From: Anthony Gwyther <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Andrew Alcock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Wednesday, 23 December 1998 22:07
Subject: Christmas action at Petroz
Dear Friends,
We have been involved in a month of activities aimed at drawing
connections between Australia's training of the Indonesian armed
forces AND the profiteering of Australian corporations in the Timor
Sea. To this end we vigiled weekly at Petroz NL (a Brisbane-based oil
company drawing oil from the Timor Sea) and the Regional Office of
the Australian armed forces.
This Christmas Eve seven of us entered the office of Petroz. We read
the names of East Timorese people who have been killed or disappeared
this year. We hoped to break down the distance and abstraction that
stands between the corporate staff and the reality on-the-ground in
East Timor.
After this Rachael Harrison, Anne Rampa and Anthony Gwyther remained
in front of the doors of the office, to stand by those killed,
imprisoned, or disappeared by the Indonesian military. The three were
arrested by Queensland Police after half an hour. They were later "un-
arrested" after being removed from the building.
This is the statement read to Petroz workers and the building
security people:
__________________________________________________________
CHRISTMAS EVE 1998
The Australian Military Trains Indonesian Soldiers so that Petroz can
Make a Killing
In the four weeks leading to Christmas we have kept vigil at the
Petroz NL oil company and the Defence Recruiting Office to highlight
the connections between the military support offered by successive
Australian governments to the Indonesian regime AND corporate
profiteering at the expense of the people of East Timor. We are now
here in the office of Petroz NL this Christmas Eve to bear nonviolent
witness to the many people of East Timor who will not spend this
Christmas with their families. People who, this year, have been
killed by the Indonesian military; or who have disappeared after
massacres in their home towns or after arrest by security forces; or
who have been imprisoned by the occupying regime. The occupation of
East Timor is aided and abetted by:
� governments like that of Australia who supported the 1975 invasion
and continue to support the brutal occupation of East Timor;
� treaties like the 1989 Timor Gap Treaty which denies the East
Timorese access to their own natural resources;
. corporations like Petroz who make use of this immoral treaty to
profit from resources that should be shared with the people of East
Timor, not their Indonesian occupiers.
Christmas is an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of the birth of
Jesus for the world in which we live. The world of Roman-occupied
Palestine into which Jesus was born was a place not unlike Indonesian-
occupied East Timor. In both times and places rulers used force to
bend the people to their will, resistance was crushed, and land was
stolen. As soon as he was born Jesus and his family became the
subjects of King Herod's search-and-destroy mission. In our day, the
Indonesian government routinely kills those who pose a threat to its
continued oppression and economic exploitation. Jesus' family became
refugees after fleeing their land to escape this persecution.
Similarly, thousands of people from East Timor have become refugees,
fleeing the terrorism of the armed forces trained and equipped by the
Australian government.
This Christmas we invite you to join with us as we celebrate
Christmas in solidarity with the people of East Timor. When you
celebrate Christmas with your family and friends this year, remember
the families of East Timor who are grieving the death or imprisonment
of their own family member. To celebrate Christmas while supporting
the Indonesian regime, its armed killers and torturers, and the
corporations who profit from this brutality is a cruel debasement of
the message of Christmas. This Christmas can be an opportunity to set
things right, to exercise compassion and concern for our neighbours:
to say a clear NO to murder and exploitation, and a YES to life
__________________________________________________________
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