Here’s an upcoming event in Melbourne, Australia. Thanks Anna for posting this on Toske. For anyone wanting more info, see http://humanrightsinfo.net or the contact info at the bottom of this post

October 11-14, 2007, Melbourne - Australia
Fighting and organising globally against neoliberalism!

A global call for participation
We call on all activists, organisations and communities who are committed to building a better world to join together at the Latin American and Asia Pacific International Solidarity Forum to be held in October 2007, in Melbourne Australia.

The forum has been initiated by the organisers of several successful conferences and gatherings in solidarity with …

Alliances fight for Huichol land
Philip Burnham, ICT
March 26, 2007

NUEVA COLONIA, Mexico - When Indians lose land, conventional wisdom says, they never see it again. In central Mexico, a grass-roots organization is working to prove the old wisdom wrong.

The Jalisco Indigenous Groups Support Association assists central Mexican tribes in filing land claims and achieving economic self-sufficiency. AJAGI has devoted much of its attention to the Huichol, a people isolated in the western Sierra Madre who have lost land to loggers, planters, ranchers and narcotraffickers.

AJAGI founder Carlos Chavez described the delicate work of partnering with tribes: ”We don’t give them a …

Activists Seek Alternative Model to ‘Neo-Liberal’ Trade Pacts
By Michelle Chen, newstandardnews.net
March 22, 2007

With two controversial trade deals awaiting ratification, Congress is taking stock of the White House’s free-trade agenda, and activists are seizing the moment to call for policies that respond to the social needs of all countries involved.

Lawmakers are considering trade deals with Colombia and Peru that encapsulate some of the most contentious aspects of so-called “free trade”: rules that critics say elevate corporate privilege over human rights, promote exploitation of workers, and destabilize economies.

At the same time, President Bush’s power to broker such deals with minimal congressional …

Failed: 20 Years of Sustainable Development Effort
International Institute for Environment and Development
http://www.iied.org

Sustainable development is dead! Long live sustainable development!

A 20-year international effort to put the planet on a path to sustainable development has been woefully inadequate and will need a radical rethink if it is to achieve its aims, says a report published today by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).

The report was written by Steve Bass, a senior fellow at IIED and former chief environment advisor at the UK government’s Department for International Development. It is being released to mark the 20th anniversary of the influential …

Towards a Social and Ecological Revolution to Save the World
by Zeki Ergas, www.stwr.net
March 7, 2007

What we know with frightening certainty in this early spring of 2007 is that humanity and possibly the planet itself are in serious trouble. So much so in fact that a respected British scientist has not hesitated to predict that mankind had no more than a 50 per cent chance to make it to the 22nd century. That appears to be an excessively pessimistic prediction at this point in time but it did remind me of Albany’s prophecy in King Lear, Humanity must perforce prey …

On Working Toward Peace
essay by Ingrid Washinawatok el-Issa
from the architects of peace website

The roots of war and violence go deep, into the earth herself. As an indigenous woman, I wish to simply state that until we make peace with earth, there will be no peace in the human community. Please allow me to explain.

As native peoples of the hemisphere, we have historically been the victims of violence and continue to be plagued by injustice and inequality. In our history we have had to go to war to protect our lands, as peace would simply mean our enslavement and extermination. …

First Indigenous Tribunal of the Ucayali
from www.villageearth.org
March 18, 2007

As a follow-up and outcome to the Village Earth Regional Organizational workshop in January 2007, a group of Shipibo leaders have decided to hold the first ever ‘Indigenous Tribunal’ as they call it. This Tribunal will be a gathering of leaders from all 120 Shipibo communities throughout the region. They are also inviting local NGOs and leaders from other regional indigenous groups such as the Ashaninka. This is an event of historic importance because the Shipibo have not had a regional meeting of this magnitude for over 30 years, and even …

Venezuela Bolivariana: People and Struggle of the Fourth World War (2004)
By Marcelo Andrade Arreaza

The following film examines the Bolivarian Revolution of Venezuela as connected to the world-wide movement against capitalist globalization. The film shows the evolution of the popular movement in Venezuela from the ‘Caracazo’ riots of 1989 to the massive actions that brought revolutionary president Hugo Chavez back to power, 48 hours after a U.S.-led military coup in 2002. The film ends with an epilogue that show the next steps that the Venezuelan people are taking, not only to fight against the oligarchy and imperialism, but to exercise …

One Country: Reviewing An Alternative Vision
By Remi Kanazi, 18 January, 2007

For years the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been mired by a series of failed peace negotiation, enmeshing Israeli Jews and Palestinians in a seemingly intractable struggle. Even 59 years after the creation of the state of Israel the quest for Jewish security has not been realized, while Palestinians—those dispossessed in 1948, 1967, and the 3.8 million living under Israeli occupation—have not seen a just resolution to a conflict that has marred their history and shaped their identity. The international community, including many Israeli and Palestinians, still subscribe to the notion that …

August 30, 2006

Not sure who to support in the Middle East? As usual, solidarity is complicated - especially when distance, language and cultural barriers and the fog of war conspire against getting a good, clear look at what is really going on. Despite our desire to have US imperialism confronted and defeated, the Jihadist and sectarian forces in Iraq don’t exactly offer satisfying alternatives to the American occupation - even if we know that a US retreat in Iraq, however it is achieved, would very likely have positive consequences for human freedom in the rest of the world - if …