Accent of Women

Budour Hassan is Palestinian socialist feminist and journalist and a legal researcher for the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights. She talks about the latest Israeli assault on Palestinians, the role of women in the Palestinian resistance, the feminist movement against gender violence, solidarity with women prisoners, Abolitionist Feminism, and the needed regional and global socialist feminist solidarity. She is interviewed by Accent of Women supporter, Frieda Afray.

Budour Hassan is Palestinian socialist feminist and journalist and a legal researcher for the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights. She talks about the latest Israeli assault on Palestinians, the role of women in the Palestinian resistance, the feminist movement against gender violence, solidarity with women prisoners, Abolitionist Feminism, and the needed regional and global socialist feminist solidarity. She is interviewed by Accent of Women supporter, Frieda Afray.

Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Wiradjuri man Raymond Noel Lindsay Thomas died during a police pursuit on June 25, 2017. The inquest into his death commenced on Monday 5 July – 4 years later.Joining me on today’s show to talk about the inquest, and Aboriginal deaths in custody, is Aboriginal activist and co-founder of the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance, Dtarneen Onus Williams.  Dtarneen starts here by introducing themselves.

Derek Chauvin, the police officer that murdered George Flloyd sparking a global uprising, was sentenced to 22 years imprisonment for second degree murder. Neither Chauvin’s conviction nor his sentencing propelled the Black Lives Matter movement forward. Black men and women across the United States continue to experience police brutality including murder – so where to for the movement? On today’s program we Robin Wonsley, a unionist and Black Lives Matter activist in Minneapolis.

It’s been about 18 months since the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Most nation states have been left to resolve the health, and consequent economic crisis on their own. And some states have fared better than others.  In India, daily COVID transmissions exceed 400,000, and it is commonly held that this is a gross underestimation. Tragic scenes of rivers filled with dead bodies have flooded the international media. And as always, the poor and destitute are hit the hardest. On today’s program, we speak with social justice movement activist, Sujata, about the unfolding catastrophe in India.

There are currently Presidential elections on foot in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Though these elections may make absolutely no difference to the lives of Iranian women, it still provides an opportunity to look at this part of the world. Today’s interview was conducted by Dr Elham Naeej, an academic in Iranian studies at UNSW. She interviews Dr Claudia Yaghoobi about women’s oppression in Iran.

The current Israeli offensive against Palestine in 2021 began on 10 May, making it the deadliest offensive since The Gaza war of 2014, named Operation Protective Edge. Since that date, Palestine’s death toll exceeds 200, mostly women and children, while Israel’s is currently around 10 – also including women and children. There have been mass solidarity protests across the world, and on today’s program we will bring you some highlights from the Melbourne Rally. We are going to start here with Janine Haroum, a Palestinian woman at the Melbourne rally, and then later in the program, an interview with Palestinian woman, socialist and educator, Reem Yunis

2021 is the 30 year anniversary of the delivery of the findings of the Royal Commissioner into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Since March this year 5 number of Aboriginal people have died in custody across the country. Ending Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, reducing the over representation of Aboriginal people in custody, is still a demand for social movements in Australia. With all this in the background, the coronial inquiry into the death of Aboriginal man, Wayne Fella Morrison, is currently underway in Adelaide. The inquest has exposed, yet again, the abhorrent and racist treatment of Aboriginal people in custody, and the deplorable lack of regard for their health and wellbeing. Latoyo Rule is the sister of Wayne Morrison, she is a party in the coronial inquest, and she is an anti-carceral activist. She is the edition's guest on Accent of Women

The brutality of the military dictatorships in Myanmar and Thailand have continued with further arrests, use of water cannon and live ammunition in the streets. Last week’s show reported on the international solidarity campaign that has started against the militarisation of these two countries, with activists from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Finland and Germany. That International Solidarity campaign hosted a Public Meeting with speakers from right across the region to talk about what is happening in Thailand and Myanmar, and on today’s program of Accent of Women, we bring you a further two of those speeches.

The brutality of the military dictatorships in Myanmar and Thailand have continued with further arrests, use of water cannon and live ammunition in the streets. An international solidarity campaign has started against the militarisation of these two countries, with activists from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Finland and Germany. That International Solidarity campaign hosted a Public Meeting with speakers from right across the region to talk about what is happening in Thailand and Myanmar, and on today’s program of Accent of Women, we bring you two of those speeches. 

Nawal El Saadawi, Egyptian writer, feminist, activist, doctor, psychiatrist, died on 21 March 2021, at age 89. This week’s edition of Accent of Women is a dedication to the legacy of Nawal El Saadawi – not perfect, but changed life for hundreds of thousands of women and girls in Egypt.

Lynas Rare Earth is proposing to dump over 1 million tons of radioactive waste in landfill in the pristine tropical rainforest near the city of Kuantan in Malaysia. The forest reserve at Bukit Ketam is linked to the water catchment that supplies water to over 90% of the population in Kuantan. Lynas has submitted a massive environmental impact assessment to the Malaysian authorities, which is light on safeguards and seeks to carve out the forest for its dump.  On today’s program, Lee Tan, an activist with Aid Watch, currently working to stop the waste dump. 

International Women’s Day, acknowledged on March 8 every year, is a day of activism, struggle and the continuation of the global movement to end sexist oppression. In those parts of the world where IWD is a struggle, and not a cupcake breakfast or morning tea, many of those demonstrations were brutally repressed. Azerbaijan is one such part of the world. On today’s show, we look at what happened at this year’s IWD march and rally in Baku, Azerbaijan. I speak with feminist and political activist, Rabiyya Mammodova. As one of the organisers for this year’s rally, just before it was scheduled to begin, Rabiyya and her comrades were arrested, kidnapped, beaten, and then released at the end of the rally.

International Women’s Day, acknowledged on March 8 every year, is a day of activism, struggle and the continuation of the global movement to end sexist oppression. Today’s show is a dedication to all women globally, struggling for freedom, equality and peace. On today’s show, we turn our attention to Filipina women and their specific show. My guest today is Nes Govanzo, an organiser in Gabriela, a grassroots-based alliance of more than 200 organizations, institutions and programs based in communities, workplaces and schools throughout all regions and major provinces and cities in the Philippines. It also has chapters in eight countries outside of the Philippines. 

Farmers have been striking in India since August last year in opposition to a tranche of agri-reform laws that were passed in September. The protests have been massive – tens of millions of people – but then again, India has a population of 1.4 billion people. So what are these farmers protests about and how should we understand them? On the show today is Shivani Kaul from Bigool Mazdoor Dasta.

Following the major rallies across the country last week to commemorate Invasion Day, the date on which, in 1788, the rising of the flag of Great Britain by Governor Arthur Philip at Port Jackson in NSW, this week on the show, we talk about what next, where to. I spoke with two of the organisers of the Melbourne Rally, Meriki Onus and Crystal McKinnon, from the Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance. Their overall message is that for Aboriginal activists it’s business as usual, continuing the fight against racism, settler colonialism and working with communities experiencing the direct consequences of these systems of oppression.

In a landmark verdict in Greece’s highest-profile political trial in decades, an Athens court found the neo-fascist party Golden Dawn guilty of running a criminal organization as it rose to prominence during the coun-try’s financial crisis, systematically targeting migrants and left-wing critics. The party was banned on 7 October.The party member who stabbed prominent rapper, Pavlos Fyssas, was Giorgos Roupakias, and he was found guilty of murder on Wednesday. Another five Golden Dawn supporters or members were found guilty of attempted murder over assaults on three Egyptian fishermen in 2012, while four were found guilty of caus-ing bodily harm over assaults on members of Greece’s Communist Party trade union in 2013.On today’s program, I speak with Katerina Thoidou from an organisation called World Against Racism called KEERFA in Greece. Katerina was one of the people that gave evidence in the Golden Dawn trial  

Hospital cleaning workers were arrested in June for staging peaceful protest against their union busting employer – a contractor for Ipoh hospital. In spite of the whole world thanking frontline workers for putting their lives at risk to fight COVID 19, the Malaysian government, the operator of Ipoh hospital, has continued with its anti-worker, and anti-union policies, privatising key public services, and allowing contractor companies to smash the unions.In Malaysia, like most parts of the world, hospital cleaning workers are amongst the most precarious and the most poorly paid.  The newly unionised cleaning workers of Ipoh district hospital are being paid below the nationally declared poverty line. Today’s Accent of Women discusses what happened when 5 members of the union were arrested for peacefully protesting, and what is next in their struggle – Saras, the union’s secretary was among the 5 arrestees and is this week’s special guest.

Several thousand anti-government protesters have been rallying in Thailand’s capital for the last three weeks, calling for a new constitution, new elections and an end to repressive laws.In the last week, two leaders of the movement were arrested, resulting in ever greater resolve amongst the protest movement. The pair were charged with sedition and breaking coronavirus rules, before being released on bail.And the demonstrations are likely to grow into an even larger movement as the economy worsens amid the coronavirus pandemic.On todays show we speak with Lek Yimprasert, exiled Thai activist living in Finland.

On July 3, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11479, known as the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, into law. The law grants sweeping police state powers, including the authorization of warrantless wiretapping and surveillance, and warrantless arrests for up to 24 days of anyone accused by a presidentially-appointed commission of “terrorism.” On today’s program we speak with May Kotsakis, the Co-chairperson of the Philippines Australia Solidarity Association.