As your reviewer Jim Altenberg noted, the pamphlet was released as part of our international campaign Saoirse (Gaelic for freedom and pronounced "seer-shaw"), which aims to secure the immediate release of all those who have been jailed as a result of Britain's war in Ireland - releases which are critical for laying the foundation of a just and permanent peace.
The campaign was officially launched in the United States on May 5, the anniversary of the death on hunger strike in 1981 of Irish political prisoner Bobby Sands. We have already held pickets, circulated a petition, and lobbied political and community leaders. But much work still needs to be done, and we need everyone's help.
Readers are welcome to attend Saoirse events. If unable to attend, perhaps individuals could circulate a petition, or even simply wear a green ribbon - the symbol of support for those behind bars as a result of the conflict in Ireland.
Information on the Saoirse campaign, as well as Irish political prisoners in general, is available from Irish Northern Aid, 363 Seventh Ave., Suite 405, New York, NY 10001. Tel: (212) 736-1916.
The campaign is still at its early stages. But knowing the longstanding commitment of your readers to civil and human rights, I am confident they will join with us in building a permanent peace in Ireland.
Peter Hegarty
Saoirse national coordinating committee
San Francisco, California
`Philadelphia's Finest'
I attended the demonstration in support of Mumia Abu-
Jamal on August 12 in Philadelphia. In just a few days since
the demonstration I have seen that the defense campaign has
had an impact in this city. One example of this impact can
be seen in the pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
On August 15, just a few days after the demonstration, an article appeared in the Inquirer that consisted of interviews with the residents of Logan (a working-class neighborhood in Philadelphia) concerning their attitudes towards the police department. The Inquirer routinely refers to the police as "Philadelphia's Finest" and gave this description of why Sarah Simon became angry at the police:
"Her anger dates back 25 years, when her father was in a traffic accident and her husband and brother-in-law stopped to check on him. Her husband was beaten and ferried down to the police station. He later received 20 stitches in his head.
"Days later the officers called, she said, threatening that if the family complained, worse things could happen. Simon's brother-in-law, himself a policeman fired on account of corruption, warned that the police could do it."
Simon remembers him saying, "They can set you up just like that. They can get a body in your basement... and you'll be in prison like that."
The MOVE bombing, the indictments of police officers, and the defense campaign for Mumia Abu-Jamal have made growing numbers of people in Philadelphia question the role of the police. If the police are referred to as "Philadelphia's Finest" in the future, I think that there will be a lot more people who will understand the insanity of that statement.
Steve Halpern
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Protests in New Zealand
The annual conference of the ruling National Party
opened in Dunedin on the weekend of August 19. Socialist
youth, university and high school students, and groups
affiliated to RAN (Rational Against National) massed at the
University of Otago on Friday August 19 and marched into the
city center.
Giving the impression of a government under siege, police ranks confronted protesters outside the town hall.
Later in the evening, a further demonstration and scuffles with police occurred outside the town hall. Students burned the National Party flag and later took part in noise raids on delegates' hotels.
The following day delegates were met by a small, vocal crowd chanting "National Out!" and "Shame!" An alternative conference was held shortly afterwards at the senior citizens club in the city center. Members of the public, students, and others debated questions of Maori rights, unemployment, and the selling off of state assets and services in areas such as housing, education, and health. Speakers included unemployed workers' rights activist Sue Bradford, Maori activists Mike Smith and Annette Sykes, and Peter Hughes of the State Housing Action Coalition.
On Sunday, August 20, students gathered to launch their seventh demonstration of the weekend and again rallied outside the town hall.
Six people, including this writer, were arrested as police sought to move protesters away from ministerial cars.
Kyle Webster
Dunedin, New Zealand
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