Pip Hinman
Cindy Sheehan, from Gold Star Families for Peace; Hassan Jumaa, the president of the General Union of Oil Employees in Basra; Sabah Jawad from the Iraqi Democrats Against Occupation; Anas Altikriti from the Muslim Association of Britain and the UK Stop the War Coalition; and
Dr Salam Ismael from Doctors for Iraq are the confirmed international guests at a national peace activists' conference to be held in Melbourne on May 27, preceded by a public meeting on May 25.
Sheehan will also address public meetings in Sydney on May 23 and Brisbane on May 24 (venues to be announced).
Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraqwhile serving with the US military, sent a lightening rod through the international peace movement when last year she demanded George Bush explain why the US was still waging war in Iraq. Her message is simple: "I believe, along with thousands of members of such organisations as Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War and Gold Star Families for Peace, that supporting the troops means bringing them out of this mess alive, whole and healthy", Sheehan said on February 24.
Support for the conference has come from members of the Moreland, Western Suburbs, Moonee Valley, Latrobe Valley, The Hills (Belgrave) and Carlton-Fitzroy peace groups in Melbourne, the Federation of Australian Muslim Students and Youth, Japanese for Peace, Architects for Peace, the Stop the War Coalitions in Melbourne and Sydney, and from activists in the Victorian Peace Network, among others.
Conference organiser David Glanz said the aim is "to bring together those concerned about the continuing illegal occupation of Iraq, the erosion of civil liberties and the demonisation of Muslims in our society.
"We hope it will help activists to exchange information and experience, build regional and national networks, and discuss how to respond to the urgent questions of the day. Our intention is for the conference to be broad, inclusive, tolerant and focused on the political and practical steps necessary to rebuild the peace movement."
Australian activists confirmed so far include: Donna Mulhearn; Keysar Trad, Australian Islamic Friendship Association; Anna Samson, Sydney Stop the War Coalition; Kevin Bracken, Victorian secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia; Greens Senator Kerry Nettle; and Joumanah El Matrah, Islamic Women's Welfare Council of Victoria. Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly is a sponsor of the conference.
For more information, contact GPO Box 1473, Melbourne 3001 or <dglanz@optusnet.com.au>.
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, March 15, 2006.
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