There is something not quite right about Military Whistleblower, David McBride. I remember when David’s father William McBride was presented to the world as a hero for exposing thalidomide … actually it was probably not even McBride who discovered that thalidomide caused defects in children … the ABC claims it was a midwife, Sister Pat Sparrow. [ABC: “Dr William McBride: The flawed character credited with linking thalidomide to birth defects” @ https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2018-06-29/thalidomide-william-mcbride-flawed-character-norman-swan/9920608]

Why did David go to Afghanistan?

McBride: “I went to grad school in Sydney, I joined the British military first, I went to Sandhurst, I went to Oxford University. I was never like Julian Assange, I was never sort of against the Americans. I was never against the British. I really believed in the rule of law. I did a tour of operations in Northern Ireland.“

David said that he was an idealist and believed in authority and that Australia (and Britain) were doing the right thing.

That’s one of the misconceptions that whistleblowers and sort of our activists or bomb throws generally where people very much believe in doing the right thing, when we believe we believe the propaganda that actually the the government is good and the government follows the law.

What does that make whistle-blowers who do not like military industrial complex? Are we to refer to Julian Assange, or Chelsea Manning, or Snowden as activists or bomb throwers? And what about Grace Tame, are we to think that she has a political agenda when she led to the exposure of our parliamentarians for their lies and hypocrisy in their treatment of sexual harassment and abuse?

David was nearly 30 years of age when his father was exposed as fraudster and was struck off the medical register. Many women suffered as a result of his father’s falsification of drug trials. William McBride got away with it for years because he was made a hero for detecting that thalidomide caused abnormalities in children. But McBride was looking for recognition. He was not a researcher. It was a geneticist and paediatrician Professor Widukind Lenz who discovered how thalidomide caused abnormalities.

Why was David so blind that he could not see the lies put out by British and Australian governments?

Since the early 1990s the ‘coalition of the willing‘ was using depleted uranium causing widespread abnormalities in Iraqi children. How medieval is that? And he calls the Taliban evil?

“The Gulf War may have been a triumph against Saddam Hussein, but increased numbers of cases of cancer among war veterans and Iraqi civilians have been alleged ever since, and have been linked to the use of DU” – The Lancet February, 2001 @ https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(00)00208-4

The depleted uranium was exposed by the Lancet, the same medical journal that published his father’s letter, in December 1961, noting a large number of birth defects in children of patients who were prescribed thalidomide (by him).

David went to Oxford … so w   for more see

A Question of Duty Military - Whistblower, David McBride

Go Fetch The Water (live)

This is an anti apartheid song sung by the Songshine Choir at the Anita Reed Peace Concert held on 21 May 2023 at the Coorparoo Memorial Hall.  The song was led led by their musical director Greta Hunter who has a beautiful soprano voice in a call and response refrain so common in African music.

Origins of the song are not clear. I know the song was sung at Steve Biko's funeral.  Zimbabwean poet Albert Nyathi wrote a song by the same title, "Senzeni Na?" on the day that activist Chris Hani died.

The lyrics very but these are some with the English translation below.
    Senzeni na?
    Sono sethu, ubumnyama?
    Sono sethu yinyaniso?
    Sibulawayo
    Mayibuye i Africa

			

    English translation[6]

    What have we done?
    Our sin is that we are black?
    Our sin is the truth
    They are killing us
    Let Africa return

Recorded by Ian Curr on 21 May 2023 at Coorparoo Memorial Hall in Meanjin (Brisbane). The concert was organised by 'Just Peace' Qld.

Senzeni Na

Independent and peaceful Australia network (IPAN) Call on Australian Government and International Community to End the Siege of Gaza.

IPAN calls on Australian government and international community to end the siege of Gaza

Summary

Israel's war on Gaza and its devastating consequences. 0:00

Israel's military forces perpetrate genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, killing over 11,000, including 4500 children (at time of broadcast)

Gaza conflict and Australian government's response. 2:08

Israel's actions in Gaza are disproportionate and have been called genocide by the UN.

Australian government abstains from UN vote for Gaza ceasefire, prioritizes US approval over humanitarian needs.

Depopulating Gaza for strategic benefits. 6:25

Bevan Ramsden and Andrew discuss the Israeli Intelligence document's plan to depopulate Gaza, with options including evacuation to a new location (Option C) or maintaining the population with a change in ideology (Option A).

The Ben Gurion canal project is mentioned as a long-standing reason for Israel to benefit from depopulating Gaza, as it would provide a shorter and straighter route for shipping.

Gaza crisis and Australian government's inaction. 9:25

Andrew: Australian govt abstained on UN resolution to protect civilians in Gaza, calling for urgent action to change position (11:33)
Bevan Ramsden: IPAN urges writing to local federal member or senator to express concern over Australian govt's lack of action in Gaza (11:54)

Image: Not in our names! - Jewish occupation of Australian Defence Minister's office.

IPAN: Stop Genocide in Gaza!

Radio Reversal 7th of December  2023 4ZZZ @ 9 a.m. on Thursdays.

In this week’s episode of Radio Reversal, join Anna and super special guest producer Malaak as they think through the deep links between climate justice, environmental violence, and the struggle for a free Palestine. As we speak, organisers from around the world are converging on the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates, just a few thousand kilometres from Israel's genocidal siege on Gaza.

Songs
Ena Malibu x Ta'sia - High Tide
Thelma Plum - We don't talk about it
Spinifex Gum - Juukan

Featured image
Aboriginal and Palestinian flags at the corner of Boundary and Vulture Street in West End in Meanjin, 13 Dec 2023.

From Palestine to the Pacific, Land Back is Climate Justice

Human rights advocate, Roba, speaking on 17 December 2023 about Palestinian resistance against genocide and occupation. 
Photo: Lachlan Hurse

Speech summary
– acknowledges traditional custodians of the land and pays respects to elders past, present, and emerging, while emphasizing the importance of land rights and resistance.
– shares personal story of resistance by her daughter, when a 11-year-old girl who refused to play the Israeli national anthem; and, a 9-year-old aboriginal girl who was suspended for not standing for the Australian National Anthem,
– highlighting the importance of standing up against colonization and oppression.

Palestine solidarity and indigenous rights. (0:00)

Palestine and resistance against oppression. (3:12)

Resistance

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell

Hear the voices of Wael al-Dahdouh (journalist in Gaza) and his colleagues who have been targeted by Israel, Jeremy Corbyn (former leader of the Labour Party in Britain), Antony Blinken (US Secretary of State)  and John Boyd (activist and singer from Queensland in the 1980s).

Condolences
We are deeply saddened by Israeli murders of two journalists who have been bringing news from Gaza for the past three months. They were Al Jazeera's Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouh and Agence France Press journalist, Mustafa Thuraya.

Image: Wael Al-Dahdouh and family member. Al Jazeera journalist Wael Dahdouh holds the hand of his son Hamza, who also worked for Al Jazeera and who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Jan. 7, 2024.

Song: Freedom in Palestine by John Bord

War on truth

Each day brings news of more Palestinian civilians killed and injured in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza. Homes, schools, hospitals, farms – nothing is spared. Nowhere is safe. Hunger, thirst and disease have emerged as an even greater threat than bombs. Gaza’s 2.2 million people are trapped without food, water and healthcare. Israel is using starvation and thirst as weapons of war and refusing to provide unhindered safe access for humanitarian aid to meet the needs of civilians. UN oﬃcials and aid agencies alike, along with hundreds of scholars and practitioners of international humanitarian and genocide law are warning Israel is carrying out genocide.  

The UN General Assembly has called for a ceaseﬁre. The UN Security Council has failed to do so because the US blocks it. South Africa is asking the International Court of Justice to order a ceaseﬁre because of the genocide underway. Jordan has opened a ﬁeld hospital in the Gaza strip and airlifted supplies in. Yemen’s Ansarallah (Houthi) movement is attacking ships supplying Israel, in the Red Sea. Instead of supporting South Africa’s case, or trying to send aid, Australian government oﬃcials continue to pretend Israel’s aims are legitimate. But there is nothing legitimate about genocide and war crimes. 

Voices: 4PR, Ciaron O'Reilly, US Apache helicopter pilot. 
Features Collateral Murder by Wikileaks.
Image: March in Solidarity, Magandjin
Song: Crying, Laughing, Loving, Lying by Labi Siffre

Gaza, dying, crying, existing, resisting, returning

Interview with Jonathan Sriranganathan about support for Palestine in the 2024 Brisbane City Council Election.

Poem by Jonathan Sriranganathan

Photo by Green Left

Greens mayoral candidate challenge to Brisbane City Council complicity in genocide

Interview with Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner in the lead up to the Brisbane City Council Elections on 16 March 2024.

Song - 'If I had a rocket launcher 'by Bruce Cockburn.

"The Games Excerpt" by John Clarke and Brian Dawe.

Image - Brisbane City Hall with a Palestinian rally in the foreground.

With thanks to Sue (voice actor) & Trevor (selected 'If I had a rocket launcher').

Brisbane Lord Mayor offers advice to Hamas

Here is an independent candidate against the Labour Party in Liverpool in England speaking about the genocide in Ghada at the Palm Sunday Peace rally in Brisbane

Scousers for Palestine

4PR - Voice of the People is a podcast about class, culture and country.
We believe that change can come only through revolution and participation by working class people.  Conditions in time and place must be understood and acted upon.  Workers of all countries unite! 
[Podcasting since 2011}

A Question of Duty Military - Whistblower, David McBride

4PR - Voice of the People

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