ coalition and Carmel Gates from the trade union movement. The
meeting was well attended and the speeches clear, articulate and to the
point. However in the pursuit of building an alliance those elements
involved in the anti-war coalition sometimes tend to hide or conceal their
politics or else trim their political beliefs to the prevailing wind. One
of the demands of the coalition is for the withdrawal of the occupation
troops from Iraq. It sounds a sensible and reasonable demand that many
should support. However I believe that not the withdrawal but the defeat of
the occupation forces is what is needed. Obviously the defeat of in
particular British and USA Imperialism would be a major blow to
international capitalism.
At the moment there is armed resistance to the invaders in Iraq. It is as
yet unclear as to what groups make up the resistance. Some may well be the
remnants of the old regime; some may be Al Qaeda group. We have no truck
for the politics of either group.
But there is a growing mass resistance campaign in Iraq that combines many
shades of political views. I believe that resistance whether armed or mass
should be supported.
One of the sadder aspects of the meeting was the rivalry between the SWP
(NI)and the Socialist Party(NI). When a member of one spoke inevitably a
member of the other party felt the need to get up and put their Party line.
Even sadder was the almost cult like repetition of a party line that calls
on the working people of Iraq (or Palestine and Israel) to build a
socialist Government. Much of the sloganising does not take into account
the actual existing realities of life in Iraq or Palestine ignores
questions of nationality and self determination and transfers abstract
concepts from a British perspective onto almost every other country in the
world. Such an attitude demeans socialism and alienate potential supporters
John Martin
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THE SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY
In Plough-3 we dealt with an article that Eamon McCann had written in the
Belfast Telegraph in which he had a sideswipe against the IRSP. We now see
that the paper of the SWP carries the same article. Does this mean that the
politics of the Belfast Telegraph and the SWP are the same? We don't think
so but surely this should cause some questioning in the ranks of the SWP
over the use of their pages to deliver snide sideswipes at other socialists
without any clear analysis.
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THE WORLD TRADE ORGANISATION
1. The WTO Is Fundamentally Undemocratic
The policies of the WTO impact all aspects of society and the planet, but
it is not a democratic, transparent institution. The WTO rules are written
by and for corporations with inside access to the negotiations. For
example, the US Trade Representative gets heavy input for negotiations from
17 "Industry Sector Advisory Committees." Citizen input by consumer,
environmental, human rights and labour organisations is consistently
ignored. Even simple requests for information are denied, and the
proceedings are held in secret. Who elected this secret global government?
2. The WTO Will Not Make Us Safer
The WTO would like you to believe that creating a world of "free trade"
will promote global understanding and peace. On the contrary, the
domination of international trade by rich countries for the benefit of
their individual interests fuels anger and resentment that make us less safe.
3. The WTO Tramples Labour and Human Rights
WTO rules put the "rights" of corporations to profit over human and labour
rights. The WTO encourages a 'race to the bottom' in wages by pitting
workers against each other rather than promoting internationally recognised
labour standards. The WTO has ruled that it is illegal for a government to
ban a product based on the way it is produced, such as with child labour.
It has also ruled that governments cannot take into account "non commercial
values" such as human rights, or the behaviour of companies that do
business with vicious dictatorships such as Burma when making purchasing
decisions.
4. The WTO Would Privatise Essential Services
The WTO is seeking to privatise essential public services such as education,
health care, energy and water. Privatisation means the selling off of public
assets - such as radio airwaves or schools - to private (usually foreign)
corporations, to run for profit rather than the public good. The WTO's
General Agreement on Trade in Services, or GATS, includes a list of about
160 threatened services including elder and child care, sewage, garbage,
park maintenance, telecommunications, construction, banking, insurance,
transportation, shipping, postal services, and tourism. In some countries,
privatisation is already occurring. Those least able to pay for vital services -
working class communities and communities of colour - are the ones who
suffer the most.
5. The WTO Is Destroying the Environment
The WTO is being used by corporations to dismantle hard-won local and
national environmental protections, which are attacked as "barriers to
trade." The very first WTO panel ruled that a provision of the US Clean Air
Act, requiring both domestic and foreign producers alike to produce cleaner
gasoline, was illegal. The WTO declared illegal a provision of the
Endangered Species Act that requires shrimp sold in the US to be caught
with an inexpensive device allowing endangered sea turtles to escape. The
WTO is attempting to deregulate industries including logging, fishing,
water utilities, and energy distribution, which will lead to further
exploitation of these natural resources.
6. The WTO is Killing People
The WTO's fierce defence of 'Trade Related Intellectual Property' rights
(TRIPs)-patents copyrights and trademarks-comes at the expense of health
and human lives. The organisation's support for pharmaceutical companies
against governments seeking to protect their people's health has had
serious implications for places like sub-Saharan Africa, where 80 percent
of the world's new AIDS cases are found. Developing countries won an
important victory in 2001 in Doha, Qatar, when the important life-saving
mechanisms of parallel importing and compulsory licensing were agreed to,
so that countries could provide essential life-saving medicines to their
populations less expensively.
7. The WTO is Increasing Inequality
Free trade is not working for the majority of the world. During the most
recent period of rapid growth in global trade and investment (1960 to 1998)
inequality worsened both internationally and within countries. The UN
Development Program reports that the richest 20 percent of the world's
population consume 86 percent of the world's resources while the poorest 80
percent consume just 14 percent. WTO rules have hastened these trends by
opening up countries to foreign investment and thereby making it easier for
production to go where the labour is cheapest and most easily exploited and
environmental costs are low.
8. The WTO is Increasing Hunger
Farmers produce enough food in the world to feed everyone -- yet because of
corporate control of food distribution, as many as 800 million people
world-wide suffer from chronic malnutrition. According to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, food is a human right. In developing
countries, as many as four out of every five people make their living from
the land. But the leading principle in the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture
is that market forces should control agricultural policies-rather than a
national commitment to guarantee food security and maintain decent family
farmer incomes. WTO policies have allowed dumping of heavily subsidised
industrially produced food into poor countries, undermining local
production and increasing hunger.
9. The WTO Hurts Poor, Small Countries in Favour of Rich Powerful Nations
The WTO supposedly operates on a consensus basis, with equal
decision-making power for all. In reality, many important decisions get
made in a process whereby poor countries' negotiators are not even invited
to closed door meetings -- and then 'agreements' are announced that poor
countries didn't even know were being discussed. Many countries do not even
have enough trade personnel to participate in all the negotiations or to
even have a permanent representative at the WTO. This severely
disadvantages poor countries from representing their interests. Likewise,
many countries are too poor to defend themselves from WTO challenges from
the rich countries, and change their laws rather than pay for their own
defence.
10. The WTO Undermines Local Level Decision-Making and National Sovereignty
The WTO's "most favoured nation" provision requires all WTO member
countries to treat each other equally and to treat all corporations from
these countries equally regardless of their track record. Local policies
aimed at rewarding companies who hire local residents, use domestic
materials, or adopt environmentally sound practices are essentially illegal
under the WTO. Developing countries are prohibited from creating local laws
that developed countries once pursued, such as protecting new, domestic
industries until they can be internationally competitive.
11. There are Alternatives to the WTO
Citizen organisations have developed alternatives to the
corporate-dominated system of international economic governance. Together
we can build the political space that nurtures a democratic global economy
that promotes jobs, ensures that every person is guaranteed their human
rights to food, water, education, and health care, promotes freedom and
security, and preserves our shared environment for future generations.
12. The Tide is Turning Against Free Trade and the WTO!
There is a growing international backlash against the WTO. The massive
protests in Seattle of 1999 brought over 50,000 people together to oppose
the WTO - and succeeded in shutting the meeting down. When the WTO met in
2001 Qatar, the Trade negotiators were unable meet their goals of
dramatically expanding the WTO's reach. The WTO plans to meet in Cancún,
Mexico this September 10-14, so now's the time to mobilize to express our
opposition.
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WELCOMING A TERRORIST - Ariel Sharon
On Monday, despite protests from many quarters, India rolled out for its
Israeli guest the proverbial red carpet, literally red with blood. Today,
he stands out as the most successful symbol of terrorism at its ruthless
and remorseless worst. He is not only the prime minister of a state (of
Israel) created and sustained by terrorism, but was himself an active
terrorist in his younger days. It is no exaggeration to claim that three
Jewish terrorist gangs, namely the Hagannah, the Irqun and the Stern Gang,
created the state of Israel. Between the end of the war in Europe, in May
1945 and the creation of Israel, in May 1948, they brought from Europe
around 45,000-armed Jewish refugees‹in the most spectacular act of
Œcross-border¹ terrorism‹to exhaust the patience of the British
colonialists and to drive out or to coerce into submission the local Arab
population. They were remarkably successful in creating a Jewish state
comprising around 78% of Palestine, where till the outbreak of the Second
World War the Jews numbered less than a lakh out of a total population of
about 5 million‹the rest being Arab Muslims. They succeeded mainly because
they could effectively tap the near-universal sympathy they received as
victims of the Nazi holocaust, in which between 5 to 6 million European
Jews were believed to have been killed in cold blood. Emotionally the
world approved of the idea of a Jewish homeland, without a rational
examination of its inevitable consequences. The victors were anti-Arab in
their inclinations, because the pro-German activities of men, like Rashid
Ali Geelani in Iraq and of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Besides, the
Western powers, especially the US, wanted to have in the new state of
Israel an outpost of their influence in the heart of the Muslim
Middle-East. The Soviet Union too, for once, agreed with them, because it
would enable them get rid of their troublesome Jewish population,
peacefully. So, the state of Israel was created in what was till then
Palestine, on 16 May 1948. But, the price that the world paid in human
terms for the creation of Israel was high indeed. Between the murder of the
British minister, Lord Moyne, in 1944 and that of the UN representative,
Ralph Bunche in 1948 Palestine, known as the Holy Land, was the scene of
some of the cruelest acts of terrorism the world has seen, so far. On 22
July 1946 the Irgun blew up the King David Hotel at Jerusalem and killed 91
people and in March 1947, 14 were killed when the British Officers Club
there was targeted. In between, the worst massacre was carried out when 245
Arabs were killed at Deir Yasin. Even many Israeli's were shocked by this
wanton cruelty. But, the perpetrator of this massacre, Menachim Begin, who
later became Israel's prime minister, justified his action by saying;
"There would have been no state of Israel without the victory at Deir Yasin".
Later, our honoured guest, Ariel Sharon himself carried out a commando
attack on the Arab village of Qibliya killing 69 of its inhabitants. The
terror tactics that he later used to stun, expel or to eliminate Arabs in
Gaza in 1971 and in their refugee camps at Sabre and Chattily in Lebanon,
in September 1982, now forms a part of history. As six young Israeli
officers told the press in May 1982 about their experience in the West
Bank, "the daily reality in the territories is one of violence and
brutality". The indiscriminate and unrestrained use of tanks, mortars and
missiles that he as the prime minister has unleashed on the Arabs of the
West Bank and Gaza as well as on their refugee camps in neighbouring
Lebanon are the daily stuff of the world media. He has also passed a
rabidly racist law prohibiting Israeli Arabs from bringing in their
Palestinian spouses. Now, he is engaged in building an 8 metre high and 650
KM long wall to keep the West Bank separate from Israel. And, remember,
Israel so far is the only state that has for 36 years defied the UN
resolution asking it to vacate the Golan Heights occupied unlawfully since
1967.
Still, India is now seeking the warm embrace of a terrorist state for our
so-called fight against global terrorism. The powers that he have suddenly
forgotten India¹s glorious past of anti-colonialism and fight for justice
for the under-dog and are trying to cosy up to those and their minions who
are ever on the alert to seek out any potential challenge or opposition and
to snuff it out with massive application of modern fire-power. Now New
Delhi is openly speaking of an Indo-Israeli-US triangle to fight terrorism.
India is busy buying hi-tech weapons and other gadgets from them and is
virtually justifying the ruthless measures they are taking, in pure
self-interest, in Afghanistan, Iraq and in Palestine. Indian rulers have,
obviously, found some thing encouraging in the visibly anti-Muslim triangle
of alliance with Israel and the US. They do not mind the hurt they inflict
on our 150 million Muslims, or the suspicion we thus arouse across the
entire arch of Islam from Indonesia to Morocco through our well-advertised
change of side. Perhaps they welcome a consolidation of their anti-Muslim
vote bank. In any case, they have converted the one-time champion of
anti-colonialism into a seeker of crumbs beside the neo-colonialists¹
table. What a fall?
Kashmir Times is published in the Hindu heartland of Kashmir, in the city
of Jammu in Indian-occupied Kashmir. Its publishers/editors are Kashmiri
Hindus. It is a progressive paper and editorially fully supports the
majority (Muslim) Kashmiri resistance to Indian occupation and for Kashmiri
self-determination. Its editor, Ved Bhasin is highly respected by the
Kashmiri people for his outspoken support for Kashmiri independence.
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FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Lee Kyung-hae, a South Korean farmer and activist, has killed himself at
the fences in Cancun behind which the WTO are meeting. His suicide was
designed to highlight the plight that farmers across the world are facing
thanks to the policies of the WTO and against their illegitimate meeting in
Cancun.
Already tens of thousands of other farmers, workers, students and peasants
have been converging on the city to oppose the policies of the WTO.
Globalise Resistance have called a demonstration outside City Hall in
solidarity with those demonstrating and we are encouraging as many people
as possible to join us against the organisation which puts profit before
the needs of people across the world. People should bring down placards,
pots and pans, flags, bannerŠ basically anything to make a lively demo.
These people aren¹t only demonstrating for their own livelihoods, they are
also demonstrating against the water charges we face here at home, the bin
charges down south and against the sell off of our schools and hospitals.
SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE WTO
SOLIDARITY WITH DEMONSTRATIONS IN CANCUN
SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER
3.30PM, OUTSIDE CITY HALL, BELFAST
FROM Dan Buckley- [email protected] -07762363147
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Subject: Belfast Anti Racist Meeting
Dear Brothers and Sisters
Over the past while we have seen the rise of racist incidents and attacks
on ethnic minorities around Northern Ireland. We have also seen the overt
rise of racist material, graffiti and groups springing up in various areas.
This would be of concern to all those progressive forces that looking to
seek a socially just and inclusive society. Following a recent meeting held
in the Multi Cultural Resource Centre in Belfast attended by human rights
organisations, ethnic minority support groups, Asylum seeker lawyers,
practitioners, development organisations, and other interested parties, it
was decided a second meting should be held. This meeting is to discuss any
practical and visible strategies that can be developed to raise awareness
and to tackle this increasing problem. Various groups and organisations are
and have been actively trying to tackle this problem but it was suggested a
broader meeting to discuss all the various strategies and maybe finding
some practical activity together, could be yet another way of helping to
bring this issue to the fore.
The meeting is to be held in the Multi Cultural Resource centre, Sept 17th
at 7pm. Address 9 Lower Crescent Bt7. {The street across from the Empire,
and is beside the One World Centre in S/Belfast}. Those groups,
organisations and individuals who would be interested in attending the
meeting are welcome. It will be informal and open to all to have an input.
For further information contact Nathalie at the Multi Cultural Resource
Centre at [email protected] or alternatively you can contact myself at
[email protected], PH 07974632485.
Davy Carlin
Agreed Convenor
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NO HUMAN IS ILLEGAL
Public meeting-Liberty Hall, Dublin-7.30pm WEDS SEPT 17th
Speakers:
Elizabeth Adeyinka Salako (Mother of Irish children- facing deportation)
Dr Ronit Lentin (Ethnic and Racial Studies, Trinity College)
Joe Carolan (Globalise Resistance)
Rosanna Flynn (Residents Against Racism)
and speaker from SIPTU
Eleven thousand asylum seekers face immediate deportation under new laws
announced by Minister of Injustice Michael Mc Dowell. On 17 July Mc Dowell
announced that parents of Irish children were also to be deported- his
officials immediately issued the first 400 notices of deportation. They
were told that they only had 15 days to appeal- but without legal aid for a
process that could cost between 2-4,000 euro.
This follows a disgraceful Supreme Court decision in February removing the
right of parents to remain with Irish born children. While these Irish
children cannot be legally deported, they will be forced to leave the
country with their families. In effect, this marks the beginning of a new
definition of what it means to be Irish- it will now be officially racialised.
FF/PDs scapegoat immigrants for their own mistakes
Ireland is now the most globalised economy in the world. Giant
multinationals are free to open (and all too often, close) their factories
here, with huge tax breaks and subsidies. They expatriate billions of Euros
profit from Ireland everyday- in reality; they are the real
parasites. Their friends in Fianna Fail and the PDs always boast how this
corporate globalisation is good for Ireland, yet they are now attacking the
human face of globalisation: a multicultural Ireland, whose children have
parents from elsewhere. Fianna Fail and the PDs are deeply unpopular- they
won the last election by pretending that the Celtic Tiger boom would
continue. The economy is going into recession, and they have made a mess
of our hospitals, public transport and services. Now, rather than have us
turn our anger on them and their rich friends who ripped this country off
during the boom, they want us to scapegoat immigrants to take attention off
themselves. Human Globalisation versus Corporate Globalisation
Globalise Resistance believes that everybody has the right to live and work
in this new global economy. If capital and corporations are free to move
around the world, then so too should people. We oppose all forms of
racism, whether on the streets or from official channels. We think
ordinary people have more in common with each other than with the
governments or corporations, and that we should unite for a multicultural
world free from racism, hunger and war. We agree with the revolutionary
James Connolly, who in the 1916 proclamation declared that all the children
of the nation should be cherished equally. That means not ripping their
families apart.
Globalise Resistance needs volunteers to help with the resistance to
McDowell's deportations. If you can help in any way, please text us at 087
9032281 or email us at [email protected]
NO BORDERS, NO FRONTIERS-IMMIGRANTS ARE WELCOME HERE!
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Robert Emmet
With plans by RTÉ to screen a 'Mint Production' documentary on Robert Emmet
on the anniversary of his execution (i.e. September 20th) people may be
interested to know that a commemoration to mark the 200th Anniversary of
the execution of Robert Emmet will be held in Dublin on Saturday, September
20th next; the procession will assemble at the Garden of Remembrance in
Parnell Square at 1.30 pm and march to St Catherine's Church in Thomas
Street, where those present will be addressed by author Seán Ó Brádaigh.
(From R.S.F.)
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The 3rd All Ireland Social Forum Gathering
Co-operation not Competition
Human Rights Not Privatisation
Sunday, September 21st
10:30-5:30, followed by evening social events
Crescent Arts Centre, 2-4 University Rd.
Belfast
The NEISF is organising a one-day event under the title 'Co-operation not
Competition, Human Rights not Privatisation'. The event will examine issues
of privatisation, neo-liberalism, human rights, peace and democracy. The
gathering will also discuss the future development of the Irish Social
Forum and its European and World counterparts. This event is open to all
those involved in the evolving Irish Social Forum networks, all those who
are opposed to neo liberalism, privatisation and global capitalism and all
those who believe that 'another world is possible.'
Agenda
Morning Plenary Discussion: 10.30 - 12.00
Neo-Liberalism - From the local to the global
Communities Against Water Tax (Manus Maguire), Fire brigades Union (Jim
Barbour), ICTU (Alisa Keane), Refugee Rights (Refugee Action Group). Chair
(Emily Kawano)
Morning Workshops: 12.15 - 1.45
Workshops on
- Trade justice
- Anti war
- Another world is possible
- Poverty
- Ireland in the global economy
- Consensus facilitation skills
- Ghandi¹s
- Open
- Open
- Open
Lunch: 1.45 - 2.45
Food Not Bombs
Lunch will take the form of a public food Not Bombs event at the Venue.
Afternoon Discussion: 3.00 - 5.30
The Future of the ISF
The agenda of this session will not be set until one week before the event.
Participants should feel free to e-mail their suggestions or issues they
would like to discuss by September 15th. Possible elements to the session
could be:
- Reports from regional social forums
- Workshops on specific themes such as ISF national structure, priorities etc.
- Open plenary to discuss workshop report backs and decision making on way
forward
Social Event: 7.00
Theatre followed by,
World Music Disco, with resident DJ Steve Mc in Crescent Arts Centre
Additional Details
For more information or to suggest topics for workshops or the afternoon ISF
Session contact:
Eoin O'Broin at [email protected]
John Barry at [email protected]
Emily Kawano at [email protected]
Childcare
If you would like to register for childcare provided on-site, please rsvp
to Emily Kawano, [email protected] or phone 9060 5091. Please provide name
and age of each child, special needs and your contact details. There may be
a small fee charged per child (approx. £3-£5). Spaces are limited, so
please reply ASAP.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRSP General Belfast meeting
Tuesday September 23rd September 2003-09-11
Open to all Party members sympathisers and friends.
For more details contact
[email protected]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Day of Action
Dublin/Belfast
Saturday, 27th September
March against the War
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Annual Seamus Costello Anniversary Commemoration will take place on
Sunday 5th of October, Assembly Point Old Town Hall Little Bray. March and
Rally with Band and Colour Party. Main Speaker will be Ex Political
Prisoner and Blanket man, IRSP Ard Comhairle Member, Paul Little.
Seamus Costello Remembered
26th Anniversary Commemoration
Organised By the IRSP Commemoration Committee.
Contact and Transport Details, contact Daithi on 0877570109 or
[email protected]
All Welcome.
"I Owe My allegiance to the Working Class" Seamus Costello
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GEORGE MONBIOT
George Monbiot, a regular feature writer in The Guardian, is the author of
Captive State and The Age of Consent. The One World Centre, The New Ireland
Group and The de Borda Institute have organised the following events:
1 GEORGE MONBIOT The 2nd One World Centre annual lecture, 12 noon to 2
p.m., Thursday 9th October, Room G07, Peter Frogatt Building, Queen¹s
University. Everyone welcome.
Further information available from The One World Centre, 4 Lower Crescent,
Belfast BT7 1NR, Tel 90241879, e-mail [email protected]
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2 GEORGE MONBIOT "Unionism, Nationalism or Globalisation?" 7.30 for
7.45 p.m. on Thursday 9th October, in The Elmwood Hall, Belfast Tickets £5
(concessions £2.50), includes a free glass of organic wine from the Belfast
Food Co-op.
Tickets and further information available from either The New Ireland
Group, 7 Slievedarragh Park, Belfast BT14 8J
[email protected] or The de Borda Institute, 36 Ballysillan
Road, Belfast BT14 7QQ [email protected]
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James Byrne Commemoration Committee
1st November 2003-09-11 Monument Unveiling & 90th Anniversary Commemoration
Assemble 2pm Main Entrance Deansgrange Cemetery, Deansgrange, Co. Dublin,
Ireland. The newly-commissioned monument over the grave of Trade Union
Martyr, James Byrne, District Organiser, ITG&WU, who died on 1st
November 1913 following a hunger & thirst strike during the Great Lock-Out
1913 will be unveiled by Des Geraghty, President, SIPTU. All trade
unionists, political activists and members of the Public welcome! [No Party
Political Banners, please!]
The James Byrne Commemoration Committee has organised the erection of a
fitting memorial over the grave in Deansgrange Cemetery [Co. Dublin,
Ireland] of James Byrne, a trade union martyr who died on 1st November
1913 as a result of the effects of a hunger and thirst strike during
imprisonment for his role in the Great Lock-Out of that year. James was
District Organiser of the Irish Transport & General Workers Union and held
leadership roles in both Bray and Kingstown [Dún Laoghaire] Trades Councils.
In the course of James Byrne¹s funeral oration James Connolly said:
"James Byrne truly died a martyr as any man who ever died for Ireland."
The Committee believes that the monument is a fitting tribute to James
Byrne and hopes that his grave may become a place of pilgrimage and source
of inspiration for trade unionists and socialists in the future. We are
particularly pleased that the descendants of James Byrne are fully
supportive of the work of the Committee.
Jason Mc Lean. PRO- James Byrne Commemoration Committee.
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European Social Forum
Paris, St Denis
12-15 November
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