Inicijativa za anarho-sindikat writes

"Dear friends,

this is a solidarity call from Initiative for anarcho-syndicate, only organized
anarchist, anarcho-syndicalist group from Serbia. Our group started publishing
propaganda magazine, called "Direktna Akcija" ("Direct Action"), on first of May
2002. Since than we maintained regular, monthly, publishing of our magazine
although we had a lot of financial problems. We are printing our magazine in
2000 copies, and costs of publishing are 310 Euros per issue, which is, when
you have in mind that average pay in Serbia is less than 100 Euros, substantial
amount of money for us. We are giving our magazine for free, because we think
that it would be improper to sell it to the factory workers (which is where we are
handing out most of DA's) who have pay which is much lass than average pay
here. Our magazine is ONLY monthly anarchist magazine in whole Ex-Yugoslavia
region and is, thus, read in all Ex-Yugoslavia republics: 500 copies of our
magazine are handed out to anarchists and activists in Slovenia, Croatia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. Subjects that we covered (and that
are covered seriously for the first time in last 90 years here) in our magazine till now are: anarcho-syndicalism, general strike, sabotage, history of the first of
May, economical globalization, abolition of alienated work, self-management,
total conscience objection etc. It is important to say that we are getting GREAT
response from people who are reading DA.

First issue of our magazine was financially helped by some of anarchist and
anarcho-syndicalist groups around the world - and we are very grateful to them
for that, but since than all of our finances are covered by donations of our
membership. Now we are in the situation that some of our members have to sell
some of their belongings to maintain magazine publishing every month. Because
of that we would like to ask anarchists, anarcho-syndicalist and revolutionary-
syndicalist groups and individuals around the world, who are able to do so, to
help us financially. For any details on ways to send us money please contact
editorial collective of our magazine at: da@inicijativa.org We think that it is of
outmost importance for whole anarchist movement in Ex-Yugoslavia to maintain
publishing of DA, and we hope that some of you could help us with that!

Best anarchist greetings!

Initiative for anarcho-syndicate (IAS)"

The Luminary News writes " We are producing a one hour, once a week cable access show in Ithaca NY that focuses on stories both global and local that are ignored or given short shrft by the corporate media.
We have a plan to expand to five nights a week.
By setting our selves up as a non profit enterprise, getting endorsemnts for this idea and showing something technically worth watching, we hope to attract funding for this project.
Do other people have experience doing an alternative news show like this? Any feedback would be helpful. It seems that shows like Democracy Now should be produced on a local level. There is no shortage of newsworthy material to cover.
Please contact Kenny Ritter at theluminarynews@yahoo.com "

Burden, Benefit, Trace?

The Legacies of Benevolence

University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

11-14 December 2003

Long before Rudyard Kipling urged his readers to take up the white man's
burden, benevolence was integral to cultural domination, whether through
the formal structures of empire, or through associated charitable activities
such as the provision of medical aid, education, or missions. As the rise of
the middle classes and the emphasis on Puritan conscience increasingly
replaced the notion of aristocratic patronage and noblesse oblige,
benevolence functioned as an umbrella term under which imperial and
neo-imperial domination, particularly cultural domination, were rationalised
and promoted within government and among the subjects of empire. For the
British, the burden of benevolence and the work of civilising were seen
as differentiating their own from other European imperial enterprises. To a
certain extent, a similar self-perception is evident now in the policies and
practices of the contemporary worlds dominant imperial power, the United
States. This conference will consider benevolence, and representations of
benevolence, in a wide variety of forms. Papers on the following topics will
be welcomed:

-> Anthropology and academic study

-> Culture

-> Ecology and Environment

-> Education and training

-> Governance and administration

-> History

-> Literary representation

-> Medicine and welfare

-> Migration and resettlement

-> Military and police activity

-> Religion and missionary activity

-> Trade and commerce

For updates and further information, see the conference website:
benevolence

Abstracts should be sent electronically by 30 April 2003 to

Gilbert

Dale

Bilal Elamine writes:

To all my Arab sisters and brothers. On August 24th, the National
Alliance (NA) is planning "Rock Against Israel" demonstration in
Washington DC. This is a white supremacist group that is claiming to
stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people against the Jews and
the American government. They plan to rally at the Capitol Building
from 11am to 1pm and then meet for dinner and a white power concert
in the evening.

The NA is calling for what they claim will be "the largest gathering
of white nationalists at the US capitol in history". On august 24th
they will probably have the largest gathering of white supremacists
since the mass Ku Klux Klan marches of the 20s. Over the past year
the NA has held 3 rallies at the Israeli embassy and two at the
German embassy. Their last rally at the Israeli embassy had little
organized opposition. We have to stop this racist scum from
polluting the Palestinian cause.

This is a call to all Arabs and especially Palestinians to come out
on August 24th to stop the Nazis from hijacking our cause in order to
use it to justify ethnic cleansing. We have a special responsibility
to say that we have nothing in common with these Nazis. There can be
nothing more effective, to stop this devious strategic maneuver, than
letting them hear it from the horse's mouth: "We are Arabs, we are
Palestinians, and our struggle for liberation is diametrically opposed
to your program of ethnic cleansing. We stand against Zionism but we
stand against anti-Semitism. We make the distinction between the
political movement to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians and the
religion of Judaism. We know that if your rhetoric ever gains
legitimacy we'll be the first on the chopping block."

The East Coast Anti-Fascist Network will be organizing in several
different contingents with various risk levels and levels of
political and tactical unity so a risk-free space will be open for
immigrants. This is call to form an Arab contingent at the anti-nazi
demonstration. This contingent would have a unified message to the
public against the racists. This contingent will be gathered behind
a banner and around chants that express this message and will pass
out fliers to the public and the press. If we don't do this, our
nazi enemies will claim our noble cause and our Zionist enemies will
try to present them as our face.

UP WITH THE INTIFADA! DOWN WITH THE FACISTS!

To help mobilize and organize in NYC, come to this planning meeting:

What: Teach-in and planning meeting to organize NYC antifascist
activists against the National Alliance neo-nazi rally in Washington,
DC on Saturday, August 24th.

When: Monday, August 19th, 7 - 9 PM

Where: 6th Street Community Center, 638 East 6th Street,
212-677-1863, 2nd Floor Lounge

For more info on the planning meeting: opencity45@hotmail.com

For more info on the Arab Block in NYC: zaloom@yahoo.com