Chris Brickell’s book Mates and Lovers: A History of Gay New Zealand sheds light on a part of our history previously confined to closets and court records, detailing the history of male homosexuality in this country since the 19th Century. Spark journalist Ian Anderson speaks to Ronald Trifero Nelson, who has adapted this book for the theatre.

To start with, what do you set out to do when you make theatre?

Well it’s an old Fabian idea, to entertain and educate.

[Read more…]

“Ahmad Sa’adat is the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. One of nearly 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners, he has been sentenced to thirty years in Israeli prisons for a range of “security-related” political offenses. These charges include membership in a prohibited organization (the PFLP, of which Sa’adat is General Secretary), holding a post in a prohibited organization, and incitement, for a speech Sa’adat made following the Israeli assassination of his predecessor, Abu Ali Mustafa, in August 2001.

Ahmed Saadat being taken to a military court 2006

Sa’adat is a prisoner of conscience, targeted for imprisonment because of his political activity and in his capacity as a Palestinian leader. The systematic assassination, imprisonment and detention of Palestinian political leaders has long been a policy of the Israeli state, as reflected in the imprisonment of Sa’adat and over 20 other members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, including Marwan Barghouthi, as well as the nearly 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners, targeted for their involvement in and commitment to the struggle for the liberation of their land and people. “http://www.freeahmadsaadat.org/bg.html

PFLP stall Auckland University

There is an international campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, with actions timed to coincide with court appearances schedule October 5-15.

In New Zealand supporters of the campaign are holding stalls, protests and film showings in New Zealand. We’ll be posting dates for these events shortly.

Excerpted from the Spark discussion list
http://groups.google.com/group/thespark-discussion

 grant_brookes wrote:

So are demands that no-one else supports “better” than ones thatachieve reforms within the framework of capitalism? Where’s the logic in that, unless the purpose of campaigning around “radical” demands is to brand a group, for recruiting purposes?

Don Franks replied:

Are political demands really like garments in a department store, selected by individuals in the hope of creating a particular image?

The first political demand I was really conscious of was Stop the war in Vietnam.

There was a time in New Zealand when that was  “a demand that no-one else supported”, apart from, like, a couple of communists and a clergyman.

By the time I got involved a lot of the hardest work had already been done and some solidarity had been built up against the current.

When I became part of the anti war movement the big marches were quite exciting and the Committee on Vietnam debates were always interesting, often quite dramatic. In between times it was a pleasant social thing to sit round and stuff leaflets into envelopes.

The bit I hated doing was wearing a CoV badge and thus getting into debates with some of the huge number of New Zealanders who supported the war and thought the Viet cong were coming down here to take over everything. I  had limited knowledge of the details of the war and couldn’t argue very well and didn’t like the abuse and contempt I was sometimes subjected to. Quite often I would guiltily go down town without wearing a badge in order to have a quiet life. [Read more…]

Excerpted from the Spark discussion list
http://groups.google.com/group/thespark-discussion

Is there any sanctimonious law and order or religious fanatic that doesn’t have a secret past full of transgressions? A lot of people will be asking this after the exposure of Act’s law’n’order heavy David Garrett.

Act is not a major political force or threat, and it really never has been – indeed, the fact that it needed to be founded indicated that the highwater mark of the Business Roundtable had passed. Nevertheless it’s great to see them hoist on the petard of their own sanctimonious hypocrisy. [Read more…]