W. Papua Info Night, Thur April 1 6:30p & picket Mon April 5

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(plez circulate)


PAPUA MERDEKA!

West Papua Information Night
Thursday April 1st 6:30p
New World Recource Center

We are not terrorists!
We do not want modern life!
We refuse any kinds of development: religious groups, aid agencies, and
governmental organizations
just Leave Us Alone, Please!
--The Liberation Army
of the Free Papua Movement (TPN/OPM)

Covered by the world’s second largest rainforest and home to some of the last uncontacted indigenous people surviving in the world, West Papua is one of the last truly wild places on the planet. Sitting on top of what may be the world’s richest mineral deposits, it is also one of the most threatened.
Under brutal Indonesian colonization, and with mining and logging corporations, missionaries and aid organizations closing in from all sides, West Papuans have been forced to choose between fighting back against a military superpower or passively allowing their land to be destroyed and their traditions stripped from them.
Out of this crisis rose the OPM a tribal-based guerilla movement calling not only for an end to colonization, but for the entire “civilized” world to leave them alone.

West Papua Information Night

Showing of the film Freedom for West Papua, followed by an update,
discussion and information on what you can do to support resistance in
the South Pacific.

C h i c a g o
Thursday April 1st 6:30p
New World Recource Center
(1300 N Western Ave)
Call
NWRC 773-227-4011
azone (at) azone.org
Info: www.eco-action.org/ssp

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April 5th Demos

Picket Indonesion Counslet in Chicago(on Day of Indonesion Elections)
Monday April 5th (3-5pm)
contact; mike wildvegan (at) azone.org

In London (US citys too) on 5th April there will be a demonstration at the Indonesian Embassy in solidarity with the West Papuan's and Acehnese who plan to boycott the
Indonesian parliamentary elections on the same day.

We have heard that there will be simultaneous demonstrations in the
Netherlands. Please also organise a presence at embassies/airline offices etc
in other countries. Lets have an international day of action!

Voting is obligatory in Indonesia and the last time Papuans refused to vote was
back in 1977. In response to this the Indonesian state bombed villages and
slaughtered thousands making the Baliem river "run red with blood". Lets show
our solidarity to help prevent a backlash this time round!


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(additional tour & bio info below)


Solidarity South Pacific Tour (West Papua Info Tour);

The islands of the South Pacific contain a significant portion of the bio-diversity on earth, and are home to some of the last cultures surviving completely outside of the bounds of "Western Civilization”. Viewed by most of the world as ripe for plunder, they are at a critical moment in their history.

Irreplaceable wilderness is falling prey to the depredations of mining and logging corporations at an alarming rate, while free tribal societies are exterminated or assimilated by colonial governments, missionaries and aid organizations.
For the most part, this takes place without international attention, let alone outcry. Within the affected areas, however, resistance has been fierce, widespread, and in many ways successful.

Activists in the South Pacific are on the front-line of the struggle against the global encroachment of corporate death culture. Not only do they need allies and international support, they are in many ways our elders, and have a wealth of knowledge, experiences and perspectives to inform and inspire Western activists. Maintaining lines of communication may prove as critical for our survival as it is for theirs.

This tour aims to provide people with an introduction to resistance movements in the South Pacific, focusing on the OPM and DEMMAK in West Papua, the Bougainville Freedom Movement on Bougainville Island, and EF! and hunter-gatherer groups in the Philippines, and to give an overview of the history and current events that play into their struggles, and how US based concerns are involved.

Ideally, this tour will also be part of building a network of people who are interested in supporting resistance movements in the Pacific Rim

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Izzy Bio. And, now who I am

Doing this tour will be me, Isabel (aka Izzy), and hopefully one other person, from the newly formed Minneapolis chapter of Solidarity South Pacific. We are trying to work with, and expand, the UK based group, which I was involved with prior to returning to the US this fall.
For more information about SSP and the groups it supports, look at www.eco-action.org/SSP. SSP Minneapolis has an email address,
solidaritySP (at) lycos.com, but for organizing for this tour, it's better to contact me personally, via email or voicemail at bellagonna (at) onebox.com or 1-800-454-1906 X4049.

I have also attached flyers from events that have happened here if that's of any use. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
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