Accent of Women

The 21st of March is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – and while I don't believe that the United Nations has any commitment to ending racism, it's a worthwhile opportunity to look at anti-racist organising, particularly in the lead up to the Palm Sunday rallies across Australia, where activists will again take to the streets in defence of refugees. I'll provide those details at the end of the show. But featured on today's program, two young activists who organise around anti-racism, one in relation to anti-fascism and against the mobilisations of the far right, and the other, in support and defence of refugees. Heba Saleh is a young Lebanese woman, a socialist and a refugee advocate. She has worked on refugee issues both in Australia and in Lebanon. Nahui Jimeniz is a young Mexican woman and socialist, organising against the rise of the Far-Right here in Australia.

On the program today, and in celebration of International Women's Day, we feature two women organisers from Sri Lanka.  In mid February 2017, an organisation called JERA, Justice Equity Right Access International, hosted a delegation of about 15 grassroots and community organisers from Sri Lanka, to Australia.  We speak with two of the women on this delegation, Dr Sepali Kottegoda and Sumika Perera.

We look at a Community Foundation in Palestine that goes by the name Dalia.  It's an extraordinary organisation in that it confronted the limitations of international aid coming in to Palestine, and how ultimately, money, organised in that way, made little to no difference to the lives of Palestinians.

President Trump stunned the world on January 27 when he signed a sudden executive order suspending immigration for 90 days from seven mostly Muslim countries. This ban had an immediate effect on people but was met with significant resistance which culminated in a legal battle that saw a federal appeals panel last week unanimously rejected Trump’s bid to reinstate this ban. Despite this, the ban is not yet dead in the water and the battle continues.

Donald Trump was inaugurated on January 20 amidst massive protests worldwide. In his first couple of weeks in office, he has introduced some extreme policies, one of which being the ban on people born in Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Yemen, Iraq and Iran, from entering the US. The ban had an immediate effect – people were being detained at airports, put on return flights or transported to immigration detention facilities. But over the last few days we've seen a winding back of these policies.  On this week's program, we speak with New York based political activist, anti-capitalist organiser and human rights lawyer, Suzanne Adely.

January 26. Australia Day. It marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British Ships at Port Jackson, in New South Wales, the raising of the Flag of Great Britain at that site by Governor Arthur Phillip, the invasion of Australia and the start of genocide against the original owners of this land. We should not celebrate Australia Day. It's a day that has been sanctified and sanitised. Instead, we should be protesting and fighting for land rights, sovereignty and self-determination for all Aboriginal people.

This week on Accent of Women, we are still looking at the issue of refugees in Australia, but from a campaign and advocacy perspective this time.  The Refugee Council of Australia is organising an ongoing film festival.  They screen particular films, in particular states across the country, in an effort to shift public opinion about who refugees are and how they are created.

We're continuing our Summer Programming this week and so, a few more of Accent of Women's Snapshots. For listeners that don't remember, Snapshots was a series of radio features with women who had recently come to Australia from different countries. We produced a double CD set of 19 stories back in 2011.

We're continuing our Summer Programming this week and so, a few more of Accent of Women's Snapshots. For listeners that don't remember, Snapshots was a series of radio features with women who had recently come to Australia from different countries. We produced a double CD set of 19 stories back in 2011. So while most of us are enjoying the festive holiday season, these snapshots remind us that war continues throughout the world, producing refugees such as these women that you'll hear now. And most importantly, these snapshots remind us that the fight continues, and people are still surviving.

It's Summer Programming again and I thought it would be a good time to pull out Accent of Women's Snapshots. For listeners that don't remember, Snapshots was a series of radio features with women who had recently come to Australia from different countries. We produced a double CD set of 19 stories back in 2011.