West Papuan National Flag Day. 1st December
Hi All,
In Sydney there are usually flag raising events in support
of the West Papuan people. More detail
of this year events later. However, both Marrickville and Leichhardt council
have raised the flag on their Town Halls. It has also been raised outside the
Indonesian Consulate in Sydney in the past few years , organised by Anthony
Craig (DLP). Marrickville Council is committed to raising it every year but it
has to go before Leichhardt Council every year for a council vote. I have
written this year and will let people know if approved.
As individuals we can also contribute to
raising awareness about West Papua on the 1st December.
By wearing a West Papuan t-shirt
or badge or writing articles/opinion pieces for your church/trade union
newsletter. All these simple actions will help raise the issue of West Papuan
in the minds of the Australian public. Eko from Indonesian Solidarity has
“ Free West Papua political prisoner” T-shirts available for sale. He can
be contacted at suroboyo45@hotmail.com
West Papuan flags
can be bought from various flag shops in Australia.
Benny Wenda is calling this year for
a global day of action for West Papua. On 1st December the Free
West Papua Campaign is calling on people all around the world to take pictures
of themselves holding or raising the West Papuan Morning Star flag in
solidarity with the people of West Papua. Please take part and share the photos
on social media to build a truly global picture of the support for a Free West
Papua. Details at http://freewestpapua.org/2014/11/04/global-day-of-action-to-raise-the-morning-star/
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Background to 1st
December
The 1st of December is West Papuan National Day or National
flag day . Fifty three years ago on the
1st of December 1961, in the then Dutch colony of West New Guinea, The West
Papuan flag, called the Morning Star was flown for the first time officially
beside the Dutch Tricolor. At that ceremony, as the Morning Star
flag was raised, Dutch and Papuan military and police saluted and
accompanied by a marine band playing the national anthem, “My Land Papua”. The
Dutch were finally about to give the West Papuan people their
freedom. However it is one of the great tragedies that at their moment of
freedom it was cruelly crushed and West Papua was basically handed over to
Indonesia in 1963. After 6 years administration of the province, Indonesia held
a sham referendum called the “Act of Free Choice” under UN
supervision. Only 1022 handpicked voters, one representative for approximately every 700 West Papuans were allowed
vote, and under coercion, voted to "remain with Indonesia. The
Papuans call this the “act of no
choice”.
Australian
involvement
As to Australia’s involvement - originally we supported the
Dutch in trying to hold onto West New Guinea, as we preferred another colonial
power to act as a buffer zone between Australia and any potential invader from
the north. However, once the US decided to back Indonesia, Australia followed
suite. In fact, Australia actively supported the Indonesian takeover.
At a request from Indonesia two West
Papuan leaders, Clemens Runawery and Willem Zonggonao were removed by
Australian officials from a plane just weeks before the UN supervised vote (in
Australia’s then colony of PNG). They were on their way to the UN in New York
carrying testimonies from many West Papuan leaders calling for independence.
Because of Australia’s involvement, they never had a chance to plead their
case.
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Past Flag events
Petersham Town Hall
Balmain Town Hall
Indonesian Consulate
Leichhardt Town Hall
Can make the local paper.
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