Australian Trade Union Boycott of the Dutch on Behalf of Indonesian Independence, Cartoon, 1947 -- Daily LIFT #5

Australian Trade Union Boycott of the Dutch on Behalf of Indonesian Independence

Cartoon, 1947

Between 1945 and 1949 Australian trade unions, beginning with the Waterside Workers Federation, enforced a boycott of all Dutch vessels by refusing to service or work on them in support of Indonesian independence.  

This campaign of working class internationalist solidarity was only lifted when the Dutch recognized Indonesian independence in 1949. 

An appeal to Australians to support the Indonesians in their fight for freedom from colonialism and the brutality of the Dutch occupation can be read below:

(The Daily LIFT - Leftist Image for Today - is a new The Left Chapter feature posting a daily photo, cartoon, artwork or other image related to leftist history or contemporary realty.)

The Silent Slaughter - The Role of the United States in the Indonesian Massacre, Youth Against War and Fascism 1966

Vintage Leftist Leaflet Project

See the end of this post for details on the project.

Leaflet: The Silent Slaughter - The Role of the United States in the Indonesian Massacre, Youth Against War and Fascism 1966

This leaflet flowed out of a "public inquest" meeting held by Youth Against War and Fascism at Columbia University in New York City on June 2, 1966.

The speakers talked about the historical backdrop to and the American involvement in the horrific massacres of Communists and other leftists that began in Indonesia in October, 1965. Using the supposed threat of a Communist coup as a pretext, the Indonesian Army led by General Suharto seized power and unleashed a wave of brutal mass killings that are now known to have claimed the lives of between 500,000 and as many as 2,000,000 people over the course of just a few months. 

The leaflet also includes an introduction by Bertrand Russell.

(Click on scans to enlarge) 

When The Left Chapter began part of what I wanted to do on the blog was to show and highlight vintage public leftist election/political leaflets and booklets. While many of these have been offered with commentary to date, a very large collection of hundreds of them from several different sources remains and to preserve these often quite rare documents we will be posting them on a regular (almost daily) basis now often without or with minimal commentary so that people may have access to them as quickly as possible as an historical resource. 

While these will all be leaflets from a variety of different leftist viewpoints and countries, they are being posted as an historical/study resource and the views or opinions expressed in them do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog or blogger.

All of these posts (as well as posts made to date) will be listed on the page: Vintage Communist/Socialist Leaflets (which is still being updated with past posts).

If you have any public, vintage leaflets or booklets you would like to contribute to this project please contact us via theleftchapter@outlook.com