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Welcome to the Graham F Smith Peace Trust E-newsletter.
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From the Chair
Welcome
As we celebrate our 21st anniversary, the Peace Trust is faced with future challenges which are beginning emerge as we consider our strategic plan under the leadership of Board member Belinda Turner. We need funds to support art projects and artists and to employ an executive officer to carry out the ever-expanding workload.
As you probably know, the Peace Trust is a small not-for-profit organisation which depends solely on your efforts; memberships, donations, your participation in fundraising activities (no public money) and the work of supporters who give their time generously to further educate the public about human rights and environmental sustainability through the arts. Our grants are always in great demand by artists.
If you would like to participate in this continuing activity of developing our strategic plan please join us on Sunday, 21st March from 10am to 4pm at 15 Lowe Street, Adelaide, contact me on 8267 3915 or ebertsmith@bigpond.com.au for relevant documents and catering purposes.
The Board of Trustees has decided to publish Graham’s memoir this year-more information about this soon.
Enjoy this newsletter which brings you exciting news about Peace Trust activities in 2010 and articles that relate to the key concepts that steer the work of the Peace Trust.
We would love you to come to our AGM on April 18th (TBC). 2:00pm at 213 Gover Street, North Adelaide. Refreshments and socialising afterwards.
Finally thank you to those who take the time to give us feedback on our e-newsletter. If is always good to hear from you.
Léonie Ebert, Chair Management Committee
Wolfgang Sievers ... the dignity of labour
The Graham F Smith Peace Trust, in collaboration with Julian Burnside QC, is proud to announce an exhibition of photographic works by Wolfgang Sievers at the City West campus from 25th September to 10th October 2010.
Wolfgang Sievers (1913-2007) left Germany in 1938 and became an Australian citizen in 1944. He is best known as an industrial and architectural photographer, but was also a passionate campaigner for human rights, writing of his belief in ‘... justice and tolerance of all people whatever colour or faith’.
Sievers’ photographs speak of the dignity of labour and the visual beauty of the constructed world. His ‘Gears for mining industry’ (1967) is a classic image in Australian art history.
We will be releasing more news about this exciting exhibition during the year. Please contact the Peace Trust if you would like to be on our exhibition mailing/emailing list.
For more information visit the Hawke Centre program website
Lindy Neilson, Project Committee Chair
Photo: Wolfgang Sievers, Counihan Gallery in Brunswick, Victoria, 2005
Image Source: wikipedia Retouched by: Naomi M. Ebert Smith
Peace Trust Dinner 2010
Have you ever bought the Big Issue? If you have, good on you. If you haven’t, then maybe it’s time you considered becoming one of the growing number of folk who are discovering what a gem the magazine is. Here in South Australia, until the advent of the Independent Weekly, the Big Issue was probably the only Australian produced news magazine on sale in Adelaide which wasn’t produced by Rupert Murdoch or Christopher Pearson. It is, and always has been, a great read. For those of you who may not know, the Big Issue is sold by people who may be described as ‘down on their luck’; often with addiction and mental health problems who are trying hard to reintegrate themselves into mainstream society. Many of the people who are part of the Choir of Hard Knocks are Big Issue sellers.
Remember the foreign aid cliché…….’give them a hand up, not a hand out’? This very much applies to the sellers of the Big Issue. The people who sell the Big Issue get 50% of the sale price of the magazine. So, if you buy the magazine, 50% of the money you pay for it goes to the bod who sold it to you and 50% towards the production costs.
Early in February (you remember the days, the temperature was about 30⁰ and the humidity was about 80%, ugh!), I was over on Norwood Parade doing some shopping. My local Big Issue seller was there, Gerry is his name. Nice bloke, even if he is a Kiwi rugby fan. I went and bought my copy from him, Lady Gaga on the front. Gerry told me he’d been standing there for an hour and 50 minutes and, until I came along, he’d only sold one copy. I seriously think Norwood, Payneham and Saint Peters can do a wee bit better than that.
If you see a Big Issue seller around, buy a copy, talk to the person. They’re good folk, they each have a story to tell and they love chatting.
Now, what’s all that got to do with the Peace Trust Dinner 2010? Well, we are delighted that Alan Attwood, the editor of the Big Issue, has accepted our invitation to be our guest speaker this year.
Alan came to Australia from Scotland with his family when he was four years old. He’s had a varied career from abalone packer to mail sorter. After deciding on journalism as a career he seems to have managed to avoid specialising in any specific form of the profession. He’s written for Time magazine, the Sunday Times (London), and he’s covered political intrigue in Morocco as well as a US Presidential election. He covered the first free elections in South Africa, and for three years in the mid-1990’s he was the New York based correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. He won the coveted Walkley Award for Sport in 1998 and, since November 2006, has been the editor of the Big Issue.
I’m guessing that, with the wealth of experience he has, we will be in for a fascinating time on June 26th this year. Remember, 7:00pm for 7:30pm at the Italian Centre in Carrington Street. Join us, have fun and listen to a most interesting speaker. I already have a question for him: “What’s the difference (if any) between political intrigue in Morocco and a US Presidential election?”
Rosemary Thompson, Hon. Secretary.
Peace Posters update
This unique poster project received funding from the Peace Trust in 2009 and is now ready for action. Breakdown Press is seeking expressions of interest from artists in contributing images to the Peace Posters series.
Hopefully these posters will end up on bedroom walls, in workplaces, streets, shopfronts and schools! Artists and designers are encouraged to use writing and statistics from academics, historians, poets, scientists, activists and song writers in their poster designs. We want to see stencils, printmaking, illustration, painting, typography, photography and collage in poster designs. Think handmade.
It is intended that the posters will be ready for distribution at the annual Peace Trust dinner in June. For further information visit www.breakdownpress.org
Lindy Nielson, Project Committee Chair .
Volunteers Urgently Needed for Peace Trust
1. Kaurna Walking Trail Guides ( training provided)
2. Executive Officer (part-time position)
3. Silent Art Auction Coordinator for our Peace Trust Dinner
A Heart Connection
Write something about refugees you have worked with, Leonie said. The topic is huge, but perhaps I could pare it down to my contact with one family and their eventual resettlement in Adelaide? As I face the task, sipping some coffee, watching the street through the window, my mind skips sideways and I'm struck by the nature of friendship; not the easy known-each-forever friendship, not the kind that rests on a commonality of experiences and values, but that intense heart-connection that crosses all borders, cultural, racial, age and sexuality-related.
I was teaching a TAFE course, Community Leadership Skills for Sudanese Women, and Mwajemi was one of my students – she's not Sudanese, she was just there to make up the numbers. What an asset to the class she was! Interested in everything (I have many children, was her refrain, I need to know many things), she also shared my passion for women’s rights, especially in the Congo and Africa, and she had a commitment to the African communities in Adelaide.
I had some misgivings when I invited Riziki and Mwajemi home to meet my partner Sue. How would a Muslim couple cope with our “lifestyle”? But it was fine, there wasn't an issue. When they were leaving Riziki casually asked How long have you two been together? We told him and he said with a smile, Oh, the same as Mwajemi and me.
The friendship deepened, partly because of shared interests – human rights, feminism, gardening – but mostly because they are such bloody lovely people. One night we were sitting around the remains of a meal with the whole family – on the floor, there wasn't room for everyone around the tiny table – and we began to tell stories. Everyone, young and old, related some incident that was important to them. The stories were amazing and inevitably someone suggested writing a book.
And so, with consideration for time (theirs and mine), and the emotional challenges of recalling traumatic events, we began. The storytellers were honest and thorough, answering my questions with unflinching courage.
The story that emerged invovles inter-tribal and cross-border violence and death, it has rape, murder, polygamy, family conflict, missing children, and finally survival for eight years in a refugee camp. It is the love story of a couple who stayed together despite of all the forces which tried to tear them apart. It is my great privilege to record this tale in all its complexities.
The first, rough draft of the book is nearly done; next is the hard slog of editing and finding a publisher. We are determined to do this, Mwajemi and Riziki want their stories to bear witness to the lives of ordinary Africans, they want to spread the message of inter-tribal and inter-country peace, they want to encourage African women to fight for equal rights.
As the writer I try to match their courage and vision, though at times I feel the weight of their experience on my own shoulders. But that is part of friendship, the sharing of burdens as well as dreams, and so out of this intense, unlikely heart connection will come a a book that might just make a difference to the world we live in.
Mij Tanith Feb 2010
Photo: Sue, Riziki, Mwajemi
Book Review: Xanana
Leader of the Struggle for Independent Timor-Leste by Sara Niner
As someone who has been involved in the solidarity movement for East Timor since 1975 I am glad that Dr Sara Niner has written a book about Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, the key leader of East Timor's struggle for independence. She has good credentials for writing this book – she edited his book "To Resist Is to Win", was able to exchange letters with Xanana between 1997 – 1999 while he was in prison and had a series of meetings with him in 1999.
She has written a remarkable book about a very remarkable political leader. She describes his early life, his first involvement in the East Timorese independence movement, his involvement with FALINTIL (Armed Forces for the National Liberation of East Timor), his imprisonment in 1992, and his role as a key political leader of an independent Timor Leste (TL), until the time he became the President and then the Prime Minister of TL.
After giving some historical background to East Timor the book describes the civil war of August 1975, which was begun by the Timorese Democratic Union. Most of the book deals with Xanana's role during the guerrilla struggle. It covers his accession to the leadership of East Timor's resistance; key strategies employed by the Indonesians and Xanana's response to them; the various changes in the structure of the resistance; the truce of 1983; the massacres and other events that led to independence.
The author describes Xanana's evolving political thinking. From the beginning the FRETILIN leadership viewed their organisation as Marxist-Leninist. Xanana originally agreed, but saw that to unite the East Timorese and to maximise political support he must keep the philosophy broad. This led to problems in the leadership for him. In 1992, Xanana was captured by the Indonesian military (TNI). The author describes his trial, his life in prison, his continuing leadership and how he met many East Timorese independence supporters. One was Nelson Mandela, another was Kirsty Sword who became his wife.
Niner describes how his charisma and sense of humour helped him cope with prison life, where he painted and studied, becoming a friend of many of the prisoners and prison guards.
Xanana was involved in the preparation for the 1999 independence referendum in which 78.5% voted to end Indonesian rule. The reaction by the TNI led to a series of international emergency meetings and resulted in the UN intervention.
In early September 1999, Xanana was released from prison. The author describes his visits to Australia, Portugal, Asia and TL itself.
In the closing pages of the book, the author looks at the social problems that still confront the East Timorese, still one of the poorest countries in the world after being left in ruins when the TNI left, and with a high level of post traumatic stress in the populace. The political scene is very volatile, perhaps one of the reasons why Xanana is not so popular amongst the East Timorese. The book also examines the difficulties and challenges which both Xanana and future political leaders are likely to face.
Overall, I think Sara Niner has captured the personality of one of the most interesting political leaders of our times. She has given a balanced view of her subject, not afraid to mention his faults. She also helps the reader cope with the complicated history of TL with a chronology, glossary, copious notes, many historical photographs, a number of maps and a comprehensive index.
Review by Andy Alcock (edited version by Phil Douglas). The complete text is available by contacting info@artspeacetrust.org
To purchase the book: http://www.scholarly.info/purchase.htm
Photo: Xanana Gusmao
The Congo-Yesterday and Today: from Colonisation to Coltan
Although some 3 to 5 million people have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the last decade as a result of the war, we hear little about it in our media.
Ira Raymond Room, Barr Smith Library University of Adelaide
Saturday March 13th 2010, 2pm to 4pm
No charge.
Speakers: Mwajemi Hussein, Congolese refugee
Dr Tanya Lyons, author and Senior Lecturer, Dept of International Relations, Flinders University.
Live music by Jane Bower, folksinger, activist and broadcaster.
Light afternoon tea provided.
Sponsored by Medical Association for the Prevention of War, Australian Federation of Graduate Women, Graham F. Smith Peace Trust, Australian Peace Committee, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
Further information: phone (08) 8296 4357 email: wilpf.sa@wilpf.org.au
Support For Afghan Women
After only two years of operation the Vocational Training Centre in Kabul has already matriculated 300 women and girls who where illiterate when they entered. Suraya Gulam Bahlol is one of them. When she received her certificate she said:
"I am a mother of four children. I went through the world blind before participating in this course. I had a lot of economic problems; our insecure situation and other family problems made me sad and sick. I was nervous all the time as these problems effected me a lot and I considered myself a person who is not psychologically normal, because most of the time I was sad and thinking that I hate my children, I hate my husband, and I didn't want to talk with other people…
"I am thankful to OPAWC who saved me from the darkness of my life. Before coming to this course my life was going to ruin, but now I have changed completely …
"I ask OPAWC to continue this course and arrange similar activity for us to keep us busy and to prevent women with many problems like myself from falling into sickness."
You can read more personal stories of women in the February edition of SAWA's newsletter the SAWAN, which is available for download at: http://www.sawa-australia.org/sawan.htm
Matthias Tomczak, Convener, SAWA Australia.
Photo: Suraya Gulam Bahlol
The Copenhagen Accord (A Non-binding Agreement)
Much has been written about the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. Like me you may have asked yourself what was really achieved at this international conference.
Here is an answer to this question, reproduced in part from in an article ‘The Meaning of Copenhagen’ by Richard Heinberg in the Energy Bulletin. ( Source: www.energybulletin.net/node/51112)
“What was agreed — and what wasn't
The main points of the Copenhagen Accord are easy to summarize:
• Industrial countries must list their individual emissions reductions targets, and less-industrialized countries must list the actions they will take to cut emissions by specific amounts.
• All countries must accept a transparent system for monitoring their emissions.
• Poor countries will be paid to prevent deforestation.
• Wealthy nations will establish a fund (growing from $30 billion dollars per year to $100 billion per year by 2020) to help poor and vulnerable nations adapt to climate change.
• Signatory nations accept a goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius by 2050.
• The Accord creates a Technology Mechanism to accelerate development of low-carbon technology, but supplies no details. .....................
Criticisms of the Accord's substance (leaving aside complaints about the exclusion of most nations from negotiations, its abandonment of the U.N. framework, and so on) include the following:
• The limit of 2 degrees C is too high. A limit of 1.5 degrees was already supported by over 100 countries and is necessary to avert catastrophic climate impacts.
• The Accord offers no cap for CO2 concentrations............
• There is no target date for peaking of emissions mentioned in the Accord, just a vague suggestion that emissions should "peak as soon as possible."
• There are no global emissions targets for 2020 or 2050. Instead, the Accord merely proposes listing the voluntary targets of developed and developing countries. Based on current assessments of country promises, these 2020 targets will put the world on a track toward 3.5 to 4 degrees of warming.
• The Accord makes general statements about need for adaptation and an end to deforestation, but there is no concrete deal on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. .....
• The promised finances for poor nations are too small. ................
The Energy Bulletin is produced by the Post Carbon Institute http://www.postcarbon.org/ which is “leading the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world”. This site is well worth a visit. It is very informative.
For another view point read " A climate con: Analysis of the Copenhagen Accord" by David Spratt and Damien Lawson at http://climatecodered.blogspot.com/2009/12/climate-con-analysis-of-copenhagen.html
Looking to the future, let us hope that climate talks in Mexico City in December 2010 will be more successful than Copenhagen in building a binding global climate treaty.
In the meantime let us continue to do what we can to reduce carbon emissions and lobby our governments do the same.
Léonie M Ebert
Radio Adelaide - A Peace of the Action
A PEACE OF THE ACTION is a peace and social justice radio program on Radio Adelaide 101.5fm at 12.30pm on Sundays, 52 weeks of the year. An Adelaide network of peace, human rights and environment groups fund the show which is now in its 4th year.
Interviews, commentary, alternative opinion, frank and honest in depth analysis and what’s on news are all a feature of the show. Wherever our broadcasters travel they take their recorder with them and as a result we have interviews from all over the world, a vast array of international, national and local speakers all with interesting information you won’t get on mainstream media.
Late December 2009 we had a fascinating discussion with Leonie Ebert, Naomi Ebert Smith and Lindy Neilson about the Graham F Smith Peace Trust, about the work they do, about their selection criteria for awarding funds and their annual dinner.
For radio with a difference over Sunday lunch listen in for Ruth, Jane, Stephen, Clayton, Des or Sue and if you hear something you already know, issue us the challenge ‘cos we reckon we’ve got the monopoly on never-before aired information. More information about this radio program is available by clicking here.
Sue Gilbey
Bremen Peace Award
My name is Sue Gilbey; I live in an urban eco-village located on the land of the Kaurna people. It is important to me that I say that, to acknowledge the people who lived here first, and to boldly state that I will endeavour to be as good a custodian of my little bit of land as they were.
I was recently deeply honoured to receive the International Bremen Peace Award, in the individual category Unknown Peace Worker, having been nominated by the Australian Peace Committee.
The other recipients were Animus and Pulse, two divisions of a Bulgarian organisation taking courageous action on violence against women in the category Exemplary Organisation, and Bishop Ruben Phillip from KwaZulu-Natal, an outspoken advocate against apartheid and supporter of refugees from Zimbabwe, in the category Public Engagement,.
It is difficult to describe how you feel when you are honoured like that, the initial shock and elation that, of all the people they could have chosen they chose me, followed quickly by feelings of almost guilt, that some of the people nominated were from war-torn countries, places where undertaking peace work is sometimes dangerous, even life threatening. Really, the only way you can reconcile it is to accept the honour as an obligation to continue, and to take advantage of the new networks created through going to Bremen and getting to know the board, the other award recipients and past winners. One of the wonderful things about the Bremen Peace Award is that they put out a book with the award winners and the 27 shortlisted runners up. This is an amazing resource, as well as an inspiration that so many people are doing such good work.
Is the Australian media scared of the word ‘peace’? My only regret is that the Australian media did not give this award any attention. In South Africa and Bulgaria, countries with difficult histories, the fact that one of their own was chosen was given a lot of media time, as were the issues that they raised, but the major media here ignored the event. Since my acceptance speech was based on ‘Australia, the lucky country, (for some)’, and was largely about the NT Intervention one does not have to think too hard about why the media wouldn’t run with it.
The Threshold Foundation (the auspicing group for the Bremen Peace Award) put out another book which is sent to the 30 finalist countries containing all the media responses from each country. The lack of Australian response in this book is downright embarrassing. From my perspective, the NT Intervention and the fact that Australia is the only developed country NOT to have a treaty with the original inhabitants or a bill of rights is Australia’s great shame.
Sue Gilbey
Congratulations Sue-we are very proud of you. From Leonie Ebert on behalf of the Peace Trust
Peace Trust Calendar 2010
Forthcoming Events:
- AGM, Sunday 18th April (TBC)
- The Congo-Yesterday & Today: from Colonisation to Colton, Sat.March 13th, 2pm to 4pm
- Annual Dinner, Saturday 26th June
- Wolfgang Sievers ... the dignity of labour, 25th September -10th October.
Newsletter Deadlines:
- Winter Newsletter Deadline Saturday 15th May
- Spring Newsletter Deadline Sunday 15th August
- Summer Newsletter Deadline Wednesday 17th November
- Contributions to newsletters of no more than 500 words are always welcome.
Events-dates to be Advised:
- Quiz Night
- International Peace Day event
- Launch – The Graham F Smith Memoir
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