Perth Indymedia

Following a decision by the West Australian state government to allow for preparatory work on the controversial Roe 8 Highway, which goes through the Beeliar Wetlands, Indymedia spoke with Green's MLC Lynn MacLaren about the implications of this decision, and protests which began on 5 December.

We speak to Sydney-based political commentator and blogger Dr Tad Tietze on the eve of the U.S. Presidential elections. Alex Whisson began by asking for his take on the rise of the Trump phenomenon.

Lizeth Castellanos and Daniel Rojas from Perth City Farm on creating engaging community spaces such as the upcoming Twilight Festival Mini-Series Episode Two: Community Gardens

https://www.facebook.com/events/670516106435666/

Australian activist Samantha Castro reports back on her recent trip to the "United" States - apocalype pending vibes in Amurica (Fuck Yeah), can our brothers and sisters there stop the train before it goes over the cliff(?), 5 years post-Occupy, wash up of #feelthebern, what the hell is Julian Assange up to (?), the #noDAPL stand off and glimmers of hope...

Karun Cowper speaks with Perth Muslim and social justice activist Marziya Mohammedali about the French Muslim citizen made to undress by four armed police as she lay on the beach. The 38-year-old was made to remove her burkini under the watch of four French policeman in accordance with a controversial new ban on the garment in parts of the country.

An ANU social survey, Attitudes to National Security: Balancing Safety and Privacy, has revealed a range of shocking attitudes among a random selection of 1200 Australians, with some 71% of respondents concerned about the possible rise of Islamic extremism, and 41% not bothered by the singling out of Muslims for "increased surveillence and monitoring".

Alex Whisson started the conversation by asking Dr Morsi, a lecturer in politics at La Trobe University, for his initial reaction to these disturbing findings.

Jeff Sparrow is the author of Radical Melbourne: A Secret History, former editor of Overland literary journal, and one of the hosts of 3RRR's Breakfasters program. He is also a regular columnist for the Guardian.

Alex Whisson spoke to him regarding the return of Pauline Hanson to federal parliament, the rise of Islamophobia, and the burning question of how to combat racism in Australian society. He began by asking Jeff about the recent Essential Media poll, which found 49% of respondents favoured a blanket ban on Muslim migration to Australia.

Following news that euthanasia has been performed on a terminally ill minor in Belgium, Indymedia spoke with National Ethnic Disability Alliance president Suresh Rajan about the implications on people with disabilities.

In his Prison Notebooks of 1930, the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci wrote, "The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear."

In his new book, Morbid Symptoms: Relapse in the Arab Uprising, published by Saqi Books, Gilbert Achcar, Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, argues we are witnessing precisely such an interregnum unfold in the Arab world.

Will the counter-revolution triumph, or are we likely to see successive waves of revolutionary ferment continue to break out across the region? Only time will tell.

Indymedia's Alex Whisson began by asking Professor Achcar to outline the key events in the northern summer of 2013 that consolidated the counter-revolution - the Iranian-backed al-Qusayr offensive by the Assad regime in Syria, and the July 3rd military coup d'etat in Egypt - events which contributed to the horrific landscape of multiple wars and massacres that characterise the Middle East today, five years on from the Arab Spring.

The ongoing social revolution in Rojava, within the Kurdish Territories in Northern Syria, is providing inspiration for activists and libertarian socialists around the world. While having to pursue the revolution and self-determination amidst the ongoing war with ISIS and the Assad regime, as well as suffering attacks from Turkey, the Ocalan movement is putting into practice real democratic alternatives to the system, based on gender equality and a respect for ecology. Catalan libertarian activist Saura travelled to the Kurdish territories to observe the unfolding revolution, Indymedia's Ray Grenfell caught up with her to hear about her experiences.