Saturday, 29 July 2017

NO HIDING FOR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN TUNISIA --- NOT EVEN WITHIN MARRIAGE

Tunisia:

Women celebrate their rights

Decades of protest have paid off: Tunisia's parliament has passed a historic law on violence against women. It punishes all forms of violence and sets the country up for a potential cultural revolution.

Tunisia's parliament approved legislation on Wednesday that protects women from all forms of violence. The country's Family Minister Naziha Laabidi called it a "historic project."

"It's a very important law," said Abir Alhaj Mawas, a sociologist who works for Terre des Femmes, a women's rights nongovernmental organization. The law addresses women who are isolated, she said, so that they can enjoy rights already common for women elsewhere, such as in Europe.

The centrepiece of the law is, for Mawas, the paragraph dealing with punishing domestic violence. "Rape within the family has long been handled as a private matter easy to cover up, rather than a crime," she said. "This has now changed."

No safety in marriage

The new law changes how violence against women is prosecuted. Authorities must investigate a matter even if the woman herself rescinds her claim, regardless of cause for the claim's withdrawal. The law sees to the legal and psychological support for women who have been victims of violence in a way that aims to "support human rights and gender equality," Minister Laabidi said. Shelters and information centres are to be established where women can receive immediate assistance.

Sociologist Mawas has welcomed the new law

Tunisia's parliament also addressed a long-time demand of women's rights activists by striking down the paragraph protecting adult men from prosecution for having sex with a minor if he married her.

Violence by the numbers

Many women in Tunisia suffer from violence and harassment. A recently published study found that 64 percent of the 4,000 women surveyed would seek the permission of a male family member before leaving home. Nearly 70 percent reported being insulted on public transport, and 76 percent of married women reported physical and psychological violence at home.

Such violence has a number of sources, Mawas said, including ideology and false interpretations of the Quran. The 2011 wave of uprisings across the Arab world, dubbed the Arab Spring, made matters for women worse, Mawas said. Protests often took an authoritarian turn, and women received the brunt of the violence, she said.

Social conditions are also cause for violence against women. Poorly educated women have limited employment opportunities and can easily become victims of violence. "These women lack the means to make good on their rights," Mawas said.

In Tunisia, the protests in favor of expanding women's rights paid off

Conservative criticism

There was broad support across Tunisian society for the new law, with calls for a cultural reform that compels men to accept women as equals. But by conservatives' religious standards, a person is a consenting adult from the age of 13, Islamic politician Noureddine Bhiri told the newspaper Jeune Afrique. Lawmaker Salem Labiadh told Tunisia's Business News newspaper that the new law "can lead to a radical feminism, destroy the foundation of the family and legalize homosexuality."

Some readers reacted with disdain and mockery in the newspaper's letters to the editor section.

Backward thinking

There are also men who deny their wives rights without religious cause, due to external pressure, Mawas said. "They would be heavily criticized for giving their wives their freedom," she said, adding "even secular men are influenced by a religious climate."

Women in the Arab world continue to suffer under conservative dogma, wrote the Tunisian newspaper, Le Temps. "This must change if we really want equality and dignity to become a reality."

Friday, 28 July 2017

Religious leaders occupy environment minister's office to protest Adani's Carmichael coalmine

The post below is an edited version of an article
which appeared on The Guardian website of 25 July 2017.

Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black is joined by seven other religious leaders
occupying Josh Frydenberg’s office in Melbourne.

A Rabbi, a Uniting Church reverend, a former Catholic priest and a Buddhist leader call for Josh Frydenberg, Minister for the Environment and Energy,

to withdraw support for the Adani coal mine in Queensland.

Religious leaders from several faiths have occupied the electorate office of Josh Frydenberg today, demanding the federal environment minister withdraw his support for Adani’s Carmichael mine, and vowing to stay there until he does so.

Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black told The Guardian before the action that he had never undertaken such an act of civil disobedience before.

“I have been involved with the environment for many years,” said Keren-Black. “But I haven’t taken action in this way before. It seems to me now the situation is so dire and so urgent that we have to get him to take responsibility. Because we’re talking about an ethical responsibility to the future.”

A rabbi, a Uniting church reverend, a former Catholic priest and a Buddhist leader

call for Josh Frydenberg to withdraw support for the Carmichael mine.

Photograph: Supplied

“In April this year I, along with ecumenical Christian, Jewish and Buddhist leaders, signed an open letter to Minister Frydenberg stating our clear opposition to the mine. We do not feel that the response has been sufficient,” he said.

They have vowed to remain in the office until Frydenberg makes a statement removing his support for the mine, or until they are removed by force.

They say that emissions from burning coal from the mine – which would be the biggest coal mine in Australia’s history – would make meeting the Paris commitment of keeping global warming at “well below 2C” above pre-industrial levels impossible.

As the occupation happens inside the office, outside about a dozen religious leaders are holding a symbolic “funeral for coal”.

Jarrod McKenna, teaching pastor at the Cornerstone church in Perth, is among those leading the funeral.

Fact v fiction: Adani's Carmichael coal mine – video explainer

He said people from various faiths would present eulogies for coal, which would acknowledge the contribution that coal has made to society – particularly in Victoria – but that “it is now time to leave it in the ground”. McKenna said the group is hoping that the action will move Frydenberg “to listen”.

“Primarily to listen

to the wishes of the traditional custodians

who have repeatedly said no.

To the scientists who have unequivocally said no.

To listen to the general public who have said no –

and to listen to his own conscience.”

The coalition of non-partisan groups joining the movement fighting against the development of Adani’s Carmichael coalmine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin has grown in recent months. Last month a group representing about 2,000 farmers joined the Stop Adani alliance, bringing the total number of groups in the alliance to 13.

Re-thinking war: our attitudes to war, our commitment to war, our involvement in war

From Ecumenics and Quakers

For other views of this film:
David Cox - Bloodless, boring and empty: Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk left me cold
'Dunkirk' is a tour de force war movie, both sweeping and intimate
Dunkirk is a war film that is not a war film

What’s Missing from Dunkirk Film

July 27, 2017 in Uncategorized

27.07.2017 – David Swanson

By David Swanson

Yes, I’m going to tell you what’s missing from this film without watching the film. Trump has, as promised, made me so sick of winning that I really could enjoy watching a defeat film, but I think I’ll pass. If I’m wrong about what’s missing from it (I mean one of the many things that are, no doubt, missing from it), I promise that I will eat an entire plan for victory in Afghanistan annually for the next decade.

One of the oddest things about World War II is how it has been marketed as a humanitarian war since the moment it ended.

One reason this is odd is that several times the number of people killed in German concentration camps were killed outside of them in the war (at least 50 million worldwide vs. 9 million killed in the camps). And the majority of those people were civilians. So a war against killing people in camps would be a very strange way to understand World War II, unless killing many more people can be made an acceptable means of opposing killing people. The scale of the killing, wounding, and destroying made WWII the single worst thing humanity has ever done to itself in any short space of time.

Even odder is that zero effort was actually ever made to prevent the mass-murder in the concentration camps. There was no poster asking you to help Uncle Sam save the Jews. A ship of Jewish refugees from Germany was chased away from Miami by the U.S. Coast Guard. The U.S. and other nations refused to accept Jewish refugees, and the majority of the U.S. public supported that position. The U.S. engaged in no diplomatic or military effort to save the victims in the Nazi concentration camps. Anne Frank was denied a U.S. visa.

Peace groups that questioned Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his foreign secretary about shipping Jews out of Germany to save them were told that, while Hitler might very well agree to the plan, it would be too much trouble and require too many ships. Here is an interesting passage from Nicholson Baker:

“Anthony Eden, Britain’s foreign secretary, who’d been tasked by Churchill with handling queries about refugees, dealt coldly with one of many important delegations, saying that any diplomatic effort to obtain the release of the Jews from Hitler was ‘fantastically impossible.’ On a trip to the United States, Eden candidly told Cordell Hull, the secretary of state, that the real difficulty with asking Hitler for the Jews was that ‘Hitler might well take us up on any such offer, and there simply are not enough ships and means of transportation in the world to handle them.’ Churchill agreed. ‘Even were we to obtain permission to withdraw all the Jews,’ he wrote in reply to one pleading letter, ‘transport alone presents a problem which will be difficult of solution.’ Not enough shipping and transport? Two years earlier, the British had evacuated nearly 340,000 men from the beaches of Dunkirk in just nine days. The U.S. Air Force had many thousands of new planes. During even a brief armistice, the Allies could have airlifted and transported refugees in very large numbers out of the German sphere.”

In other words, the story of Dunkirk, the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, is a story of how the Allies treated people they had some use for, and a demonstration of how they could have treated other people if they had had any use for them.

Since the moment the war ended, the U.S. military has had enormous use for those it callously allowed the Nazis to murder. They have been front and center in the argument for war after war after war.

Since World War II, during what U.S. academics think of as a period of unprecedented peace, the United States military has killed some 20 million people, overthrown at least 36 governments, interfered in 81 foreign elections, attempted to assassinate over 50 foreign leaders, and dropped bombs on people in over 30 countries. This extravaganza of criminal killing is documented here. But it isn’t much of a secret. To my knowledge, every single military assault has involved a reference to a new Hitler and a passionate plea to retroactively save his victims. Of course the humanitarian consequences have differed dramatically from those stated intentions.

Somehow I doubt any of that is mentioned in the Dunkirk film.

The original article can be found on our partner’s website here

Categories: Culture and Media, North America, Opinions, Peace and Disarmament

Thursday, 27 July 2017

Freedom and Peace - Is there a conflict?

Talking about
Freedom & Peace
and
Is there a conflict?

Saturday 5 August 2017
3pm to 5pm
The Victoria Room
Queen Victoria Women's Centre
210 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

AUSTRALIA'S RELIGIOUS ADHERENCE - FROM THE CENSUS OF 2016

MEDIA RELEASE

27 June 2017

074/2017

2016 Census data reveals “no religion” is rising fast

The results of the latest national Census today reveal we’re a religiously diverse nation, with Christianity remaining the most common religion (52 per cent of the population).

Islam (2.6 per cent) and Buddhism (2.4 per cent) were the next most common religions reported. Nearly a third of Australians (30 per cent) reported in the Census that they had no religion in 2016.

The religious makeup of Australia has changed gradually over the past 50 years. In 1966, Christianity (88 per cent) was the main religion. By 1991, this figure had fallen to 74 per cent, and further to the 2016 figure. Catholicism is the largest Christian grouping in Australia, accounting for almost a quarter (22.6 per cent) of the Australian population.

Australia is increasingly a story of religious diversity, with Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam, and Buddhism all increasingly common religious beliefs. Hinduism had the most significant growth between 2006 and 2016, driven by immigration from South Asia.

The growing percentage of Australia’s population reporting no religion has been a trend for decades, and is accelerating. Those reporting no religion increased noticeably from 19 per cent in 2006 to 30 per cent in 2016. The largest change was between 2011 (22 per cent) and 2016, when an additional 2.2 million people reported having no religion.

How likely a person was to identify as religious in 2016 had a lot to do with their age. Young adults aged 18-34 were more likely to be affiliated with religions other than Christianity (12 per cent) and to report not having a religion (39 per cent) than other adult age groups. Older age groups, particularly those aged 65 years and over, were more likely to report Christianity.

In terms of states, New South Wales had the highest religious affiliation (66 per cent of people reporting a religious affiliation), while Tasmania (53 per cent) was the lowest.

Australian Statistician David W. Kalisch said Census data is high quality, thanks to the participation of Australians.

“The Independent Assurance Panel I established to provide extra assurance and transparency of Census data quality concluded that the 2016 Census data can be used with confidence,” Mr Kalisch said.

“The 2016 Census had a response rate of 95.1 per cent and a net undercount of 1.0 per cent. This is a quality result, comparable to both previous Australian Censuses and Censuses in other countries, such as New Zealand, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

“Furthermore, 63 per cent of people completed the Census online, embracing the digital-first approach and contributing to faster data processing and data quality improvements.

“2016 Census data provides a detailed, accurate and fascinating picture of Australia, which will be used to inform critical policy, planning and service delivery decisions for our communities over the coming years,” he said.

Census data is available free online. Use one of our easy tools such as QuickStats and Community Profiles to access the latest data for your area or topic of interest.

For more information on religion in the Census, go to the Religion Data Summary.

You can also attend one of our free Seminars. To find out more about Census Data Seminar series, or to register, go to the ABS website.

Religion Top 20 – Australia

Please note:

Beyond this first table, there is a much more detailed table

which, from an interfaith viewpoint, is most interesting.

The Editor has taken this second table from the website of the

Interfaith Church of Australia in Queensland, Australia.

2016
2011
No religion – 30.1%
Catholic – 25.3%
Catholic – 22.6%
No religion – 22.3%
Anglican – 13.3%
Anglican – 17.1%
Uniting Church – 3.7%
Uniting Church 5.0%
Christian, (Not further defined)– 2.6%
Presbyterian and Reformed – 2.8%
Islam – 2.6%
Eastern Orthodox – 2.6%
Buddhism – 2.4%
Buddhism – 2.5%
Presbyterian and Reformed – 2.3%
Islam 2.2%
Eastern Orthodox – 2.1%
Christian (Not further defined) 2.2%
Hinduism – 1.9%
Baptist – 1.6%
Baptist – 1.5%
Hinduism 1.3%
Pentecostal – 1.1%
Lutheran – 1.2%
Lutheran – 0.7%
Pentecostal 1.1%
Sikhism – 0.5%
Judaism – 0.5%
Other Protestant – 0.5%
Jehovah’s Witnesses – 0.4%
Judaism – 0.4%
Sikhism – 0.3%
Jehovah’s Witnesses – 0.4%
Seventh–day Adventist – 0.3%
Seventh-day Adventist – 0.3%
Other Protestant – 0.3%
Latter-day Saints – 0.3%
Salvation Army – 0.3%
Oriental Orthodox – 0.2%
Latter-day Saints – 0.3%
This page last updated 26 June 2017

Religious Census Data

The Australia Standard Classification of Religious Groups (ASCRG) is used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) when classifying census data. The following information is derived from 2006 Australian Census data provided by the ABS.
Basic Data

Religion by ASCRG
Basic Census Data

2006 - Total Population: 19854779

Full data

Reference:
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2011). ABS: Census of population and housing – 2006 Data. Retrieved 10 Oct, 2011, from http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/Census

Wednesday, 26 July 2017

THE MOST SENIOR WESTERN TIBETAN BUDDHIST NUN ALIVE

Tibetan Buddhist nun, Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo. Photo by Olivier Adam.

Imagine a life without Wi-Fi, books, music or even companions, but just your mind for company. The horror, the horror. Alone without any external stimulation might be torture for most of us, but not so for Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo.

The Tibetan Buddhist nun once lived in a remote Himalayan cave for 12 years, including three in total isolation, in a quest for enlightenment and insight into the mind. Offered now the hypothetical choice between a lifetime of constant companionship or one of solitude, Palmo has no hesitation about what she would pick.

"It's not that I don't like being with people, but the thought that I would never be alone would be much more threatening than the thought of spending the rest of my life in solitary."

During her years spent living in the 3 metre by 2 metre cave, from 1976 to 1988, she was almost buried by snow, nearly starved and never lay down – sleeping upright for three hours a night, seated in a traditional meditation box.

Please read more here

Palmo, 74, will be in Sydney, in July. Her visit includes a public conversation with comedian and writer Magda Szubanzki, titled Steadfast Peace in Unstable Times.

MELBOURNE FILM PREMIERE : INSIDE PEACE - ACMI 3 AUGUST 2017

Dear friends,

For those based in Melbourne - see below for a documentary which might be of interest to you, shared by Australians for Peace.

I will be going along - it looks like it will be very interesting.

If you have events you'd like me to share with the group, let me know and I will be happy to do so.

Wishing you all well.

In peace,

Nivy

Nivy Balachandran
Regional Coordinator, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands
Part time - Office days are Wednesday and Friday.
Phone: +61 433 238 406 | Skype: nivy.bala | www.uri.org

URI is a global grassroots interfaith network that cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities and the world.

*****************

We would like to invite the Australians for Peace (A4P) Board Members as our special guests to the Melbourne premiere of an award-winning documentary at ACMI on Thursday 3rd August.

We thought you may be interested in the film, which is about an education program that assists people in dealing with the ups and downs of daily life. A Texas prison is an unlikely setting for an educational program, but the multi award-winning documentary Inside Peace focuses on a peace education program run in the prison which has generated surprising results.

Filmmaker Cynthia Fitzpatrick follows the lives of several inmates within the Dominguez State prison in San Antonio, Texas as they cope inside and outside of prison after being released. Fitzpatrick says the peace program impacted the prisoners on many levels which resulted in reduced violence, better personal skills and less chance of former inmates reoffending.

The film illustrates how effective the peace program is for ‘hardened’ criminals with intergenerational experiences of hardship, poverty, drugs, violence and disadvantage. The program currently runs in 74 countries, including Australia and New Zealand, and is equally effective in many settings, including social services, drug rehabilitation, returned military services, retirement hospitals and welfare organisations.

The program has the potential to improve personal wellbeing and community safety across a wide variety of settings.

Location: ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne

Time and Date: Thursday, 3rd August at 7.15 pm

Tickets: Click here to book your tickets through Try Booking.

If you’d like to be our guests, first choose any ticket type, then click next and enter the complimentary code COMP~

Looking forward to seeing you at the Melbourne premiere of Inside Peace.

Regards

Dawn Rees

On behalf of Southern Events Inc.

PS: Would you kindly forward this invitation to the other A4P Board Members?

For enquiries contact events@southernevents.net.au

The Inside Peace Premiere is presented by Southern Events Inc., a not-for-profit organisation involved in promoting community events in Melbourne

Tuesday, 25 July 2017

THE DRESS CODE - A BASIS FOR DISCRIMINATION?

Read more about this here

To read more about the Sikhs and the turban
and its importance to them, please go here.

The editor of Beside The Creek wonders if any of the decision-makers at this school
know any Sikhs or know anything about their faith.
Their decision is sure to bring the school and its Christian faith
into disrepute in interfaith circles in Victoria.

For those who are not aware,
Sikh men do not cut their hair - and that goes for beards as well.
Having said that though, there are many Sikh men who do.
However, the standard and traditional practice is
to let the hair, face and head, grow.

The editor once had a doctor who was a Sikh.
As well as the turban, he had a sort of little pouch which
hooked behind his ears, and that kept his beard tidy.

All this to-do makes me wonder how this Christian school
might have treated an orthodox Jewish male wearing
a skull-cap or that stand-out black hat head-gear?
After all, Jesus was a Jew and, if he was back in
this modern world, what would he be wearing?
But then in this Christian school, maybe they would not allow
the skull-cap either.

Seems to this editor, that what these very particular Christians at Melton have done
is the usual discriminatory thing.
When all else fails and you don't want to say someone is not
welcome because .....
impose an arbitrary dress code.

From the Christian viewpoint, all are welcome in the Kingdom of God,
REGARDLESS
but at this school at Melton they have higher standards than that
and it can get down to what you put on your head.

Please take a visit to a Sikh Gurdwara here.

Further news on this topic from the ABC
Monday 24 July 2017

Editorial from The Age
Wednesday 26 July 2017

ALL human lives matter - yours. mine. ours.

From Ecumenics and Quakers - Newsletter by Maurizio Benazzi

By Dr Mansoor Durrani

United States of America has been the leader of nations for a while. From fashion and food to “war on terror” other nations simply follow the leader. But people embrace American products like McDonald, Nike, iPhone and other American lifestyle by choice. So it is unfair to say that the US gets the world to follow it under the gun. Of course US does compel and bully others, but only for big-ticket games like wars, arm sales etc. And it is not just consumers or governments who follow the US practices worldwide. Even the social movements picking up slogans from the US. So there is Black Lives Matter movement, and then the white Americans have their own Native Lives Matter movement.

In the aftermath of recent hate crimes against Muslims in the US and Europe and lynching terrorism that the New India has unleashed on its Muslim population, the civil society in support of helpless victims has come up with the slogan Muslim Lives Matter. Being a universal faith that is meant for the entire humanity and not just for Muslims, I have an issue with this narrow focus – no matter how justified it may seem under the current situation. Even though under the hate crimes and lynching terrorism a vast majority victims are Muslims, but Islamic faith teaches that all human lives are equally precious. If innocent Muslim lives are taken by saffron terrorists on the streets of Northern or Southern Indian states are precious then the innocent Hindu lives taken while returning from a pilgrimage in Kashmir are important too. Beyond India, Christian lives matter in South Sudan as much as Buddhist lives matter in Tibet. And Shi’a lives matter in Pakistan as much as Sunni lives matter in Syria and Iraq!

If other narrow, self-centered and petty ideologies create high walls around their ethnic or faith groups, it is understandable. But the Muslim civil society in India (and elsewhere) should have given one-and-only slogan to safeguard innocent lives and that slogan must be Human Lives Matter. The human angle resonates a bit more in the Indian context because the entire lynching terrorism shows to the world that cows (even if the beef eating or beef carrying allegations are true) are more important than human lives in New India! It is this primitive mindset combined with cold barbarity that sets the current situation apart from all the atrocities intermittently unleashed on Muslims over the past seven decades.

In the midst of these challenging times, an encouraging fact that requires both recognition and appreciation is large scale support that the victims of lynching terrorism receiving from Indians of all other faiths. Though we are yet to see a Portland, Oregon style defense where in May 2017 three white American men gave their lives for defending a young Muslim girl in headscarf who was being terrorized on a train by a white Muslim-hater. But a fair section of Indian media, specially alternate news outlets on social media, have strongly condemned endless killings of innocent Muslims. These aspects point to the need for a worldwide movement under the banner of Human Lives Matter. Depending upon which part of the world we are discussing, innocent lives of all faith groups are being taken mercilessly by hate groups who operate under various banners and who have established lawless dictatorships under the garb of democracies in a number of countries – including our incredible India!

There is a general impression (and correct to some extent) that while Muslims claim to be the followers of a universal faith that preach perfect equality regardless of caste, color, class or creed.But in practice their reaction or protests against atrocities are largely confined to their own faith groups. This is fundamentally contrary to the teachings of their Islamic faith. It may be just fine for the saffron brigade to differentiate the value of human lives. For example, they condemn and grieve SEVEN Amarnath pilgrims killed by terrorists and then the very next week coldly ignore the deaths of SEVENTEEN Amarnath pilgrims when their bus falls into a gorge – just because there was no Muslim link to these SEVENTEEN deaths.

This hypocrisy is not confined to civilian deaths alone. Even the political value of military causalities is assessed by who actually the killer is. So when a senior Indian army officer Major ShikharThapa, of 71 Armoured Regiment is killed in J&K on 17 July by his subordinate NaikKathiresan who pumped five bullets in Major’s back, no hashtags is launched in sympathy of Major Shikhar’s 3 month old son!

More than 100 cases of suicide are reported every year in the Indian armed forces. But no tears are shed on these losses of lives. Human lives!!

But Muslims claim to have a different value system. This is why there are two strong reasons for them to take a lead on a new Human Lives Matter initiative (A) they are the principal victims (worldwide) of Western-led war on terror and (B) Qur’an, their Holy book, most explicitly says this:

Whoever saves one (human) it is as if he saved the entire humanity[Chapter 5: verse 32]

Dr Mansoor Durrani is a PhD in Islamic Banking from UK. He is currently serving as a Senior Vice President at a top bank in the Middle East. Views are personal.

The original article can be found on our partner’s website here

Monday, 24 July 2017

The Dale Hess Diary of Peace and Social Justice events - 17-07-24

Below is a calendar of peace and social justice events compiled on a weekly basis by Dale Hess. Dale is a Quaker and, together with Lorel Thomas, is joint Clerk of the Victorian Regional Meeting of the Society of Friends. Dale is active in Pace e Bene Australia. Lorel is the National Co-ordinator of the Australian Network to Ban Landmines and Cluster Munitions.

Tuesday 25 July, 7.30 pm: Peacemaking in the Modern World. For the last 9 months, Jasmine has been based in Al-Khalil (Hebron) in Palestine. Each day she has accompanied Palestinian children and adults as they negotiate the reality of checkpoints, restricted access to their own neighbourhoods and have to endure the reality of occupation. You have the chance to hear from Jasmine about her work with the Christian Peacemaker Teams and what it means to be seek peace in the modern world. Location: Brunswick Uniting Church, 214 Sydney Road, Brunswick. Supper afterwards. More details? Go to https://www.trybooking.com/RAQX. Sponsored by Brunswick Uniting Church & the Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network. For more information? Contact PIEN

Wednesday, 26 July, 6 pm: Weapons or Well Being? There will be a panel discussion in the Sunderland Theatre (Medical School, Grattan St entrance) on the controversy about Melbourne University's new connection with Lockheed Martin, the world's largest arms seller. It's been organised by the Medical Association for the Prevention of War Student Group. Speakers included Dr Margie Beavis from the Med Faculty, the president of MAPW and an ICAN colleague, Alex Edney-Browne, who is doing an interesting PhD at Melbourne on drone warfare, and Professor Richard Tanter. The organisers have tried to get someone from both Lockheed Martin and the university administration, but for some reason have had no luck. Apart from the obvious questions about partnering with an organisation that draws 78% of its sales from armaments, there are critical questions university governance in this case.

Wednesday, 26 July, 7.30 pm: The Environment and Social Justice - Pope Francis’ Inspirational Reflections on Ecological Care: An evening of reflection and discussion. Guest Speaker is Dr Deborah Guess. Deborah Guess works in the area of ecological theology and is a research associate at Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity, Melbourne, where she teaches Christianity and Ecology. Deborah is also a long-time member of the Australian Christian Meditation Community and grows organic fruit and vegetables at her permaculture property at Warburton. Place: St Joan of Arc Parish Hall, 118 New St. Brighton. An initiative of the social justice group, St Joan of Arc. For more information contact Helen on 0418 999 800.

Friday 28 July, 7 pm for 7.30 pm: Stand Up for Justice! Julian Burnside AO QC is our guest speaker at St Francis Xavier Church Hall, Mayona Road, Montmorency. Opening speakers: Omar and Saad al Kassab. Q and A panel with all the speakers, joined by Kobra Moradi. This is a free event. However, bookings are essential: https://www.stickytickets.com.au or email massginfo@gmail.com

Saturday 29 July, 1 pm – 5 pm: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre Community Action Workshop. In these workshops we share tools and resources we can all use to help re-frame conversations with family, friends and people of influence on the rights of people seeking asylum. The content is designed to complement any existing advocacy people may already be involved in, but it's also an ideal entry point if they haven't been involved much before. On the day you will get to meet and work with like-minded people wanting to take action in their local area. As an organisation that shares humanitarian and human rights values with the ASRC, we would like to extend an invitation to your members to come along to our upcoming Community Action Workshop in the Bayside area. Venue: Highett Neighbourhood Community House, 2 Livingston Street, Highett 3190. Please RSVP here!

Wednesday 2 August 7:30 pm -9 pm: What Future for West Papua? In the early 1960s, West Papua was a Dutch colony, with a well-funded well-organised self-determination program, legislated by the Netherlands Parliament, and signed-off by Queen Juliana, with independence scheduled for 1970. By the end of the 1960s, West Papua was an Operational Military Zone within the Indonesian Republic. What happened, and what’s going on now? Speakers: Louise Byrne & Revd Peter Woods. Venue: Yarra Theological Union Study Centre, Enter via 34 Bedford Street Box Hill. Street parking available. Entry by donation. Refreshments available afterwards. Download a flyer.

Sunday 6 August, 10.30 am: Peace Service. Hiroshima Day St Paul’s Cathedral. The Japanese Consul-General, Mr Kazuyoshi Matsunaga, has been invited by the Dean to deliver a brief message on peace, and the Melbourne Chapter of Ikebana International (Japanese flower arranging) will provide the floral arrangements, which can be viewed in the Cathedral throughout the day. St Paul’s Cathedral, corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets.

Sunday 6 August, 2 pm – 4 pm: Hiroshima Day Peace Vigil. Outside of St Paul’s Cathedral. Organised by Medical Association for the Prevention of War. St Paul’s Cathedral, corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets.

Sunday 6 August, 2 pm: Hiroshima Day Commemoration. Professor Richard Tanter will speak and the film Hiroshima will be shown. Organised by CICD and the Unitarian Church. Venue: Melbourne Unitarian Church 110 Grey Street, East Melbourne.

Friday 25 August, 7.30 pm: Screening of the film, Guarding the Galilee. Presented by Queensland-born actor Michael Caton, this new 30-minute documentary shines a spotlight on the battle to stop the biggest coal mine in Australian history, Adani’s Carmichael project. The award-winning documentary team captures the raw beauty of the Queensland outback, where Adani’s mine threatens essential water resources. Bayside Oxfam Group, All Souls Anglican Church, 48-50 Bay Road, Sandringham, Victoria 3191.

Friday 8 September – Sunday 10 September: Independent and Peaceful Australia National Conference 2017, Melbourne.Conference theme: War, Peace and Independence: Keep Australia out of US wars. Speakers: Assoc. Prof. David Vine, Dr Alison Broinowski, James O’Neill, Prof Richard Tanter, Dr Margaret Beavis, Dr Mik Gilligan, Senator Scott Ludlam, Warren Smith,Peace Activist from Jeju Island and/or South Korea. More details: ipan.australia@gmail.com; Website: http://ipan.org.au

Friday 22 September, 6 pm – Sunday 24 September, 6 pm: Australian Conservation Foundation Convergence 2017. Together, we can mend our world. Do you want to stop Adani's giant, polluting coal mine and be part of the growing community of people prepared to show up and speak out clean energy and our children’s future? Want to make a real difference? Learn skills and connect with people? Be inspired, empowered and energised? Then come along to a weekend of training and community building at Fitzroy Town Hall 22-24 September. Your ticket includes vegetarian meals, materials and training. Scholarships are available if the cost of attending is a barrier as we want people from all walks of life to participate. Please get in touch with Chris for more information. Build people power: How to run a group with clear and effective roles to support each other, avoid burnout, create good strategy, have more fun; Practice the micro-skills of managing groups, conversations and meetings; How to sustain group involvement and maintain momentum between different campaigns; Increase your skills in advocacy; Build power in an enduring community with shared values that is active on multiple issues that impact our air, water, wildlife and communities; Understand your place as part of an inclusive, diverse and powerful movement, from small local groups to large organisations. Website.