For your information, the following media release was issued by SA on Tuesday, Feb 17. http://www.socialist-alliance.org -------------------- No justice, no peace! Indigenous Redfern is right to resist!
The death of Thomas (TJ) Hickey is a direct result of institutionalised oppression and state racism, the Socialist Alliance declared today. "When young people in Redfern are treated like animals by the police, when their area is put under armed occupation, when they are taunted by police with offensive language, is it any wonder that the dam breaks and people fight back," said Socialist Alliance state co-convenor Paul Benedek. "TJ's death was not an isolated incident. His family says that TJ himself was beaten up by police only weeks ago. All young indigenous people in Redfern know that this tragedy could have been them. The police have behaved like conquerors in Redfern for decades." Socialist Alliance state co-convenor Kieran Latty added: "NSW opposition leader John Brogden has called for the Block to be bulldozed. But you cannot bulldoze state racism or years of oppression. Replacing the Block with yuppie townhouses will not rid us of the festering sore of racism. "A fraction of the $50 billion the Howard government is planning to squander on military hardware would solve the practical problems facing all poor Australians - indigenous and non-indigenous." "But central to a real answer has to be indigenous self-determination. Centuries of racism can only be overcome when its victims reclaim real power over their lives," added Susan Price, Socialist Alliance candidate in the City of Sydney council elections. "The Socialist Alliance defends the right of the youth of Redfern to resist, and to win community control of the area. Without justice, there can be no peace," Price said. For more information or comment, contact: Paul Benedek 0410 629 088 Kieran Latty 0409 749 084 Susan Price 0400 320 602 -- Visit the proposed Leftlink web site at http://www.leftlink.net/ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
