Never Forget: Oct 15th Solidarity Tour

Public event commemorating the events that occurred on October 15th 2007, the police raids that attacked whanau around Aotearoa and especially in Ruātoki.

On Monday, October 15th 2007, more than 300 police carried out dawn raids on dozens of houses all over Aotearoa / New Zealand as part of ‘Operation 8. Police claimed the raids were in response to ‘concrete terrorist threats’ from Māori activists. What initially started with 20 defendants resulted in the trial of four – Tāme, Emily, Rangi and Urs – which concluded on 20 March 2012.

Six years later, most of the charges have been dropped, Rangi and Tāme are out on parole, Emily and Urs have almost finished serving their home detention, but the impact of these raids on those arrested, raided, their whānau and communities continues.

The October 15th Solidarity Tour events will kick start in Auckland on Wednesday October 16th and close in Wellington on October 19th, 2013.

"The police surveillance and raids as part of Operation 8 wasn't just about breaching civil rights, but part of a long history of colonial violence, incarceration and criminalisation of dissent from tangata whenua in Aotearoa and across the world. We want to highlight that by focusing on the wider colonial context of the raids and making connections to anti-racism struggles across the globe today.”

“We hope the Tour raises awareness and enables ethnic communities in New Zealand to realise their role in building bridges of solidarity with Tangata Whenua here too.”

AUCKLAND EVENT
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 16, 2013
Venue: University of Auckland Library Basement 015 (6-8pm) & Shadows (8pm onwards)
Starts from: 6pm
Cost: FREE

Speakers include Helen Te Hira (peoples of Te tai Tokerau), Camille Nakhid (Auckland Council Ethnic Advisory Panel), Faisal Al-Assad (Students for Justice in Palestine), along with Matariki Poet of the Year 2010 and 2012 Whaitiri Mikaere, Dietrich Soakai (South Auckland Poets Collective) and Marama Davidson (Ngati Porou/Ngapuhi).

There will also be a live music show at Shadows Student Bar following the forum, at 8pm. Featuring:
Kīnaki (Pao hop and pā funk styles - hip-hop infused getto-funk inspired by an indigenous consciousness), Melting Pot Massacre (Asian feminist hardcore punk) and Super Narco Man (Punk rock from Tauranga).

ends

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