WHEN : 6:30pm–9:30pm, Wednesday, September 28th, 2011
WHERE : 62 St Georges Rd, Northcote (Melbourne, Australia)

**6.30pm for 7:00pm films**

Thousands of farmers across the communities of Kulon Progo, Central Java, Indonesia, are fighting for their land and very survival.

A joint Australian-Indonesian consortium is seeking to mine iron-ore, and with a pilot project running and the full backing of the state they look set to go ahead.

The people of Kulon Progo are calling for global solidarity in their struggle against the mining and dispossession, and for self determination. But they especially call on us in Australia to take action to stop Australian involvement in the project.

For generations oppressed by colonial occupiers and impoverished by the very land they live on, the communities of Kulon Progo have turned marginal coastline into a farming success story. Something they describe as a blueprint for communities across Indonesia.

Come find out about one of the most amazing untold stories of community agriculture, grass-roots organising, and the fight for land rights and self determination.

On June 30, 2011, an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) was destroyed in Bandung, West Java. The attack follows similar incidents in March and April in North and South Sulawesi. The bank targeted (BNI), and the banking system generally, play a key role in financing the destruction of the lands and farming communities of Kulon Progo [...]

On March 30, Indo Mines announced to the Australian Stock Exchange that it had entered into an agreement with Japanese corporation Mitsui & Co. “to explore the future development of a pig iron facility at the Iron Project” and another with Indonesian corporation PT Tri Mitra Bayany “to work together in exploring and developing mineral [...]

[News from the Kulon Progo Solidarity Network, February 2011. Source: hidup biasa.] Dear Comrades, We are small loose collective (informal) in Yogyakarta, located in central Java, a region considered as “special territory” inside the democratic state due to its historical role as a Kingdom of Java, and for the same reason, some of the old [...]

The October edition of Melbourne Black (No.4) contains the article ‘A Tale of Sand’ by SAKSI, the Free Association of Anarchists and Friends of Kulon Progo.

The last action was small but according to our counterparts in Kulon Progo, it was effective. It made the news in Indonesia and the police decided to be more ‘hands-off’ as a result, or so we were told. We need to keep the pressure up and let the Indonesian government and mining companies like Indo [...]

In response to a call for international support from the Association of Shoreline Farmers (Paguyuban Petani Lahan Pantai – PPLP), the Melbourne Anarchist Club (MAC) organised a protest outside the Indonesian Consulate in Melbourne this morning. Called at short notice and falling on a day when temperatures were forecast to exceed 45 degrees, the gathering [...]

On June 30, 2011, an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) was destroyed in Bandung, West Java. The attack follows similar incidents in March and April in North and South Sulawesi. The bank targeted (BNI), and the banking system generally, play a key role in financing the destruction of the lands and farming communities of Kulon Progo and elsewhere in Indonesia… and, of course, the world.

Below are accounts of the incident in Indonesian and English translation.

Indonesian:

BANDUNG, KOMPAS.com — Di antara serpihan anjungan tunai mandiri milik Bank BNI yang hancur lebur akibat ledakan yang terjadi pada Kamis (30/6/2011) dini hari di Jalan Dipatiukur, Bandung, Jawa Barat, tersebar sejumlah kertas seperti selebaran yang berisi pesan yang diduga terkait dengan ledakan. Kertas-kertas itu berserakan di halaman Toko Rabbani, dekat pintu aluminium.

Pesan dalam kertas itu seluruhnya ditulis dengan huruf kapital. Berikut pesan tersebut:

“(Lambang bintang) International Conspiracy for Revenge PT Indomining (BIMA) telah lakukan represi brutal terhadap masyarakat lokal. PT Jogja Mangasa Internasional ingin mengenyahkan 50 ribu petani Kulonprogo. Petani Takalar terancam dirampas lahannya dan semua ini dilakukan secara brutal, termasuk penembakan, teror, pelecehan seksual, serta berbagai penindasan yang tidak pernah kita dengar dari media massa. Tak heran bahwa perusahaan-pemodal-birokrat ini tidak perduli apapun selain hanya menebalkan kantong mereka! Penyerangan kami terhadap ATM (Bank) merupakan target penting dikarenakan bank senantiasa terlibat dalam pendanaan ekstraksi sumber daya alam serta penindasan masyarakatnya atas nama kapital! Kami tidak berniat untuk melukai siapapun, perusakan terhadap benda bukanlah kekerasan! Tiada ampun bagi penindas! Tiada ampun bagi negara dan kapitalisme! Negara, institusi militer, polisi, sert pemodal adalah teroris yang sebenarnya!”

Seperti diberitakan, sebuah anjungan tunai mandiri (ATM) milik Bank BNI di Jalan Dipatiukur, Bandung, meledak dini hari tadi. Tidak ada korban dalam kejadian yang disaksikan dua orang petugas satpam, yaitu Arminto dan Ahmad Sulaeman.

Menurut pantauan Kompas, ATM milik BNI hancur lebur dan seisi ruangan gosong. Pintu aluminiumsteel ATM terlempar sampai sepuluh meter di depannya. Dua ATM di sebelahnya, yakni milik Bank BJB dan BRI, masih utuh.

English:

BANDUNG, KOMPAS.COM – Among the debris of Bank BNI ATM that was destroyed by an explosion on Thursday (30/06/2011) early morning on Jalan Dipatiukur, Bandung, West Java, scattered papers with messages allegedly link to the explosion are found. These papers are found scattered in the front entry of Rabbani store.

The message is written fully in capital letters. The following is the message:

(A picture of a star) [the] International Conspiracy for Revenge PT Indomining (BIMA) has been acting brutally repressive against local communities. PT Jogja Mangasa Internasional is intending to get rid of 50 thousand Kulonprogo farmers. Farmers in Takalar are threatened to have their land confiscated and all of this is done brutally, including shooting, terror, sexual abuse, and other kind of abuses that we never hear from the mass media. It is not surprising that these corporations-investors-bureaucrats do not care about anything other than thickening their own pockets! Our attack against [sic] an ATM (Bank) is an important target because banks are always involved in financing the extraction of natural resources and the oppression of communities in the name of capital! We did not wish to harm anyone, destruction of properties is not violence! No mercy to oppressors! No mercy to the state and capitalism! The state, the military, the police and the investors are the real terrorists!

As reported, an ATM owned by Bank BNI on Jalan Dipatiukur, Bandung, was exploded early in the morning today. No casualty in the incident that was witnessed by two security officers, Arminto and Ahmad Sulaeman.

According to Kompas, the ATM was completely destroyed and the interior scorched. The aluminium steel door was blown away up to ten meter in front of the machine. The two adjacent ATMS, owned by Bank BJB and BRI, are still intact.