Accent of Women

It’s been more than a year since the U.S. Supreme Court wiped out half a century of federally protected abortion rights. Since then, the speed and breadth of far-right attacks on reproductive justice has been breathtaking. So has the resistance on the ground.Nga Bui, coordinator of the Mobilisation for Reproductive Justice in New York City, joins me today to speak about the war on women, trans folks and queers, people of colour, Indigenous, disabled, working class and poor. If you’re based in Melbourne and you’d like to get along and hear Nga speak further on this topic, the details are: Saturday, 6 January at 4.00 pmThorne Harbour Health, 200 Hoddle St, AbbotsfordContact [email protected]

As we enter the 10th week of bombardment in Gaza, and over 17,000 people there have now been slain. It becomes clearer and clearer that these atrocities have very little to do with avenging the 240 hostages taken, and it always was about pushing Palestinians out of the tiny Gaza strip and occupying it. Hamas is only active in Gaza, but the killings and repression are unabated in the West Bank.So today, we return to our coverage of the movement in support and solidarity with the Palestinians – millions upon millions of people worldwide are protesting, are resisting are saying, not in our name, to the genocide unfolding in Palestine.On today’s program, Accent of Women brings you speeches from the Sydney rally, held on Sunday 3 December. First up Reem Burrows.

One of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed alliances launched a coordinated attack, on 27 October, attacking a dozen military outposts in northern Shan State, along the country’s eastern border with China.Code-named Operation 1027, the plan is to assert and defend territory against Myanmar military incursions, eradicate “oppressive military dictatorship”, and combat online fraud along the border, according to a statement from its organisers, the Three Brotherhood Alliance.My guest today is the Debbie Stothard. Debbie is an active promoter of human rights in Burma and the Asean region. In1996, she founded the Alternative Asean Network on Burma. During her 32 year career, she has worked as a journalist, community education consultant, governmental advisor and trainer in Malaysia, Australia and Thailand.

Bangladeshi textiles works in the Ready Made Garment (RMG) industry have been taking industrial action for most of this year in pursuit of an increase in the minimum wage to meet soaring prices on basic commodities owing to an economic inflation crisis.These protests have been met with fierce repression, including reports of at least four workers having been killed by police, and more than 11,000 being charged with violence and vandalism.The secretary of Garment Workers Solidarity, and a garment worker himself, Babul Hossain, was kidnapped in October and then discovered as being arrested on November 14. He is facing trumped up charges and false allegations related to setting fire to a car.The Bangladeshi government is using violence, torture, disappearances and arrests to try to stifle what is the biggest uprising of garment workers in over a decade. And meanwhile, workers remain malnourished and struggling to meet the basic requirements of life.My guest today is the President of Bangladesh Garment Workers Solidarity, Taslima Akter.

On Sunday, October 22nd Black Women Radicals hosted the online event, “Black Feminist Writers and Palestine."This online event focused on the importance of the Black feminist literary and political canon and the mandate of Black feminist commitments to a free Palestine. Angela Davis is well known to many listeners and she is am activist and an academic at the University of California Santa Cruz.Beverley Guy Sheftall is also a political activist and academic, and she is based at Spellman College in Atlanta Georgia.Because this public meeting was held about a month ago, some of the statistics in relation to Gaza are a number of weeks out of date. To hear the full event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl7lPMBneAs

Accent of Women broadcasts a speech by Angela Davis from 2013 – 10 years ago. This talk is called Justice for Palestine and the Stop G4S campaign. I broadcast this speech, at this point in time, to remind us all that this current bombardment did not start on October 7 and did not start with Hamas’ defensive attack on Israel. This speech was given in memorium of Nelson Mandela’s death only a few weeks earlier, and Angela Davis here draws the links between South African and Israeli Apartheid.

Israel’s genocidal bombardment of Gaza has intensified its yet again, though now it’s becoming less and less easy for world leaders to support it. The international movement for a Free Palestine is marching in its millions world wide and growing by the day. More than 10,000 people are now reported to have been killed across the Gaza Strip,  and residents of the West Bank are systematically being harrassed and assaulted and murdered by Israeli settlers. On today’s program, Accent of Women continues it’s coverage and analysis of the situation in Gaza. Today, we bring you a speech by Palestinian human rights lawyer and academic at Rudgers University, Noura Erakat.

It’s now over three weeks that Israel has intensified its genocidal war against Gaza and the international movement for a Free Palestine is marching in its millions world wide. More than 7,000 people are now reported to have been killed across the Gaza Strip,  and residents of the West Bank are systematically being harrassed and assaulted by Israeli settlers. On today’s program, I bring you noises and speeches from various Free Palestine rallies held over the last three weeks in Melbourne. The Featured voices are: Tasnim Mahmoud Sammak, Kim Bullimore, Mille Cohen, May Mourad and our gorgeous singer, Aseel Taya.

The siege on Gaza continues, and so too does Accent of Women’s campaign for a Free Palestine. More than 5,000 people are now reported to have been killed across the Gaza Strip, , since Israel began its bombardment in response to Hamas’ defensive attack on 7 October, in which at least 1,400 people were killed and 222 taken hostage.Israel has also cut off electricity and most water and stopped imports of food and medicine, although it has allowed in a few aid carrying trucks through Egypt's Rafah crossing. For more on what is happening directly in Gaza, I interviewed Aseel Safi, a student and activist based in Gaza.

In the wake of Hamas’s attacks on 7 October, which involved atrocities against civilians, Israel has declared war on Gaza. The country’s military—one of the most powerful in the world—is attacking hospitals, schools, mosques, markets, infrastructure and residential areas. Civilians are being slaughtered and a total siege has been imposed, preventing vital supplies and aid from entering the besieged territory and worsening the already dire situation of residents. On the program today, we hear an interview between Anjuman Rahman and Aseel Safi.  Anjuman is a reporter for Middle East Monitor, and Aseel is a student based in Gaza.