As this year marks the 10th anniversary of the illegal war in Iraq, and with Mother’s Day coming up, it was decided to dedicate the performance to the bereaved mothers of the Iraq war, but of course the sorrow expressed here relates to all mothers who lose their children in war zones. In fact Mother’s Day came about as a day of peace in the US because of the Civil War (see below).

We feel the same about the death, destruction and loss of innocent life in war everywhere. It hardly bodes well for civilization when you have more chance now of dying in war as an innocent civilian than as a combatant. 90% of all deaths in war are unarmed civilians.

How did killing civilians to such a degree ever become normalized? How can war on civilians ever be deafened by the worn out catch cry of ‘Support our Troops’? Are we really expected to support the killing of predominantly women and children? Is it not even more grotesque, knowing now that the Iraq War was based on lies? We must learn that our armies should never be called on again for any reason other than defence.

Activist performance group 'Collateral Reflux' at Martin Place, Sydney - Iraq 10 years

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Unexpectedly, we had the opportunity to feel what Muslim women feel once we got dressed for the performance. Before then, we had been blasting AC/DC through the loudspeakers for about an hour, and no one seemed to mind. Things changed however when we put on our chadors. Within minutes the police were there, asking what this protest was called and who was in charge. We told them it wasn’t a protest but a multi-media performance, and after some negotiations were allowed to continue. The looks on their faces were priceless when we disrobed and our blonde and red heads were exposed…

Thank you to all who were involved, particularly the children who were an absolute pleasure to work with. And thanks to Dahlia Wasfi, for her quote used in the projections.

Julia Ward Howe, the woman behind Mother's Day

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The first North American Mother’s Day was conceptualised with Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870. Despite having penned ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic’ 12 years earlier, Howe had become so distraught by the death and carnage of the Civil War that she called on Mothers everywhere to come together and protest what she saw as the futility of “Sons killing the sons of other mothers”.

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With the following poem, Julia Ward Howe called for an international Mother’s Day celebrating peace and motherhood:

Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise all women who have hearts,
Whether your baptism be that of water or of tears
Say firmly:

We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of
charity, mercy and patience.

We women of one country
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.

From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says, “Disarm, Disarm!”
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice!
Blood does not wipe out dishonor
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have of ten forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war.

Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.

Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.

In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions.
The great and general interests of peace.

Film: Cathy Vogan
Editorial: Gail Malone

While the Australian Wikileaks Party are busy processing their applications for membership, what’s the buzz around Sydney about Wikileaks and Julian Assange?

"Have you heard of Julian Assange?" "YES!"

The Assange Affair, April 2013 – a public lecture by Justice Stefan Lindskog of the Supreme Court of Sweden, is streaming on the University of Adelaide website. Viewers are advised that the term “Affair” has largely been interpreted in the sexual sense.

The sponsors decided not to live-stream the other panel members, Julian Burnside QC, Jack Waterford of the Canberra Times and Professor George Williams AO, all of whom brought a significant contribution to this debate. Of equal interest is the Q & A with the audience, wherein Justice Lindskog was faced with some challenging questions.

He conceded that the robust Swedish judicial system he just promoted was powerless; not even consulted… when two Egyptian nationals, Ahmed Agiza and Muhammad al-Zery, were illegally rendered to Egypt and tortured. Sweden’s Ambassador to Australia Mr. Sven-Olof Petersson admits that he however, had advance knowledge of the CIA rendition flight from Stockholm on December 18, 2001.

Lindskog also states during question time,:

“I would like to comment upon the possibility of the prosecutor to go to London. It is possible that the prosecutor could travel to London and interrogate him there. I have no answer to the question why that hasn’t happened.”

Doesn’t this undermine one of the central claims of the Swedish government and remove the need for extradition? And wouldn’t it also make the UK wonder why they had wasted 3 million pounds on keeping an eye on Julian? Britain might now consider sending the bill to the Swedish prosecutor’s office, since without their unjustified refusal to do what is legal and normal in such situations, the British could surely put their money to better use.

Marcello Ferrada de Noli (Professor’s Blogg) has just published a comprehensive analysis of Justice Lindskog’s speech, in English, on the Swedish newspaper Newsmill.

Audio only is available at this stage for the other speakers, but will be replaced by video in the near future.

I was sent an audio recording of Julian Burnside’s speech last night at the University of Adelaide. It was pretty low volume but I’ve manage to make most of it clear and audible. It is regrettable that more professionally generated documentation of the other voices in the debate with Justice Stefan Lindskog of the Supreme Court of Sweden has not be made available. How is it a debate at all, one might ask, when the organisers live stream ONLY one side of it?

I rather thought Lindskog might be here to play the “the good guy”, so that Sweden would be seen to be cleaning up its act. With the tainted Marianne Ny out of the picture and Borgstrom half-sacked (he’s still defending SW), how could we doubt that it is safe for Ecuador to deliver Julian Assange? Let us not forget however, that in the case of the US vs Bradley Manning, the prosecution has decided to pursue the greater charges; that the existence of the Grand Jury investigation into Wikileaks and Assange has now been made public, and thus, that Australians have been ‘fore-warned”…

One must also remember that in the last year, the Gillard government has passed legislation declaring offences associated with ‘terrorism’ to be “not political” (and therefore extraditable), while the US labels Assange a “high-tech terrorist” – and more recently, an “ENEMY OF THE STATE” . Which state the allies are talking about might be an interesting question… But let us be clear.

What the lovely Lindskog is saying is that he believes, in his heart of hearts, that a part of what Manning and Assange did was for the common good, and that in the long term, this will be recognised. He is also saying however, that it was perfectly normal for the British Courts to myopically disregard the merits of the Swedish case, since it is possible for arguments to be based purely on points of law. He cites the condom lies as “amusing”; not criminal, as they clearly are. And he asks us not to forgive Manning, but pray that his punishment be ” balanced”. The scales of justice seem to have ethical weight; but not in the here and now!

No wonder Juiian Assange, Jennifer Robinson and Greg Barns raised objections to this man’s presence in Australia, on an apparent mission of good will. I thought of Pinochet when he mentioned that governments may block extradition due to ill health…” Thank you Julian Burnside for making the situation clear. Why even The Australian couldn’t discern the purpose of Justice Stefan Lindskog’s gossip and waffle…

Even The Australian couldn't discern the purpose of Lindskog's gossip and waffle.

Cassie Findlay, spokeswoman for the National Council of the newly-formed Australian Wikileaks Party, delivered a moving introductory address this week to a capacity crowd at Sydney’s Chauvel Cinema. The occasion was part of a national tour of Robert Connolly’s film “Underground”, which tells the story of teenage Julian Assange, and his roller-coaster beginnings as an online activist.

L to R: Rob Connolly, Christine Assange, Alex Williams & Cassie Findlay

Christine Assange, Robert Connolly, actor Alex Williams and SBS journalist Mark Davis were onstage afterwards for a Q & A with the audience. They were later joined by Linda Pearson from the Support Assange and Wikileaks Coalition (SAWC), who called for strong action to repatriate Julian Assange, now entering his tenth month of refuge at London’s Ecuadorian Embassy.

Tour organisers Kaz Cochrane and Samantha Castro, who founded the Wikileaks Australian Citizens Alliance (WACA), and who are co-members of the Party’s National Council, will also deliver personalised speeches during the film’s nationwide tour.

Alex Williams plays the young Julian Assange in "UNDERGROUND"

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Of particular note was the solidarity expressed by the filmmakers and cast with their subject. No surprise, given the track record of award-winning director, Rob Connolly, in making politically conscious films, such as ‘Balibo’, and ‘The Bank’, where the gap between art and life has merely been widened to protect the innocent. Rob muses as I quote Alexa O’Brian’s fleeting tweet: “We don’t need any more Hollywood film scripts. We need transcripts of what’s actually happening in the court room”, and we are both reminded of Assange’s recent gripes regarding the proposed opening scenes of ‘The Fifth Estate’. A sequel to ‘Underground’ is apparently not out of the question… “Watch this space”, he says, and we really do hope he fills it.

In the more immediate future, the ‘Underground’ Party Tour will continue throughout Australia. These legendary events have had a tendency so far to play to packed houses, so it’s probably best to buy tickets in advance. Go to the WACA website to (check the dates) and your closest cinema. And to everyone’s great surprise, ‘Underground’ has been selected to open the Washington DC International Film Festival – “in the cradle of American government!” in just two weeks time.

Film critic Eddie Cockrell, our moderator for the Sydney event, Variety and SBS columnist, and the man who just happens to have written catalogues for the Washington Film Festival for decades… reckons it will solicit “A very good reaction!”. . Watch this space, one more time…

Cassie Findlay speaks on behalf of the Australian Wikileaks Party

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Cassie Findlay’s speech:

“It’s been an interesting process. Especially for someone like me who comes from a background of being archivist and not involved in political campaigning before. And indeed a lot of the members of the National Council of the WikiLeaks Party come from really interesting and diverse backgrounds that bring a certain humanity, I think, to our endeavour. So, we have a physicist, we have activists, we have mothers, we have young people, we have people of an older generation. And we’ve been working very hard since, well, certainly some members of the Council since last year. And in earnest this year to put together a Party which I think is about addressing what is missing in Australian politics at the moment which is truth, transparency, a sense of standing up to power. A sense of understanding for yourself what’s actually going on and if we look at, you know, the major parties that are going to be contesting the next election in September, is there much choice? Both of them are sitting mainly on the right. Of course, we have the Australian Greens it’s true. But what we’re doing is putting a candidate up for the Senate who has the most amazing track record of actually scrutinising and understanding information about what’s happening politically, what’s happening across the world and in Australia, and who certainly demonstrated an ability to stand up for what’s right. So, one of our National Council members, Greg Barnes spoke last week in Melbourne about the Party and about putting a candidate up for the Senate where, what we’ve seen rather than a house of review it’s become a house of deals. Well, the WikiLeaks Party and Julian in the Senate will be against that, we’ll be standing up for the Australian people.”

Freedom of the Press Foundation Publishes Leaked Audio of Bradley Manning’s Statement

Tuesday March 12, 2013: Today, Freedom of the Press Foundation published the full, previously unreleased audio recording of Private First Class Bradley Manning’s speech to the military court in Ft. Meade about his motivations for leaking over 700,000 government documents to WikiLeaks.

While unofficial transcripts of this statement are widely available, this marks the first time the American public has heard the actual voice of Manning.
Trevor Timm, Executive Director and founder of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, stated: “Transparency is vital for an informed public, whether we’re talking about the courtroom, Congress, or the executive branch. We hope this release will shine light on the plight of whistleblowers everywhere.”

In the audio file, Private First Class Manning explains to the military court in his own cadence and words how and why he gave the Apache helicopter video, Afghanistan and Iraq Wars Logs, and the State Department Diplomatic Cables to WikiLeaks. Manning explains his motives, noting how he believed the documents showed deep wrongdoing by the government and how he hoped that the release would “spark a domestic debate on the role of the military and our foreign policy in general as well as it related to Iraq and Afghanistan. ”

In conjunction with the statement, Private First Class Manning also pleaded guilty to 10 of the 22 charges against him.

Daniel Ellsberg, famed Pentagon Papers whistleblower as well as a founder and board member for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, noted the similarities between Manning’s situation and his own prosecution: “Manning faces some of exact same charges I faced forty-two years ago when I leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times and eighteen other papers. The only difference is I was a civilian, so I could stay out of jail on bond while the trial was going on, and was able to talk to the media throughout.”

Freedom of the Press Foundation’s mission is to support and defend cutting-edge transparency journalism by supporting those organizations that publish leaks in the public interest. It often reports on news surrounding government secrecy, educating the public about the important relationship between leaking and independent journalism. This recording presented a unique opportunity to bring some small measure of transparency directly by allowing the world to hear for itself the voice of someone who took a controversial and important stance for government transparency.

John Cusack, famed actor and activist who is also a founder and board member for the organization, said: “Growing up with the living legacy of the Berrigan brothers and fellow board member Daniel Ellsberg, I deeply and profoundly respect the sacrifice made by those heroic individuals who speak their truth no matter what price they may pay. We hope this recording inspires more participation in a broad-based movement to restore and protect the First Amendment.”

Freedom of the Press Foundation was founded in the winter of 2012 to crowd-fund a variety of journalism institutions—both start-ups and established organizations—who are dedicated to aggressive, uncompromising journalism in the vein of Watergate and the Pentagon Papers. The Foundation’s Board of Directors is comprised of journalists and free expression advocates, including John Perry Barlow, Daniel Ellsberg, Xeni Jardin, Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, Josh Stearns, Rainey Reitman, Trevor Timm, and John Cusack.

Press Statement, Freedom of the Press Association March 12 2013

Gary Kennedy, Secretary and Treasurer of Hunter Trade Unions – representative of 31 Unions in Australia – says “ABSOLUTELY” to the question: “Would Julian Assange make a good Australian Senator? “

The Australian Wikileaks Party is about to launch, with Julian Assange as its leader and truth & transparency its motto. Sounds great… but isn’t he still “holed up” somewhere in an Ecuadorian Embassy in the middle of London? What a shame, since our polls say that 1 in 4 Aussies would vote for Assange. Is it not time therefore, dear compatriots, for a reality check?

If Australians want Assange as a Senator – and how extraordinary that would be – they will have to “reek havoc” now to get him home… and the sooner the better. In the face of such hostility from our government, and the wanton vilification of Assange’s fair dinkum, award-winning journalism, imagine the hammering that is in store for him as an actual political opponent. It is clear that once that game begins, the msn will be kissing his ass goodbye.

Aussie Gold! - click to enlarge

Maybe Ecuador could help us… by challenging an obstruction of justice that strangely enough, reposes upon the inaction of one person. Yes, if only prosecutor Marianne Ny would go to London and question Assange, we might have our Senator… But how much does that place us in the position of a horse who thinks the man is bigger, and Ecuador as the mouse that roared?

Ecuador may very well have come of age, opened its eyes, and realised both its purpose and place in the world; while we, the mighty Australia stay blinkered, and follow like a self-doubting adolescent in the shadow of Uncle Whoever.

Dream on Australia, or grow up, and make our Australian dream happen. We need a solution to this pseudo-stalemate and we need it now!

Julian Assange for Senator

The fabulous ‘Saucy Sydney’ Mardi Gras parade for Bradley Manning and Julian Assange

SWACSydney honour Bradley Manning & Julian Assange at The Sydney Mardi Gras Festival

Bradley Manning has now been imprisoned for 1000 days without trail, a part from an Article 138 hearing concerning cruel and inhumane treatment. Read more.

Rehearsals for the Bradley Manning Mardi Gras float went well today, despite the intemperate conditions. The date is March 2nd; the place is Sydney; and it’s not too late to join in the fun!