Little Hala And The Herods Of Israel

On Christmas Eve, while Christians knelt in churches to honour the birth of the eternal light of the Child of Bethlehem - the Child of peace, Israeli Herods struck Gaza and the life-light of little Hala haemorrhaged into eternal death.

Hala Ahmed Abu Sbaikha, all of 3 years old, was, like all toddlers, both vivacious and shy, playful, affectionate with bright curious eyes and with a so soft cheek to rest a bedtime kiss.


Why did the Herods of Israel attack Gaza?
There are three possible answers - one false, one truly appalling, one heinous.

Ostensibly, reports in western pro-Israel media, that devoted one sentence to Hala’s death, garbled on and on with the usual Herod hasbara (propaganda); the attack was Israel’s divine right to excessively inflict collective punishment for the shooting, by a Gaza sniper, of an Israeli civilian labourer, Salah Shukri Abu Latyef, 22, working on the border fence. Salah was airlifted to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

No mention, of course, that four days previously, Odeh Jihad Hamad in Beit Hanoun, 29, was a kilometre away from the border collecting scrap metal when Israeli soldiers fatally shot him in the head. Israeli forces did not allow ambulances to attend to Odeh for an hour and a half after the shooting.

Or that since November 2012, when Israel’s Pillar of Cloud assault (weapons testing operation) that killed 171 Palestinians had ended in an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire, Israel has committed over 300 ceasefire violations encompassing aerial attacks, military incursions, the levelling of agricultural land, gunship attacks on fishermen, harassing, targeting and wounding farmers, unlawful kidnappings, and the killing of ten Gazan civilians.

Definitely suppressed was the fact that for seven years, the people of Gaza have been held captive by the illegal Israeli siege and in the last two months Israel’s blockade of fuel has caused a disastrous humanitarian crisis with severe shortages of critical supplies and electricity for health services. In freezing temperatures blasted by a winter storm of unprecedented proportions, vulnerable Gazan families and their children have had no electricity, heat or light, and when the waste water pumping system collapsed pouring sewerage into the streets, shockingly, Israel opened two dams close-by causing the flooding, devastation and misery to soar.

So why did the Herods of Israel truly attack Gaza?

They attack because they can. They attack because, for 65 years, have been granted impunity by democratic western nations. They attack to test their weaponry on Gazan families to sell to said western democratic nations. They attack because they don’t want peace. They attack because they want Palestinians to leave Eretz Israel ( the whole of Historic Palestine). They attack to to drive Palestinians from their ancestral lands into the sea.

On the first Sunday after Christmas, Catholics and Copts commemorate the Feast of the Holy Family recalling Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus’ flight to Egypt to escape Herod’s ordering of the Massacre of the Innocents; the infanticide of male babies and toddlers in the Bethlehem region.

But Hala’s family had no escape. For seven years, Israel and the US-supported Egyptian military government have sealed Gaza’s borders so that it’s 1.7 million refugee population, half of whom are children, has no recourse to refuge from Herod’s war crimes.

Herod the Great i.e. Herod the Deranged was a vassal of the Roman Empire. Today there is political twist. The US empire (and its client states, UK, EU, Australia) is Israel’s vassal. The US pays an annual tribute of 3 billion dollars even though Israel publicly insults and leads US presidents by the nose on a merry dance to the tune of incompetency played by Herod’s fool, the UN.

The UN has the the legal duty and responsibility to protect all children. On the website of the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, it informs us that “the Security Council recognised early on the need for robust action including sanctions against individuals persistently committing violations against children in armed conflict. These sanctions include arms embargoes, asset freezes, and travel bans.

The readiness of the Security Council to impose sanctions against violators of the rights of children in armed conflict has developed over time. In Security Council resolution 1539 (2004), the Council expressed for the first time its intention to consider imposing targeted and graduated measures against parties to conflict violating the rights of children. This commitment was reaffirmed in resolutions 1612 (2005), 1882 (2009), and 1998 (2011).”

Israel’s Herods have slaughtered 1,400 children since 2000. Has the UN or any state robustly imposed sanctions on Israel’s child-killers? NO.

Let’s look more closely at why Zionist Herods attack Gaza?

Impunity aside, ultimately, they attack because they are depraved untermenschen, not just the military but every Zionist who supports Israel’s illegal occupation, warmongering and apartheid policies. They attack because a three year old Palestinian child’s life, its delightful vitality, its laughter, its wonder, its tears, its fun and its fears means nothing to these inhuman thugs and nothing to the UN and nothing to the leaders and citizens of western democratic nations who look away from Israel’s war crimes and daily crimes against humanity.

On Christmas Eve, the songs of Christmas angels were muted by explosions when Herods’ tanks and warplanes “forcefully” bombed Gaza for two hours hitting Hala’s home in Al-Maghazi refugee camp,massacring her innocence and injuring her mother Buthaina, and brothers Mohammed 6 and Bilal, 4.

Little Hala should be alive now. It was her sacred right.

- Dr. Vacy Vlazna is Coordinator of Justice for Palestine Matters. She was Human Rights Advisor to the GAM team in the second round of the Acheh peace talks, Helsinki, February 2005 then withdrew on principle. Vacy was coordinator of the East Timor Justice Lobby as well as serving in East Timor with UNAMET and UNTAET from 1999-2001.

Committee proposing Nobel for Kiribati President Tong for climate advocacy

Media Release
Sydney, AUSTRALIA, Thursday, 19th December 2013

Nobel campaign announced for global action on climate change.


“We take pleasure today to announce the formation of a Committee to promote the candidacy of Kiribati's President, His Excellency Anote Tong, for the Nobel Peace Prize,” said today Phil Glendenning, director of the Edmund Rice Centre in Sydney, Australia.

Mr Glendenning is part of this committee formed of prominent individuals from the international community to honour this Pacific leader and to promote his climate message.

“In this part of the year when the world celebrates international human rights day, it is fitting to announce this Nobel nomination campaign - which calls us to consider the human rights of the people most at risk from climate change,” Mr Glendenning said. “For the peoples of nations like Kiribati, climate change threatens the very existence of their culture.”

“In promoting President Tong in this manner, the Committee’s aim is to call the international community to listen to the peoples of the Pacific in their pleas for urgent and major global action on climate change, Mr Glendenning said. “They understand, more than most, the dangers that climate change poses to infrastructure, health and security, and to the very future of their nations.”

“As the leader of Kiribati - one of the most vulnerable Pacific island nations - President Tong has long been calling for the world to take positive action to deal collectively and cooperatively with the threat and impact of climate change.”

“Since President Tong’s initial election to the presidency in 2003 he has helped to carry the voice of Small Island Developing States into the global debate on climate change action. He is a key advocate on the threat of long-term climate change to the national security of low-lying atoll nations like Kiribati” said Mr Glendenning who has witnessed the changes in Kiribati in recent years.

“Among international leaders President Tong has been and continues to be one of the most compelling voices in bringing to the world’s attention the fact that climate change is the ultimate challenge to human security. President Tong is a quiet man whose calm and rational voice resonates forcefully when he makes plain that climate justice is central to the quest for peace and global security in the 21st Century.

“President Tong’s eloquent perseverance, often in the face of great disappointment, is a clarion call to the world to act decisively to curb the impact of climate change on vulnerable peoples. His powerful and courageous leadership makes his candidacy both timely and significant – and worthy of the consideration of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.”

Committee membership includes:-

Ms Pelenise Alofa, Executive Director, Kiribati Climate Action Network, Kiribati;
Most Rev Sir Brian Barnes, former Catholic Archbishop, Port Moresby Papua-New Guinea;
Dr Tom Brown, former Anglican Bishop, Wellington, New Zealand;
Hon. Dr Meredith Burgmann, President, Australian Council for International Development; former parliamentarian, NSW, Australia;
Sister Clare Condon sgs, 2013 Australian Human Rights Medallist: Congregational Leader, Sisters of the Good Samaritan, Australia;
Prof. Patrick Dodson, former Chairperson, Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, Australia;
Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister, Australia;
Mr Phil Glendenning, Director, Edmund Rice Centre, Australia;
Dr Carmen Lawrence, former Premier, Western Australia, Australia;
Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi, former Vice-President, Fiji;
Rt Rev. Archbishop David Moxon, Director, Anglican Centre, Rome, Italy;
Dr Richard O'Brien, former Ambassador to Poland, Australia, Egypt and Singapore for the Republic of Ireland;
Reverend Francois Pihaatae, General Secretary, Pacific Conference of Churches, Fiji;
Dame Meg Taylor, Compliance Advisor Ombudsman & Vice President, World Bank Group, USA;
Sr Sharon Zayac, O.P., Executive Director, Jubilee Farm, Illinois, USA

Reflection on what Christmas means?

Selected sayings of Arundhati Roy

December 22-23, 2013

‘To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.’

Arundhati Roy

‘Perhaps it's true that things can change in a day. That a few dozen hours can affect the outcome of whole lifetimes. And that when they do, those few dozen hours, like the salvaged remains of a burned house---the charred clock, the singed photograph, the scorched furniture---must be resurrected from the ruins and examined. Preserved. Accounted for. Little events, ordinary things, smashed and reconstituted. Imbued with new meaning. Suddenly they become the bleached bones of a story.’

Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things

‘The American way of life is not sustainable. It doesn’t acknowledge that there is a world beyond America. ‘

Arundhati Roy

‘Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our art, our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness – and our ability to tell our own stories. Stories that are different from the ones we’re being brainwashed to believe.

The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling – their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability.

Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them.

Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.’
Arundhati Roy War Talk

‘There is a war that makes us adore our conquerors and despise ourselves.’
Arundhati Roy The God of Small Things



‘Nationalism of one kind or another was the cause of most of the genocide of the twentieth century. Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's minds and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.’

Arundhati Roy War Talk



‘Colorful demonstrations and weekend marches are vital but alone are not powerful enough to stop wars. Wars will be stopped only when soldiers refuse to fight, when workers refuse to load weapons onto ships and aircraft, when people boycott the economic outposts of Empire that are strung across the globe.’

Arundhati Roy Public Power in the Age of Empire



‘Have we raised the threshold of horror so high that nothing short of a nuclear strike qualifies as a 'real' war? Are we to spend the rest of our lives in this state of high alert with guns pointed at each other's heads and fingers trembling on the trigger?’

Arundhati Roy

US Drone Attack Kills 15 En Route to Wedding

Group was reportedly mistaken for al Qaeda
Andrea Germanos, staff writer Common Dreams December 12, 2013

A U.S. drone strike killed 15 people on their way to a wedding on Thursday near the town of Radaa, Yemen, according to local officials.
’An air strike missed its target and hit a wedding car convoy, ten people were killed immediately and another five who were injured died after being admitted to the hospital,’ Reuters reports a security official as saying.
The group ‘was mistaken for an al Qaeda convoy,’ according to Reuters.
The Associated Press cites an unnamed official as saying that al Qaeda militants were suspected as traveling with the wedding party.
Five others were also reportedly wounded in the strike.
Thursday's strike marks the second U.S. drone attack this week on the impoverished country. Three days ago, the country's Hadramout province was the site of a strike that killed three people
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism estimates that confirmed U.S. drone strikes have killed 389 people in Yemen since 2004, including five children……..
Read more http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/12/12-5

Nelson Mandela quotes: 12 of his most famous statements:

1. On his opposition to apartheid:

‘During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.’
Statement at the opening of his defence in the Rivonia treason trial, April 20, 1964.

2. On his decision to take up arms against apartheid:

‘I and some colleagues came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle.’
Statement at the opening of his defence in the Rivonia treason trial, April 20, 1964.

3. On South Africa attaining democracy:
‘We understand it still that there is no easy road to freedom. We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign.’
Speech at his inauguration as South African president in Pretoria, May 10, 1994.

4. On racism:

‘Racism is a blight on the human conscience. The idea that any people can be inferior to another, to the point where those who consider themselves superior define and treat the rest as sub-human, denies the humanity even of those who elevate themselves to the status of gods.’
Address to the UK's Joint Houses of Parliament, July 11, 1996.

5. On apartheid rule:

‘We are extricating ourselves from a system that insulted our common humanity by dividing us from one another on the basis of race and setting us against each other as oppressed and oppressor. That system committed a crime against humanity.’
Speech in Pretoria upon receipt of a report from the Truth & Reconciliation Commission, which investigated apartheid-era atrocities, October 29, 1998.

6. On his government's achievements during his five years as president:

‘We have laid the foundation for a better life. Things that were unimaginable a few years ago have become everyday reality. I belong to the generation of leaders for whom the achievement of democracy was the defining challenge.’
Speech to parliament in Cape Town, March 26, 1999.

7. On his successor Thabo Mbeki's unorthodox views about AIDS:

‘In all disputes a point is arrived at where no party, no matter how right or wrong it might have been at the start of that dispute, will any longer be totally in the right or totally in the wrong. Such a point, I believe, has been reached in this debate. Let us not equivocate: a tragedy of unprecedented proportions is unfolding in Africa.’
Speech to the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban, July 14, 2000.

8. On AIDS:

‘HIV/AIDS is the greatest danger we have faced for many, many centuries. HIV/AIDS is worse than a war. It is like a world war. Millions of people are dying from it.’
Statement issued in Johannesburg, December 1, 2000.

9. On his retirement from public life at the age of 85:

‘One of the things that made me long to be back in prison was that I had so little opportunity for reading, thinking and quiet reflection after my release. I intend, amongst other things, to give myself much more opportunity for such reading and reflection.’
Statement in Johannesburg, June 1, 2004.


10. On South Africa, a decade after the fall of apartheid:

‘Today we are a nation at peace with itself, united in our diversity, not only proclaiming but living out the contention that South Africa belongs to all who live in it. We take our place amongst the nations of the world, confident and proud in being an African country.’
Lecture in Cape Town, September 10, 2004.

11. On poverty:

‘Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.’
Speech delivered in Johannesburg, July 2, 2005.

12. On human solidarity:

‘As the years progress one increasingly realises the importance of friendship and human solidarity. And if a 90-year-old may offer some unsolicited advice on this occasion, it would be that you, irrespective of your age, should place human solidarity, the concern for the other, at the centre of the values by which you live.’
Lecture in Kliptown, Soweto, July 12, 2008.



Mandela: His Long Walk to Freedom

The Hoopla December 6, 2013

‘When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people and his country. He can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is, therefore, why I will sleep for the eternity.’
Nelson Mandela 1918-2013

Temporary Protection Visas are the wrong approach

The Australian Human Rights Commission is pleased to see that the motion to disallow the Migration Amendment (Temporary Protection Visas) Regulation 2013 was successful today. The Commission is of the view that refugees should be granted permanent protection visas,
‘Considering the negative impacts that Temporary Protection Visas had on refugees when they were used in Australia between 1999 and 2008, we have long been concerned that their reintroduction may lead to breaches of Australia’s international human rights obligations,’ Commission President, Professor Gillian Triggs said.
‘Specifically, we are concerned that the use of TPVs may breach Australia’s obligation not to discriminate against asylum seekers who arrive without a visa, as well as the obligation not to penalise asylum seekers on account of their unauthorised arrival when they are coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened.’
Professor Triggs said several studies have found that the uncertainty, insecurity and fears of repatriation associated with being granted only temporary protection through use of these visas can contribute to ongoing mental health problems for refugees.
As TPVs denied refugees the ability to sponsor family members to join them in Australia or to travel outside of Australia, they caused a great deal of suffering because people were separated from their family members for an indefinite period of time.
Professor Triggs said that last time TPVs were used, the restrictions on family reunion and overseas travel may have directly contributed to the increase in the number of family members, particularly women and children, risking their lives by making the boat journey to Australia. Additionally, the uncertainty and family separation in many cases compounded previous trauma suffered by people in their country of origin.
‘The bottom line is that we should be establishing humane or effective ways to integrate people who are in need of protection into the Australian community,’ Professor Triggs said. ‘Temporary Protection Visas in no way assist this purpose.’

Tony Abbott vows to circumvent Senate rejection of TPVs
Prime minister describes combined Labor-Greens veto as a ‘two finger salute to the voters of Australia'
Lenore Taylor and Daniel Hurst theguardian.com December 3, 2013

Sarah Hanson-Young moved the disallowance motion in the Senate on Monday night against the TPV regulations, saying TPVs led to 'dramatic, harmful and dangerous effects'. Photograph: Lukas Coch for Guardian Australia/AAP
Tony Abbott has vowed to circumvent the Senate’s rejection of the government’s proposed temporary protection visas, but has not yet said how he will do it.
Labor and the Greens combined in the Senate to veto the reintroduction of Howard-era temporary protection visas on Monday night, a move the prime minister described as a ‘two finger salute’ to the Australian people’s decision in the September election.
Abbott is vowing to keep the parliament sitting through Christmas until it passes the carbon tax and mining tax repeals, the increase to the debt ceiling and an as-yet-unspecified measure to enact the intent of the temporary protection visa law.
The government has also unveiled legislation to remove from the Department of Immigration and confer instead on the immigration minister, Scott Morrison, the power to make a determination in the case of people whose claim for asylum had been rejected but who would be in danger if returned to their home country.
In a press conference shortly before question time, Abbott said he would make an announcement ‘shortly’ about how the government would prevent the 33,000 asylum seekers already in Australia from ever achieving permanent residency…..
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young moved the disallowance motion in the Senate on Monday night, saying TPVs led to ‘dramatic, harmful and dangerous effects’.
‘We have had temporary protection visas before in this country and they were incredibly cruel, incredibly dangerous and created incredible suffering for the people they were imposed upon,’ Hanson-Young said.
‘Temporary protection visas under this government are for punishment's sake only. They are only being given to people who have already arrived in Australia. They have waited for years in immigration detention and then waited more years, perhaps on a bridging visa or in community detention, only to finally have their application for asylum assessed, be found to be genuine refugees and then be slapped with a temporary protection visa.’…..
Read more http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/03/tony-abbott-vows-to-circumvent-senate-rejection-of-tpvs

‘Relief operations are no justification for increased presence of US troops’

– progressive groups
‘While we welcome all aid extended to our brothers and sisters in the Visayas, we don’t see the necessity of deploying missile cruisers and missile destroyers and, amphibious assault vehicles and other warships.’ – Cristina Palabay, Karapatan
Marya Salamat Bulatlat.com November 26, 2013
Two weeks after the strongest supertyphoon to make landfall pounded much of Central Philippines and neighboring countries, the number of dead Filipinos are estimated to reach as high as 7,000 (of which more than 5,400 have so far been confirmed), more than 14 million were displaced, about P24-billion ($558 million) worth of infrastructure and agriculture were destroyed, water and electricity services remain cut off in most places — and all these figures may still go higher as the reckoning is not yet over. Local government officials in the affected areas say it would take years to rebuild and rehabilitate. Frameworks for doing that are still being conceptualized as we write, with the United Nations slated to come up with a proposal.
To this day though, the basic and immediate need for relief is still to be addressed. According to peoples’ organizations whose members have been going to Eastern Visayas to distribute relief, conduct medical mission and help in rehabilitation efforts, some villages are being reached only now by aid. Bulatlat.com reporters noted that despite the heavy presence of able-bodied soldiers, cadavers and ruins still litter various areas, and only the roads and highways could be described as ‘clear’……..

US soldiers bring warships, warplanes, take control and command – officially until Nov 26 – of ‘Operation Damayan’ in storm-ravaged central Philippines (Photo by Pom Cahilog-Villanueva / bulatlat.com)
On top of the slow and seemingly controlled flow of relief to the victims (the Philippine military and the Department of Social Welfare have reportedly been taking steps to make sure that much of the relief and donations would first pass through them or are centralized to them), the Aquino government is further intensifying militarization in the storm-ravaged areas. The AFP website said that as of Nov. 16, there are ‘12,000 troops on the ground under the Central Command,’ aside from what it called as 3,400 ‘external troops’ and ‘follow on forces’ for augmentation, in Eastern Visayas.
Statements coming from the Communist Party of the Philippines, who claim to have guerrilla bases in the typhoon-ravaged areas and who has commanded its army, the New Peoples Army (NPA), to extend its ceasefire and prioritize rehabilitation work, condemned the Aquino government for continuing to undertake military offensives both in the storm-ravaged areas and in other parts of the Philippines…….
‘Justice and govt accountability, not US bases or more militarization’
‘What the aftermath of Yolanda shows is not the need for greater US military presence in the country, but the need for accountability from the Aquino government. We demand justice over this government’s criminal incompetence in handling Yolanda, not more US troops,’ said Elmer ‘Bong’ Labog, chairman of KMU……
Read more http://bulatlat.com/main/2013/11/26/relief-operations-are-no-justification-for-increased-presence-of-us-troops-progressive-groups/

Our politicians have failed yet again – it’s time we fixed the mess with Indonesia

25 November 2013, 6.00am AEST

Every so often over the last 50 years, Australia’s relations with Indonesia have hit stormy waters. The present tensions over the spying scandal may not be the most serious, but they are serious enough. Much Australian commentary on this latest unfortunate episode has been typically shallow – itself…

Author

Joseph Camilleri

Professor of International Relations at La Trobe University - Article from The Conversation 25 November 2013
.

Australia must develop a stable, close and mutually respectful relationship with Indonesia, its government, its leaders, and its people. EPA/Adi Weda.

Every so often over the last 50 years, Australia’s relations with Indonesia have hit stormy waters. The present tensions over the spying scandal may not be the most serious, but they are serious enough.

Much Australian commentary on this latest unfortunate episode has been typically shallow – itself a symptom of the underlying problem. Much has been said about the personalities involved, the implications for the government’s “stop the boats” policy, and the psychological impact of the release of the Snowden documents. But with a few notable exceptions, the most critical questions have been largely overlooked.

No doubt eavesdropping on foreign leaders - a questionable practice at the best of times - has been found wanting both in this specific case and in the many other cases involving the United States' wiretapping operations. A thorough review of such operations is well overdue.

However, the most pressing question raised by the spying fiasco is whether or not Australia is ready and able to develop a stable, close and mutually respectful relationship with Indonesia, its government, its leaders, and its people. How we answer this question will help determine how we negotiate the so-called Asian century. The key here, as we shall see, is cultural and political literacy.

In 1994, prime minister Paul Keating declared:

Prime minister Paul Keating recognised the importance of working closely with Indonesia. Idpercy.

No country is more important to Australia than Indonesia.

Twenty years later this remains a distant aspiration. Prime minister Tony Abbott, who glibly promised “more Jakarta, less Geneva”, now finds his government’s policies on Indonesia floundering barely two months into his prime ministership.

The tensions created by the spying episode are not simply of Abbott’s making. The previous Rudd and Gillard governments share a good deal of the responsibility – either they themselves authorised Australian spies to eavesdrop on Indonesia’s most senior leaders, or they failed to apply adequate monitoring and accountability procedures. Labor’s lame response to the events of the last week suggests they may be culpable on both counts.

This said, the Abbott government’s handling of the Indonesian relationship has been unusually clumsy and short-sighted.

Even before coming to office, the Coalition made it clear that stopping the boats was critical to protecting Australian sovereignty. Abbott and immigration minister Scott Morrison were adamant that the boats would be turned back to Indonesia, even though Indonesian leaders repeatedly said that such a step would violate their country’s sovereignty.

The clear inference of the Abbott strategy was that Australian sovereignty was somehow superior to Indonesian sovereignty, and that, if necessary, Australia would act alone.

This barely disguised cultural and moral arrogance was then reinforced by the way Abbott handled the spying row – not just refusing to apologise, but claiming that all countries were engaged in such conduct – a patently false claim. Most governments don’t eavesdrop on the conversations of foreign leaders.

To add insult to injury Abbott went on to insinuate that Indonesian leaders should be grateful to find themselves spied upon, because all of this was being done with their interests at heart. Australia, it seems, knew what was in Indonesia’s interests better than Indonesians did.

This profound cultural insensitivity was compounded by media comment (shared by a number of politicians) that Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s verbal response and his decision to downgrade military co-operation could somehow be discounted, because he was merely playing to his domestic gallery.

The Rudd and Gillard governments share a good deal of responsibility for Australian spies eavesdropping on Indonesian leaders. AAP/Eka Nickmatulhuda.

Such an interpretation can mean only one of two things: either the Indonesian president lacked sincerity in expressing his displeasure; or that popular anger within Indonesia was not in reality shared by the president, and could therefore be discounted. It is as if we were telling Indonesians it didn’t matter what they thought so long as we had the president on side. Not exactly how to win friends and influence people.

Where to from here? The relatively simple first step must be to offer Indonesia an unreserved apology and clear assurance that such spying will stop. But other more demanding steps will need to follow.

For too long, Liberal and Labor governments have approached our ties with Indonesia in a purely instrumental fashion. The relationship is viewed as valuable insofar as it can serve Australia’s immediate interests: access to Indonesia’s expanding market, support for counter-terrorism strategies and co-operation on people smuggling.

Australian economic aid thus becomes the price we have to pay for Indonesian compliance with Australian priorities. Likewise with military aid and support for Indonesia’s territorial integrity (including turning a blind eye to human rights violations in West Papua). We do these things largely because they make it more likely that Indonesia will accede to our requests and reduce the risk of any future Indonesian threat to Australia’s security.

It is time for Australia to adopt a different approach – one in which self-interest plays, and is seen to play, a less prominent role. We need to cultivate a deeper understanding of our neighbour’s interests, attitudes and perceptions, and a willingness to give them due attention.

What might this mean in practice? First and foremost, a drastic improvement in the presently abysmal level of Indonesia literacy in this country. Complementing the study of Indonesian - which has been languishing for years in our schools and universities - must be greater knowledge of Indonesian society, its history, its culture, its values, and above all its ancient and still living wisdom.

Australia and Indonesia are strategically placed to act collaboratively on a range of important regional issues. EPA/Made Nagi.

To this end, a ten-year nationwide strategy is needed, integrating all key stakeholders: educational institutions, federal and state governments, parliaments, the media, business and the professions.

Australia must also seek - as a matter of high priority - Indonesia’s advice and support in responding to the emerging regional and global challenges facing our region. To this end, we must embark on a far-reaching dialogue that engages the two societies, not just the two governments.

A time must come, sooner rather than later, when Australian political leaders are in the habit of consulting with Jakarta as intensively as with Washington before determining Australian policy on such difficult international issues as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran, Afghanistan, as well as global financial regulation, nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament.

In the meantime, Australia and Indonesia are strategically placed to act collaboratively on a range of important regional issues, notably maritime tensions in the South China Sea and the rapid and potentially destabilising arms build-up in southeast Asia.

The two countries are, of course, well-placed to exercise joint leadership in pressing for a regional solution to the protracted asylum seeker and refugee crisis based on firm and interlocking commitments for asylum, resettlement and repatriation.

Indonesia and Australia could greatly benefit from sharing their experiences as highly diverse, multicultural societies, and from developing the Asia-South Pacific profile of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). Under UNAOC auspices, a range of joint projects could be devised involving extensive state and civil society cooperation. The forthcoming sixth UNAOC global forum to be held in Bali in August 2014 offers an important signpost for future bilateral and regional collaboration.

Australians have to negotiate an uncertain future in which US power and influence will steadily decline. In the emerging multi-centric world, different centres of power and influence reflecting different histories and worldviews will have to learn to co-exist and co-operate. A creative, culturally sensitive, long-term approach to our relations with Indonesia may be an indispensable asset as we navigate though turbulent waters of change.

A JOINT APPEAL TO THE PRIME MINISTER ABOUT THE USE OF THE TERM ‘ILLEGAL MARITIME ARRIVALS’

5 November 2013

Dear Prime Minister,

On behalf of the many Australians who believe in the importance of protecting people fleeing persecution, we write to voice our objection to the Australian Government’s recent decision to refer to asylum seekers who enter Australia by boat as “illegal maritime arrivals”.

You and members of your Cabinet are well aware that seeking asylum is not illegal under Australian or international law. Article 31 of the Refugee Convention makes it clear that contracting states, including Australia, must not impose penalties on people who arrive without authorisation to seek refugee protection. This Article recognises that very few of the world’s refugees get the opportunity to cross borders with prior permission and that rules which regulate normal migration flows must be suspended where those crossing the border believe they have a well-founded fear of persecution.

The Refugee Convention was drafted in the aftermath of World War II as the world reflected in horror on the fate of people who had their paths blocked as they attempted to flee Nazi persecution in Europe. The fundamental principles of the Refugee Convention are as important today as they were when drafted in 1951. Nations which value freedom must ensure that those fearing persecution have the opportunity to get to a place of safety and have their cases for protection considered fairly.

When you were sworn in as Prime Minister, it was pleasing to hear you speak about your plans to govern for all Australians, to work for the good of the nation and to do your best not to leave anyone behind. You would be well aware, from your previous experience as a Minister, that the Australian community’s expectations of a Government are far higher than its expectations of an Opposition. A Government’s leadership – whether positive or negative –has a profound impact on the nation.

While some people may believe there is political value in engaging in negative rhetoric about asylum seekers arriving without valid visas, the long-term implications of this approach must be considered very carefully. We cannot see how the Government’s use of harsher rhetoric against people seeking asylum will assist Australia to remain a cohesive and diverse nation.

Like many Australians, we have grave concerns that legitimising the use of “illegal” in this context may incite fear and hatred in the community. Already aware of a disturbing number of acts of violence against asylum seekers this year, we are worried by the prospect of intolerant elements of Australian society being emboldened to increase their bullying of vulnerable new arrivals.

We are particularly concerned to hear that the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection instructed his Department to tell staff and contractors to use the term “illegal maritime arrivals” when referring to asylum seekers who arrived by boat. It is deeply disturbing that people of good conscience should be required, for political purposes, to use such dehumanising language.

While your Government continues to take a tougher line against asylum seekers, we note a shift in sentiment in Europe towards people fleeing by boat, illustrated by the decision of the Italian Government to declare a national day of mourning after the recent tragic loss of 366 lives at sea. We hope this small shift grows, reversing the strong trend over the past decade of wealthier nations pushing responsibility for the protection of refugees back to poorer nations. Pope Francis succinctly described this phenomenon when he visited Lampedusa in July and warned of a culture of comfort in which we become deaf to the cries of the suffering and part of a “globalisation of indifference”.

The Australian Government does have a choice. It can listen to the most strident voices in Australian society and implement its policies in a harsh and punitive manner or it can work towards its objectives in ways that place a much higher value on cooperation, diplomacy, respect and honesty. We ask you, for the sake of highly vulnerable people and for the good of our nation, to take the better path.

This letter is supported by the following organisations:


Refugee Council of Australia (letter coordinator)
ACT Council of Social Service Inc
ActionAid Australia
Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Australia Ltd
Anglicare NT
ANGLICARE Sydney
Association for Services to Torture and Trauma Survivors (ASeTTS)
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
Asylum Seekers Centre of NSW
Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office
Australian Catholic Social Justice Council
Australian Council of Social Service
Australian Jewish Democratic Society
Australian Lawyers for Human Rights
Australian Lutheran World Service
Australian National Committee on Refugee Women
Australian Refugee Association Inc
Australia-Tamil Solidarity
Ballarat A.R.A. Circle of Friends
Ballarat Catholic Diocesan Social Justice Commission
Ballarat Community Health
Balmain for Refugees
Baptcare
Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group
B'nai B'rith Australia / New Zealand
Border Crossing Observatory
Bridge for Asylum Seekers Foundation
Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project
Brisbane Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Network
Buddies Refugee Support Group, Sunshine Coast
Burmese Rohingya Community in Australia
Canberra Refugee Support
CASE for Refugees
Castlemaine Rural Australians for Refugees
Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, Office of Justice and Peace
Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney, Justice and Peace Office
Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, Social Justice Council
Catholic Diocese of Parramatta, Social Justice Office
Catholic Diocese of Toowoomba, Social Justice Commission
Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, Archdiocese of Brisbane
Catholic Religious Australia
Catholic Social Services Australia
Centacare Catholic Family Services, Adelaide
Central Victorian Refugee Support Network
Centre for Human Rights Education, Curtin University
Centre for Refugee Research, University of NSW
Christian Brothers Tasmania
Coalition for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees (CARAD)
Communify Queensland
Companion House Assisting Survivors of Torture and Trauma
Darwin Asylum Seekers' Support and Advocacy Network
Diversitat
Doctors for Refugees
Edmund Rice Centre, Sydney
Edmund Rice Network Tasmania
Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria
Faithful Companions of Jesus Sisters, Province of Asia-Australia
Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia
Footscray Community Legal Centre
Friends of the Earth Australia
Geelong Refugee Action and Information Network
God's Dwelling Place Bethany City Church Inc
Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand
Horn of Africa Relief and Development Agency
House of Welcome Ballarat
Humanitarian Crisis Hub
Humanitarian Research Partners
Indo-China Refugee Association
Indooroopilly Uniting Church
Institute of Sisters of Mercy, Australia and Papua New Guinea
International Commission of Jurists Australia
International Society For Human Rights Australia Inc
Islamic Council of Victoria
Jesuit Refugee Service Australia
Jesuit Social Services
Jewish Aid Australia
Kommonground Inc
Lentara UnitingCare Asylum Seeker Program
Liverpool Women's Health Centre
Lutheran Church of Australia
Lutheran Community Care SA & NT
Marist Sisters
Melaleuca Refugee Centre Torture and Trauma Survivors Service of the NT
Melbourne Zen Group
Mercy Refugee Services (Mercy Works Ltd)
Migrant Resource Centre of South Australia (MRCSA)
Missionaries of the Sacred Heart
NSW Council for Civil Liberties
NSW Council of Social Service
NSW Teachers Federation
NT Council of Social Service
Oxfam Australia
Pax Christi Australia
Pax Christi Australia (NSW Branch)
Pax Christi Queensland
Pax Christi Victoria
Peace and Social Justice Network, Victoria Regional Meeting, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Presentation People for Justice, Ballina
Presentation Sisters in Western Australia
Presentation Sisters Lismore
Presentation Sisters Queensland
Queenscliff Rural Australians for Refugees
Refugee Advice and Casework Service
Refugee Advocacy Network
Rural Australians for Refugees, Bendigo
Rural Australians for Refugees, Daylesford and District
Sanctuary Australia Foundation
SCALES Community Legal Centre
Settlement Council of Australia
Sisters of Charity of Australia
Sisters of Mercy, Brisbane Congregation
Sisters of the Good Samaritan
Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
Sophia's Spring, Uniting Church, East Brunswick
South Australian Council of Social Service
South Australian Refugee Health Network (SARHN)
St Anthony's Family Care
St Vincent de Paul Society, National Council of Australia
Surf Coast Rural Australians for Refugees
Survivors of Torture and Trauma Assistance and Rehabilitation Service (STTARS)
Sydney Multicultural Community Services Ltd
Tasmanian Asylum Seeker Support
Tasmanian Catholic Justice and Peace Commission
Tasmanian Council of Social Service
Townsville Multicultural Support Group
Union of Australian Women Victoria
Uniting Church in Australia, Northern Synod
Uniting Church in Australia, Queensland Synod
Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Victoria and Tasmania
Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Western Australia
Uniting Church SA
Uniting Justice Australia
Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment (VOICE)
Welcome to Australia
Western Australian Council of Social Service
Western Sydney Community Forum
Wyndham Community and Education Centre
Wyndham Legal Service

Update on Shurat HaDin lawfare attack on Professor Jake Lynch

Update on Shurat HaDin lawfare attack on Professor Jake Lynch
On Tuesday Oct 29th, 2 Israeli based organisations and three individuals made an application to the Australian Federal Court against Professor Jake Lynch. The case is Shurat HaDin – The Israel Law Center & Ors v Jake Lynch, NSD2235/2013.
The applicants are: Shurat HaDin, Green Freedom Limited (Israel Company Number 514 331 479), Andrew Hamilton, David Hans Lange and Jonathan Rose. 

The following media alert was released as a result of this action and prior to a press conference on Wed Oct 30th led by Professor Stuart Rees and Associate Professor Peter Slezak (Professor Jake Lynch is currently overseas on sabbatical leave).

Australian academic faces lawfare attack
The right to criticize the policies of another country is at stake

Today an Israeli based law centre, Shurat HaDin, filed a case in the Federal Court of Australia, against Professor Jake Lynch from the University of Sydney’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies. They claim that he has supported policies which are racist and discriminatory by his specific endorsement of an academic boycott of Israeli institutions and individuals within them, because of these institutions’ support of the illegal occupation of Palestine and their close connections with the Israeli armament industry.

This lawfare attack against academic freedom and freedom of speech has been condemned by over 2000 Australian and international human rights advocates from some 60 countries, who have all signed a pledge supporting BDS and offering to be co-defendants in any legal action taken against Lynch. 

Shurat HaDin has taken many similar actions internationally against groups who supported the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement. Professor Stuart Rees comments,
“It seems that this firm, Shurat HaDin works in the civil courts as a proxy for the Israeli government and security forces, seeking to shut down any criticism of the state and its ongoing human rights abuses and violations of international law.”

In August, Shurat HaDin lodged a complaint in the Human Rights Commission against Jake Lynch’s refusal to sponsor an Israeli academic from the Hebrew University because of that institution’s links to the Israeli military and the ongoing Occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza.

This overseas firm now wants to silence this highly regarded academic, by taking their complaint to the Federal Court. This challenges the right to take non violent action in support international human rights law and the rights of the dispossessed Palestinians. Australians for BDS condemns racism in all forms, and specifically anti-Semitism.

“Israel’s occupation and ethnic cleansing machinery continue unabated but the moral force that used to drive that process is fast eroding and, as out of touch as the Abbott government and anti-BDS activists in Australia may be, there is an undeniable shift in the balance of moral power. .. International civil society is holding Israel to account in a way no government has ever been able to do”......Randa Abdul Fattah, Palestinian lawyer and writer resident in Sydney
Professor Jake Lynch released the following statement which was read at the press conference on Wed Oct 30th in Sydney.

“I am confident we will successfully fight off this despicable attack on freedom of expression, which is backed ultimately by the Israeli security state. The Shurat HaDin law centre has links to the Israeli National Security Council, and the Mossad, and has admitted in the past being directed by them as to which targets to pursue. That makes this attempt to subvert political debate in Australia all the more sinister.

In respect of the claims by Shurat HaDin, the boycott policy I wrote for CPACS, after a public meeting held at the University of Sydney, was carefully conceived to avoid discrimination, being confined to a request to the Vice Chancellor to revoke institutional links with two Israeli universities. And when I turned down the request by Professor Dan Avnon, to use my name on his application under one of those same schemes, I was (a) not in a position to prevent his coming to Sydney, since he had only to collect two names as host academics out of 3,000 at the University and (b) using my discretion - in effect, being asked for a favour. The law cannot require me to use my discretion in a particular way or it ceases to be discretion!”
A number of opinion pieces have been published recently outlining the issues raised by this action and we have posted links to them below. 

Your support and pledge to be a co-defendant in this case represents a strong stand against this unfounded and spurious lawfare attack by Shurat HaDin. It is unlikely that this organisation will desire to co-join any other defendants, but your ongoing support is crucial as Australians for BDS fights this foreign organisations’ attempts to gag free speech and academic freedom in Australia.
Please encourage others to sign onto the pledge and leave their comments on the site.

 And if you are an academic, please encourage your colleagues to sign on with their title eg. Prof, Dr., as we will be contacting all academics shortly to sign a statement of support for Professor Jake Lynch.
Thank you for your support. We will keep you posted as this case develops.
Queries: australians4bds@gmail.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Antony Loewenstein To support the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is not antisemitic
Prof Stuart Rees Op Ed in New Matilda – Two Thousand Defendants for Human Rights rights "> https://newmatilda.com/2013/10/28/two-thousand-defendants-human-rights
Randa Abdel-Fattah – Who's afraid of BDS? Israel's assault on academic freedom – Opinion – ABC Religion & Ethics...
Randa Abdel-Fattah – Who's afraid of BDS? Israel's assault on academic freedom – Opinion – ABC Religion & Ethics...
Dr Peter Slezak - Is It Anti-Semitic To Protest Injustice? https://newmatilda.com/2013/11/05/it-anti-semitic-protest-injustice
Samah Sabawi – Israel and the erosion of democracy : An Australian Story http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/10/israel-erosion-democracy-an-australian-story-2013101511625981682.html



This message was sent by Australians for BDS using the Change.org system. You received this email because you signed a petition started by Australians for BDS on Change.org: "Defend free speech and human rights and support the BDS." Change.org does not endorse contents of this message.

Sri Lanka still unsafe for many

Published: 3 November 2013
By: Paul Dobbyn

Cause for concern: Peter Arndt (front) in Vavuniya in Sri Lanka's north with local clergy and Justice and Peace Workers. Beside Mr Arndt in traditional attire is the mother of a Tamil man whom she said died in detention.

BRISBANE archdiocese's social justice advocate Peter Arndt has heard many claims about the infringement of Tamils' rights in Sri Lanka since the bloody ending to that country's civil war in 2008.

Recently the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission executive officer was able to observe the situation at first hand when he attended a networking meeting of the Asia Pacific Forum of Justice and Peace Workers in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
What Mr Arndt saw and heard on his September 3-9 visit disturbed him.

The experience convinced him Sri Lanka was not yet safe enough for the return of Tamil asylum seekers from Australia.

Mr Arndt called on the Australian Government to follow the Canadian Government's lead and boycott this year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka next month.

Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Australia Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe has taken issue with many of Mr Arndt's comments.

He challenged Mr Arndt and others who criticised his country's government "to consider the progress that Sri Lanka has made after 30 years of war, and compare it with the post-conflict situation in other jurisdictions".

Admiral Samarasinghe said now was not the time for the Commonwealth to isolate Sri Lanka.

"What Sri Lanka needs right now is the support of all members of the Commonwealth," he said.

"It is encouraging that Australia's lead in taking a pragmatic and constructive approach by engaging constructively with Sri Lanka at the upcoming Commonwealth summit.

"Attempting to isolate the country at this critical juncture will only reverse post-conflict gains.

"It will also undermine domestic efforts at reconciliation between ordinary Sri Lankans who are looking forwards to a future of security, freedom and prosperity, now that the long dark era of terror is over."

Mr Arndt was unconvinced and said he had gained first-hand experience of the sufferings of Tamils in Sri Lanka's north on his visit.

"I wish (Australian Prime Minister) Mr (Tony) Abbott and others could have met with the women I met whose husbands and sons have been detained, tortured and, in some cases, killed over the last four years," he said.

"I wish he could have heard the pain in their voices and seen their tears.

"The systematic way in which Tamil men are being arrested and detained indefinitely looks suspiciously like ethnic cleansing to me."

Mr Arndt said presentations on the human rights situation by Sinhalese and Tamil activists in Colombo and the north were validated with face-to-face encounters with families of those tortured and/or disappeared.

"We met with families of those who continue to be arbitrarily detained, and with those displaced through the military taking over their villages," he said.

Admiral Samarasinghe said Sri Lanka had embarked on its own comprehensive domestic reconciliation and accountability process - the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee.

"Extensive efforts made by the Government to restore normalcy in the former theatre of conflict demonstrates that the Government has addressed a number of challenges in a brief period of four years, including some requiring a longer period of gestation," he said.

"These efforts were not only about 'bricks and mortar' but a comprehensive process which included resettlement of the displaced, rehabilitation of ex-combatants, provision of vocational training, launching and implementation of the trilingual policy and improvements in health and education sectors, to name a few."

Mr Arndt and others among the 35 JPWs visited Mannar district which includes Vavuniya and Mahdu where some of the heavy fighting occurred.

He said the after-effects of a civil war - lasting three decades and finishing in May 2009 with as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians being killed in a final battle between rebel forces and Government troops in the country's north - were still being felt.

In Mahdu, Mr Arndt and other JPWs met with Bishop Reyappu Joseph of Mannar and a number of Tamil and Sinhalese priests ministering to the Tamil community where they were briefed on concerns.

They also visited the 400-year-old Shrine of Our Lady of Mahdu which draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims for August 15, the Feast Day of the Assumption and large numbers for Our Lady's birthday on September 8.

Mr Arndt's visit to Vavuniya allowed him to meet with the wives, mothers and other family members of 12 Tamil men detained in the past four years.

"The men are detained either locally or in Galle to the south," he said.

"In all our visits, we were able to observe there is little improvement, little livelihood opportunities and much fear, mourning and grieving for loved ones killed during the civil war.

"Healing is more difficult as the civil war killings are not officially acknowledged and no memorials and monuments are allowed by the Government.

"The encounters also gave a face to the oft-reported alleged militarisation, Sinhalisation and the blatant disregard of the Government for basic human rights in Sri Lanka, especially in the north."

Mr Arndt said justice and peace workers during the conference were aided by inputs on the Second Vatican Council and the Church and human rights by Fr Sheldon Reid Fernando.

At the end of the gathering, participants committed to focus on two major issues as regional priorities: Militarisation and Migration, and Human Trafficking.

As a collective action, the JPWs agreed to send a letter to the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith to share their experiences and reflections with the bishops after the meeting.

"We also came away with a commitment to communicate and share findings and reflections with the Churches and peoples in each of our countries," Mr Arndt said.

"For me, it was a chance to see first hand the accuracy of reports I had been receiving from many sources for some years."

MEMO: ASYLUM SEEKERS NOW ‘ILLEGAL’

MEMO: ASYLUM SEEKERS NOW ‘ILLEGAL’


By Monica Attard

October 21, 2013



What to do when a government decides to shut off the information tap, starving journalists of the facts they require – especially when those facts lead to government decisions that have an impact on the collective morality of the nation?

Maybe the new government’s modus operandi is why we report on the woes of that gift that keeps giving – the ALP, even in the absence of real evidence that venting about a former leader and the party’s factional system will contribute to the search for meaning.

Maybe it’s why some journalists are filling their column inches with puff pieces, a recent and surprising one about Tony Abbott, the heroic fireman, as large tracts of New South Wales burned like tinder.

Journalists are of course still digging and foraging – doing their job – to report on the business of government and governing. But the government is quietly changing the rules of the game.

Consider the stark difference between the information available and coverage of asylum seekers since September 7.

Before the election, the boats were arriving daily. We knew about the others that were were sinking and the people who were dying. We weren’t spared the details. Then the Abbott government announced that grim daily roll call was finished.



The legal right to seek safety and protection
Letters, The Age October 21, 2013
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has instructed departmental and detention centre staff to publicly refer to asylum seekers as ‘illegal’ arrivals and ‘detainees’, rather than clients (The Sunday Age, 20/10).
Could he please direct us to the Australian or international law that describes a person seeking refuge in another country because of fear of death, serious injury or persecution as an ‘illegal’? My understanding is that no such law exists.
I am tired of hearing our leaders demonise human beings made in the image of God for their partisan political ends. Mr Morrison, show us evidence that these people are doing something illegal.
Reverend Paul Arnott, Ringwood East

A bully's Orwellian language
Throughout history, tyrants have justified their actions by introducing language that dehumanises those they wish to bully or use for their own political purposes.
Yes, it is good to stop people from drowning but I am not convinced this is the true reason for the minister's action. The word ‘illegal’ is meant to influence the electorate, not desperate people seeking safety. We must insist that Morrison stop trying to manipulate us with his dishonest words.
And isn't it ‘illegal’ for a politician to mislead the public, or have we become so accustomed to this that we say nothing? War is now called peace, freedom called slavery, and ignorance called strength.
Rosie McKenry, Castlemaine

Instilling fear in the community
Minister Scott Morrison's directive is designed to shape the way one views the world, and is reinforced each time such language is used.
While the directive may be officially imposed within bureaucratic language, even though it is not illegal for people to seek asylum, the community does not have to be conned. One can easily see this directive as a ‘dog whistle’, inviting asylum seekers to be seen as ‘the other’. We cannot let linguistic tricks continue to damage Australia's international standing.
Julia Anaf, Norwood, SA

Why we must fight this change
This kind of nonsense belongs in Alice in Wonderland. ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.’ Contrast this to the national day of mourning declared in Italy when a large number of asylum seekers were tragically drowned. Calling refugees ‘illegal’ is central to the government's program to demonise refugees. Labor, the Greens and the community must protest vociferously at this change.
Cath Morrison, North Carlton
Read more http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-age-letters/the-legal-right-to-seek-safety-and-protection-20131020-2vut9.html#ixzz2iIhYHWCE

The Peace Poets Write From Kabul

Luke Nephew Countercurrents October 14, 2013
The flight from Dubai to Kabul:
It’s a flight full of Afghan people and soldiers. And me. And surely a handful of other curious characters. The tension is palpable in the waiting area by the gate. Eye contact between the warring parties is avoided let alone any dialogue. I think about the time when we were in the Bahrain airport where all men and woman sit in different waiting areas and I took out the guitar and played Akon’s ‘Ain’t nobody wanna see us together but it don’t matter no, because we gonna fight, yah we gonna fight, fight for our right to love.’ Against all odds that went over great, this particular moment however just didn’t feel like it was asking for a song. But then as the bus brought us across the runway to board the plane, an American soldier helped an Afghan family carry their bags up the stairs and store them above their seats. The other people watched with quiet suspicion. That’s what it is I think, as I sit myself down in the middle seat between two Afghan men, it’s a deep dark sense of distrust. Distrust dangerous ground to build anything on, let alone a country, much less nine military bases or a prison like the one at Bagram Air Force Base outside Kabul where people are kept without charges for months or years. Very dangerous ground. The plane shutters itself awake and rolls out onto the runway. The lights go off. The babies seem to all break the silence in unison. Some of us don’t have the option of distrust they cry. Their wailing for food or sleep or to be held sounds so beautiful to me in the harsh air of the old plane. ‘Where are we going?’ they seem to be asking……
There was someone there waiting for me. They just weren’t sure who I was. I stood there for a few minutes and then I noticed three guys wearing matching blue scarfs. Ahh yes, the color of the Afghan Peace Volunteers. I met eyes with one of the young men. He raised his eyebrows, took a step forward and said, ‘Luke?’ Yes. My peoples. It turned out they saw the website and something in the communication at some point made them think that out of the five Peace Poets, there we’re expecting the big dark skinned one with locks. So when I rolled through the parking lot, not even my bright Bolivian guitar case was enough of a reason for them to assume I might be the peace poet. But, eye contact and instincts are lifesavers. So Dr. Hakim, an amazing peace activist and medical doctor who lives and works with the community of Afghan youth, flashed his brilliant smile and it was big hugs all around. Abdulhai and Raz Mohammed were the youth from the community who had made the early morning trip to the airport with Hakim to pick me up. Good to be together, we hop in a cab and into the streets of Kabul…….

Remembering 12 years of war,
The streets of Kabul beg in the dust,
Distrust and revenge a city, a country, a people condemned
After 12 years of war, some estimate 78% of Afghans have psychological disorders, the taxi driver says its more, says we Afghans can’t think right anymore, he shows us scars on his knees from the day he almost died, he sighs, ‘so many stories of pain…
But who are we to say we’re sane? When we remain entrenched after 12 years of war? I dare you to come here and still say you want more?
Another day, another year, then leaving 9 military bases here,
America has smashed the windows of people’s sanity,
People are demanding we leave, nobody wants to hear Obama make a pretty speech
In Kabul I’ve see anger rise like armies
in young men’s eyes that say you have harmed me and my family for the last time,
I wanna know what will be the last crime committed in the name of freedom,
more marines relieving themselves on corpses of murdered kids,
12 years of blood that did not have to get spilled,
12 years of mothers gone mad from mourning, what have we become?
Afghanistan is a nation of American made guns and American made widows,
Hearts crumbling like bombed out windowsills
Wondering where they’ll find the will to teach their son not to kill
When inflicting death is the lesson they’ve best learned from us,
12 years of dust on boots and the truth being covered in mud,
But what will we do now…
Are we hoping a nation of 30 million will forgive and forget, would you let it go if an occupying army broke into your house killed your father and didn’t even say sorry, or admit it was a mistake, how many more years will it take Americans to wake up and say I will not live in debt while my government pays millions of dollars a day to make people hate me for my passport, want to cut my life short for my birth country’s flag, 12 years of war and not enough body bags to hold the soldiers, not enough words to say the funeral masses, not enough mass graves to hold the lives that 12 years of wartime has taken,
and when I ask a young Afghan woman named Zuhal, why she wants an end to the occupation,
She says, ‘12 years of war is too many, it’s time for the soldiers to go home to their families. They must miss them.’
Read more http://www.countercurrents.org/nephew141013.htm

Mary and Mohammad Very moving. A must see film

Compass, ABC TV October 13, 2013
Summary
The story of an unlikely friendship between a young Afghan asylum seeker and a 71 year old Australian pensioner.
Mary is a Christian who lives in a poor rural municipality outside Hobart in Tasmania. When the government opens a new detention centre nearby Mary is bitterly opposed to the arrival of its mostly Muslim detainees. But when her local knitting club is asked to make winter beanies for the asylum seekers, she embarks on a journey of friendship that finds her questioning long-held beliefs and prejudices.
Watch film http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s3853159.htm

CATHOLIC BISHOPS URGE POPE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE RIGHTS OF CATHOLICS TO HAVE A VOICE IN THE DECISION MAKING OF THEIR CHURCH

Bishops Robinson, Morris and Power recently joined with 100 church organisations backed by over four million Catholics around the world calling on Pope Francis to give priests, religious, and laity a major role in church decision making in matters such as dealing with sexual abuse, on the eve of his meeting with an eight member council of cardinals to discuss church governance.

Representatives of reform groups throughout the world submitted a letter tracing the current crisis in the church, including sex abuse and fiscal corruption in the Vatican and outlining the destructive effects of clericalism and an all-male celibate governing body on the church has been submitted to Pope Francis and the eight Cardinals, including Cardinal Pell, that are meeting in Rome now.

The three bishops are lending their support to this movement. Other supporters include Catholics for Renewal in Australia, US based groups: Call to Action, Voice of the Faithful, American Catholic Council, and the We Are Church movement worldwide. The latter has a membership of several million Catholics in nearly 50 countries.

Pope Francis has inaugurated some reforms at the Vatican. He has criticised clericalism, saying that the episcopate is a ministry of service and not one of domination. He has also insisted that newly appointed bishops be “close to the people, fathers and brothers and …not have the psychology of 'Princes.’” And in his recent interview that received worldwide circulation, he said, "The Church is the people of God, pastors and people put together. The church is the totality of God's people."

But the Pope has yet to specify to what extent the laity will be included in sharing church authority.

The letter, respectful and supportive of the direction Pope Francis appears to be moving, states that full participation of all baptised Catholics in the church’s decision making it fundamental to church reform and is firmly based on the Gospel, tradition, and the vision of the Second Vatican Council.

The letter also calls for open dialogue among its members and urges Pope Francis to reinstate theologians who have been censored in previous pontificates and to cease its “unjust and unwarranted” investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious.

“Our fondest hope is that Pope Francis will accept a delegation of our leaders at the Vatican,” said Bishop Morris, on behalf of Bishops Robinson and Power. “He has been reaching out to atheists, gays and others. He wants dialogue. We want that too.”

To view the letter that has been sent go to
http://forchristssake.info/index.php/links/

Bishop Morris and Robinson have also been in the media go to http://forchristssake.info/index.php/media/ to view the latest articles.

Please continue to promote the petition.
'Like' the For Christ's Sake Petition page on Facebook and encourage others to sign.
http://www.facebook.com/forchristssakepetition

To date we have:
116,205 signatures on line and
2,618 signed on paper (via parishes and other groups)
Giving a total of 118,823

ShahzInvited to Testify by Congress, Anti-Drone Advocate Denied US Visa

ShahzInvited to Testify by Congress, Anti-Drone Advocate Denied US Visa
Pakistani lawyer represents victims of US drone attacks abroad, but their voices will be silenced, he says, if his travel is denied
Jon Queally Common Dreams September 25, 2013


ad Akbar (right), a well-known human rights lawyer and anti-drone advocate from Pakistan, has been denied entry to the US despite an invitation from Congress to testify about the destructive impact the US drone war is having on the families of victims in Pakistan. (File)
‘Failing to grant me a visa silences the 156 civilian drone strike victims and families that I represent.’ Shahzad Akbar, lawyer and victim advocate
Shahzad Akbar, a Pakistani lawyer and legal fellow with the UK-based human rights group Reprieve, may not be given the chance to testify before Congress next week because the US has reportedly blocked his visa application, denying him entry.
According to The Guardian, Akbar—who also serves as director of the Foundation for Fundamental Rights in Pakistan—has met roadblocks at the State Department over his attempts to travel, along with three of his clients, to Washington, DC in order to give family members of those killed by US drone attacks a chance to tell their stories directly to U.S. lawmakers and the American public at large.
The Guardian reports:
Akbar's clients, Rafiq ur-Rehman, his 13-year-old son, Zubair, and his nine-year-old daughter, Nabila, are from the tribal regions of north Waziristan. The children were injured in the alleged US strike on the village of Tappi last year. Their grandmother – Rehman's mother, Mamana – was killed.
Rehman and his children have spent months making preparations to visit Washington after being invited by US representatives to testify in the ad hoc hearing on drone strikes.
According to Akbar, his clients' visas for the trip have been approved, but his has not. He believes the hold-up is political……
According to Reprieve, which has worked closely with some of the victims that are also his clients, Akbar traveled regularly to the US prior to 2011. It was only when he began representing victims of CIA drone strikes, they said, that the lawyer began having significant difficulty getting his U.S. visa processed. This current instance is the second time that the US has failed to grant Mr Akbar a visa to speak at a U.S. event……
Akbar told The Guardian that he believes it's not necessarily the State Department, but another government agency, that may be blocking his entry. ‘We brought litigation, civil litigation and civil charges, against CIA officials in Pakistan for their role in drone strikes,’ he explained. ‘I think it's pretty clear that I have been blacklisted because of that.’
Read more http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/25

Islanders call on Abbott and Bishop to visit low lying Pacific nations

MEDIA RELEASE
Sydney, Thursday, 3rd Oct 2013
Islanders call on Abbott and Bishop to visit low lying Pacific nations
Australian Islander Community seeks stronger climate action in line with latest IPCC Report.

"The very worst fears of Pacific Island Communities in Australia have been confirmed in the latest IPCC report published last week," said Pacific Calling Partnership spokesperson Maria Tiimon Chi-fang speaking at a community gathering following the release of the fifth assessment report (AR5) of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

"We would like to see Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop visit the Pacific’s low-lying island nations during the term of this Parliament," affirmed Ms Tiimon Chi-fang, an I-Kiribati woman living in Sydney whose life was featured in the award-winning SBS documentary The Hungry Tide.

"Meeting the I-Kiribati may bring them to re-evaluate the Government’s reduction commitments to bring them in line with the climate science."

"Australia’s commitment to reduce our emissions by 5% below 2000 levels by 2020, is by no means an adequate response to the evidence," emphasised Ms Tiimon Chi-fang, who is community outreach officer for the Pacific Calling Partnership. "Nor is it appropriate or sufficient given Australia’s support for the Majuro Declaration on Climate Leadership, launched in September at the 2013 Pacific Island Forum."

"Pacific Islanders increasingly feel that a mere 5% reduction in Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions puts the future of their islands at risk. They feel insecure about their futures, and are disappointed at the clear contradiction between the Government’s support for the Majuro Declaration, and their lack of effective climate change policy."

"I urge Prime Minister Abbott to reconfirm his support for the Majuro Declaration, and substantially reduce Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions,' she said.

"Australia has a moral responsibility in two parts. First to Pacific Island neighbours who - whilst having not contributed to the problem, will suffer most from its effects. Secondly, there is also a responsibility to Australian children and grandchildren, who will inherit the effects of our lack of action."

"I call on our Australian Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister to visit my home country," Ms Tiimon Chi-fang, now an Australian citizen, said. "Not until they can see the human face of climate change will they fully understand the consequences of their inaction for my people. Cutting $4.5 billion from the overseas aid budget, as well as cutting out key climate change policy infrastructure in Australia, makes me question the Australian Government’s commitment to the survival of our Pacific Island nations.”

IPCC Assessment Report 5 ("AR5")

In AR5 a total of 209 lead authors and 50 Review Editors from 39 countries have presented evidence that: "the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, and nitrous oxide have increased to levels unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years".

These unprecedented levels of … "greenhouse gases contributed [to] a global mean surface warming in the range of 0.5°C to 1.3°C over the period 1951−2010", and higher projections for sea level rise, the range for which is now projected at 26 to 82 cm, up from the 18 to 59 cm in the 2007 report.

The report concludes that: "continued emissions of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and changes in all components of the climate system. Limiting climate change will require substantial and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions."


http://www.ipcc.ch/meetings/session36/p36_doc3_approved_spm.pdf


For interview or comment contact:-

Jill Finnane: 0409-640-366 or Sean Cleary: 0403-434-512

Publishable PCP images for usage related to this release are available at:
- www.erc.org.au/pcp/media
- some video also viewable: www.youtube.com/pacificcalling

Pacific Calling Partnership - www.erc.org.au/pcp
Since 2006 the ERC initiative Pacific Calling Partnership (PCP), has worked to promote knowledge of and action with the people of the low-lying Pacific Island communities most threatened by the effects of climate change. PCP delegations, with representation from Australia & from affected low-lying Pacific Island communities, have participated in UN Climate summits: COP13 Bali; COP15 Copenhagen; COP16 Cancun; COP17 Durban & COP18 Doha.



--
Sean Cleary, Education Officer, Edmund Rice Centre
15 Henley Rd(PO Box 2219) Homebush West, NSW 2140
Ph 1: (02) 8090 1976 -- Ph 2: (07) 3103 7376 -- Fx: (02) 8762 4220
E: seanc@erc.org.au -- W: www.erc.org.au

Words of Wisdom

It is a bigger miracle to be patient and refrain from anger than it is to control the demons which fly through the air.
John Cassian

Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

‘Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.’
Thomas A. Edison

‘Colorful demonstrations and weekend marches are vital but alone are not powerful enough to stop wars. Wars will be stopped only when soldiers refuse to fight, when workers refuse to load weapons onto ships and aircraft, when people boycott the economic outposts of Empire that are strung across the globe. ‘
Arundhati Roy Public Power in the Age of Empire

‘We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.’
Martin Luther King Jr.

‘We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace, we need love and compassion.’
Mother Teresa The Joy in Loving: A Guide to Daily Living

‘Peace cannot be built on exclusivism, absolutism, and intolerance. But neither can it be built on vague liberal slogans and pious programs gestated in the smoke of confabulation. There can be no peace on earth without the kind of inner change that brings man back to his ‘right mind.’ p. 31’
Thomas Merton, On Non-Violence

‘In the use of force, one simplifies the situation by assuming that the evil to be overcome is clear-cut, definite, and irreversible. Hence there remains but one thing: to eliminate it. Any dialogue with the sinner, any question of the irreversibility of his act, only means faltering and failure. Failure to eliminate evil is itself a defeat. Anything that even remotely risks such defeat is in itself capitulation to evil. The irreversibility of evil then reaches out to contaminate even the tolerant thought of the hesitant crusader who, momentarily, doubts the total evil of the enemy he is about to eliminate. p. 21’
Thomas Merton On Non-Violence

‘The first principal of non-violent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating.’
Mahatma Gandhi On Non-Violence

Bishop Hurley letter to Tony Abbott - Bishop of Darwin

The Leader of the Opposition
The Hon. Tony Abbott MHR
Parliament House
RG109
CANBERRA ACT 2600
16 August 2013


Dear Mr. Abbott,

I have just returned to my office from the Wickham Point and the Blaydin detention centres here in Darwin.

Sadly, I have been involved with detention centres since the creation of the Woomera centre, followed by Baxter and now, over the last six years, with the various and expanding centres here in Darwin.

I experienced once again today, the suffocating frustration of the unnecessary pain we inflict on one another. I celebrated Holy Mass with a large number of Vietnamese families, made up of men, women, children and women waiting to give birth. The celebration was prayerful and wonderful, until the moment of parting.

I was reminded of something a young man said to me during one of my visits to Woomera, all those years ago. I was saying something about freedom.

He replied, "Father, if freedom is all you have known, then you have never known freedom."

I sensed the horrible truth of that statement again today.

I was also conscious of that beautiful speech made when the UNHCR accepted the Nobel Prize in 1981. In part it states,

"Throughout the history of mankind people have been uprooted against their will. Time and time again, lives and values built from generation to generation have been shattered without warning. But throughout history mankind has also reacted to such upheavals and brought succour to the uprooted. Be it through individual gestures or concerted action and solidarity, those people have been offered help and shelter and a chance to become dignified, free citizens again. Through the ages, the giving of sanctuary had become one of the noblest traditions of human nature.

Communities, institutions, cities and nations have generously opened their doors to refugees."

I sit here at my desk with a heavy heart and a deep and abiding sadness, that the leaders of the nation that my father, as an immigrant, taught me to love with a passion, have adopted such a brutal, uncompassionate and immoral stance towards refugees.

I imagine he would be embarrassed and saddened by what has occurred.

It occurred to me today that neither the Prime Minister or yourself know the story of any one of these people.

Neither do the great Australian community.

I find that it is quite impossible to dismiss these people with all the mindless, well-crafted slogans, when you actually look into their eyes, hold their babies and feel their grief.

There has been a concerted campaign to demonise these people and keep them isolated from the great Australian public. It has been successful in appealing to the less noble aspects of our nation's soul and that saddens me. I feel no pride in this attitude that leads to such reprehensible policies, on both sides of our political spectrum.

I cringe when people draw my attention to elements of our history like The White Australia Policy and the fact that we didn't even count our Indigenous sisters and brothers until the mid 1900's. I cringe and wish those things were not true. It is hard to imagine that we as a nation could have done those things.

I judge the attitude of our political leaders to refugees and asylum seekers to be in the same shameful category as the above mentioned. In years to come, Australians who love this country will be in disbelief that we as a nation could have been so uncharacteristically cruel for short term political advantage.

It seems that nothing will influence your policy in this matter, other than the political imperative, but I could not sit idly by without feeling complicit in a sad and shameful chapter of this country which I have always believed to be better than that.

Sometime I would love to share with you some of the stories I have had the privilege of being part of over the years. I am sure you would be greatly moved. Sadly, for so many, such a moment will be all too late.

Yours Sincerely,

Bishop E. Hurley.

Most Rev Daniel Eugene Hurley DD

The Chancery of the Diocese

Postal Address: GPO Box 476, Darwin, 0801
Phone: (08) 8942 6000
admin@darwin.catholic.org.au

Syria: Archbishop's speech in the House of Lords

Thursday 29th August 2013
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, delivered the following speech in the House of Lords on the situation in Syria:
My Lords, I very much welcome the opportunity to have been able to speak later in this debate because of the extraordinary quality of many of the contributions that have been made, and how much one can learn by listening to them. Like many noble Lords I have some experience in the region, partly from this role that I have and recent visits and contacts with many faith leaders of all three Abrahamic faiths, and also through 10 years of, from time to time, working on reconciliation projects.
I don’t intend to repeat the powerful points that have been made on international law which is itself based on the Christian theory of Just War, and that has been said very eloquently. But I want to pick up a couple of points - first is, it has been said, quite rightly, that there is as much risk in inaction as there is in action. But as in a conflict in another part of the world, a civil conflict in which I was mediating some years ago, a general said to me “we have to learn that there are intermediate steps between being in barracks and opening fire”. And the reality is that until we are sure that all those intermediate steps have been pursued, Just War theory says that the step of opening fire is one that must only be taken when there is no possible alternative whatsoever, under any circumstances. Because, as the noble Lord Lord Alli just said very clearly and very eloquently, the consequences are totally out of our hands once it has started. And some consequences we can predict – we’ve heard already about the Lebanon and about Iran, particularly the effect that an intervention would cause on the new government in Iran as it is humiliated by such an intervention.
But there is a further point, talking to a very senior Christian leader in the region yesterday, he said “intervention from abroad will declare open season on the Christian communities”. They have already been devastated, 2 million Christians in Iraq 12 years ago, less than half a million today. These are churches that don’t just go back to St Paul but, in the case of Damascus and Antioch, predate him. They will surely suffer terribly (as they already are) if action goes ahead. And that consequence has to be weighed against the consequences of inaction. In civil wars, those who are internal to the civil conflict fight for their lives, necessarily. Those who are external have a responsibility, if they get involved at all, to fight for the outcome, and that outcome must be one which improves the chances of long term peace and reconciliation. If we take action that diminishes the chance of peace and reconciliation, when inevitably a political solution has to be found, whether it’s near term or in the long term future, then we will have contributed to more killing and this war will be deeply unjust.
In consequence my Lords, I feel that any intervention must be effective in terms of preventing any further use of chemical weapons. I’ve not yet heard that that has been adequately demonstrated as likely. That it must effectively deal with those who are promoting the use of chemical weapons. And it must have a third aim which is: somewhere in the strategy, there must be more chance of a Syria and a Middle East in which there are not millions of refugees and these haunting pictures are not the stuff of our evening viewing.
- See more at: http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/5125/syria-archbishops-speech-in-the-house-of-lords#sthash.Q9DJc6g2.JuDaohTe.dpuf

The gift in our hand - Joan Chittister osb from Aspects of the Heart

To know our gifts is to know our role in life. We are what we are. But the gift of self unfolds as we go, often slowly, always with surprise. It can take years before it becomes clear—the real gift that is hidden within us. Finding the gifts that God has given you takes courage; it takes risk; it takes exploration; it takes failure as we stumble from one arena to the other. But in the end what I get back is the wholeness of myself.

We all come with a gift in our hand designed to make life a better place. The only question is whether we spend it on others or only on ourselves.

It is learning that the gifts we have been given are given for the rest of the human community that makes us more human ourselves. Everyone does some things better than other things. What I have to give is always that one thing that is most needed in every situation because no one else can give it. The obligation is to pour it out like oil on the head of the universe.

Don’t be afraid to follow the dreams of your heart. They are the sign of what should be, of what you must do to be whole, of what you down deep really believe the world must taste to be true to itself.

Without you and me and our little gift, the world will never be filled up. Asked to write a letter to the London Times on ‘What’s wrong with the world?’ GK Chesterton wrote, ‘Dear Sirs, I am. Yours truly, GK Chesterton.’ Clearly, what we are asked to give is only what we are—and that is more than nothing.