International Relations
Gaza’s agony: the hinge point in the loss of Western dominance
The scale of deliberate Israeli cruelty against the Gazan people over the past five months is still difficult for Australians to absorb. But internationally, a key political fact has clearly emerged: that Israel, the US and their supportive Western allies (like Australia, to our nation’s shame) have now shredded any moral standing on the issue of Continue reading »
The future of Australia’s overseas student program
At over 40 percent of net migration, Australia’s overseas student program was growing unsustainably before the pandemic. The border closures hid many of the problems and led the Coalition Government to make policy changes that made the situation much worse when borders re-opened (unrestricted work rights, fee-free visa applications, covid visa). The Albanese Government significantly Continue reading »
“The darkest place to which this conflict sinks” – Four Corners: The Forever War
For five months now, our screens have been bombarded by images depicting Israel’s air and ground assault on Gaza. This extraordinary footage, this apocalyptic scene, shows just how widespread that destruction has been. Israel is still denying foreign journalists independent access to Gaza. We’re in Israel, about a kilometre from the border, reports the ABC’s Continue reading »
Penny in Thunderland: Through the lurking glass
Like many APS officers I had dealings with ASIO on occasion. Following Mike Burgess’s playbook I cannot name specifics in the interest of National Security, but almost without exception I found ASIO activities to be conducted by a mob of arse-clowns; the old TV cartoon comedy of Spy-vs-Spy rang terrifyingly true. Many excellent recent articles Continue reading »
The sin of “hubris”
The sin of “hubris” is to shame and humiliate others for pleasure or gratification. Such narcissistic pleasures were considered offensive to the gods of ancient Greece; a case of breaching the boundaries between the human and divine realms. In the grand theatre of international politics, hubris and tragedy often share the stage. The saga of Continue reading »
The CPC is brainwashing its members to not attack other countries says AI
Recently there was an interesting piece in the South China Morning Post on “Communist Party orders cells to study Xi Jinping Thought and learn speeches” See China’s Communist Party orders cells to make Xi Jinping Thought a priority, cadres must study president’s speeches, South China Morning Post. So, we asked our research assistant Ms Copilot (Artificial Continue reading »
Remembering the victims of nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands
Protests marked the 70th anniversary of nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll
Originally published on Global Voices
Bikini Atoll nuclear test site. Marshall Islands. Photo by Ron Van Oers / UNESCO. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO
Pacific communities marked the 70th year of nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll in Marshall Islands by highlighting the demand for justice and accountability.
March 1 is Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day, but in Marshall Islands it is commemorated as Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day in honor of the victims of Castle Bravo, the codename for the thermonuclear bomb test made by the United States military.
The 15-megaton bomb dropped on Bikini Atoll was the equivalent of a thousand Hiroshima bombs. It created a mushroom cloud that reached 40 kilometers into the atmosphere and its radioactive fallout affected nearby inhabited atolls. The US military conducted 67 nuclear weapon tests in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958.
The tests vaporized at least two islands and forced the permanent displacement of communities contaminated by radioactivity. Cancer cases and other serious diseases linked to nuclear testing went up over the next several decades.
Reparations were made but the toxic consequences of the testing continue to inflict damage up to this day. Civil society group ICAN emphasized that the Castle Bravo testing “is a story of how life on the Marshall Islands was uprooted, lands contaminated, and people left to struggle with the consequences for generations.”
Public assemblies in Fiji and the Marshall Islands marked the 70th anniversary of the Castle Bravo testing with calls for justice.
FWRM led the chants at the Nuclear Victims Solidarity March at USP Laucala Campus in Suva today.
It has been 70 years since the Castle Bravo explosion on 1st March 1954.#NuclearFreePacific #PeoplePower pic.twitter.com/etKO1i9pgJ
— Fiji Women's Rights Movement (@FWRM1) March 1, 2024
Some veterans and descendants of those who were evacuated from their homes also joined the event.
We also acknowledge Pacific nuclear test veterans and their descendants who joined @misa4thepacific Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day solidarity march at @UniSouthPacific today.
Lest We Forget.#NuclearJustice #NewClearWays #NukeFreeFridays #NukeFreePacific pic.twitter.com/nvSqkhlz7o
— PANG (@pangmedia) March 1, 2024
Kathy Joel was six years old in 1954 when her family was uprooted from their community.
I remember when I saw planes flying over my island, I was really frightened. We were evacuated by the US. Until now I long for my homeland. I always think about my homeland and I wish one day, with the help of our President, that I may set foot again on my homeland.
Kathy Joel was six years old when the #Bravo nuclear test spread radioactive fallout over the northern atolls of the #MarshallIslands, including Rongelap and Ailinginae. pic.twitter.com/jt7wTHyyLK
— Nic Maclellan (@MaclellanNic) March 1, 2024
Henry Puna, secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum, noted that resolving the issues related to nuclear testing has remained inadequate.
Our history is littered with overwhelming foreign disrespect for our Blue Pacific. Clearly, we were used as a testing ground – more like a testing laboratory. And we must ask the question, why was the most beautiful corner of the world, with the most beautiful and peaceful people, chosen for these horrific acts without our informed consent?
While we have come a long way in mending past grievances, regrettably, the terms of resolving nuclear legacy issues in the Marshall Islands have been inadequate, and therefore remain unfinished.
Peace Movement Aotearoa pointed out the political significance of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day.
Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Day is a day to remember that the arrogant colonial mindset which allowed, indeed encouraged, this horror continues today – the Pacific is still neither nuclear free nor independent.
It is a day to celebrate the courage, strength and endurance of indigenous Pacific peoples who have persevered and taken back control of their lives, languages and lands to ensure the ways of living and being which were handed down from their ancestors are passed on to future generations.
Shaun Burnie, the international climate and nuclear campaigner for Greenpeace International, also expressed solidarity with the people of the Marshall Islands.
The proud people of the Marshall Islands have retained their profound and deep connection to their Pacific home, despite all efforts to destroy that connection through displacement and contamination. That same determination is now evident in their response to the devastating impacts of climate change.
George Galloway’s time has come
George Galloway is a British MP again, and it’s the moment he’s been waiting for. His victory in a Rochdale by-election, he told Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer, ‘is for Gaza’. Galloway has been an advocate for Palestine ever since he visited Beirut in 1977 and decided to ‘devote the rest of [his] life to Continue reading »
International law and Israel’s occupation: Understanding the ICJ advisory opinion case
Between Monday 19 February and Monday 26 February the ICJ heard oral submissions on the request for an advisory opinion in respect of the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Make no mistake. This case is about as important as it gets. It Continue reading »
Israel: a terrorist state
Thursday February 29, starving Gazans try to obtain flour for their families. From the safety of their tanks, Israeli soldiers fire. One hundred and four people are killed, 750 injured. Israeli army spokespersons blame the crowd and insist that most fatalities occurred when Gazans were crushed by aid trucks. The spokespersons are in damage control. Continue reading »