Global day of action to raise the Morning Star
November 4, 2014
Calling on ALL our supporters to take part in the biggest global day of action for West Papua.
This year 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. You can buy flags to raise on the day or you can simply print out this image of the flag. Be imaginative and have fun by thinking of an eye catching or significant location or why not try to get as many people as possible all holding images of the flag in one photo. The campaign team will also send a Free West Papua poster signed by Benny Wenda to the person or group who we think has taken the best/most dramatic photo.
A number of town halls around the world have also been symbolically raising the Morning Star flag on 1st December over the last few years. Please ask your town hall if they are willing to join in.
The 1st December marks West Papua’s original independence day when the Morning Star flag was first raised in 1961 before being invaded by Indonesia. The flag is recognised as the national flag of West Papua and continues to be the defining symbol for a Free West Papua. Today, Papuan’s who raise the flag face arrest, torture and long jail sentences. Filep Karma is currently serving 15 years in prison for raising the flag on 1st December 2004. Flag raising ceremonies have been attacked by Indonesian police and military, shots fired into crowds and violently dispersed. Despite this level of repression the Morning Star flag will again be raised by West Papuans this year on 1st December and we want all supporters around the world to join them in a huge show of solidarity and awareness raising.
Join us to make this 1st December the biggest day of global action for West Papua. Raise the Morning Star and stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of West Papua. Share your pictures via social media to show your friends, family and the world that you support Freedom for West Papua.
Please share all photos with us via our facebook or twitter (use #risemorningstar) accounts or email them to office@freewestpapua.org.
For more inspiration here are some of the flag raising actions that have previously happened around the world:
Christian Welponer, a world famous mountaineer, flies the Morning Star flag on the peak of the highest mountain in West Papua in defiance of the Indonesian authorities.
Flags are flown in large numbers in Melbourne.
A daring flag raising ceremony in the central highlands of West Papua.
The Morning Star flag flies above Oxford Town Hall.
The Morning Star flag proudly held under the seas of Vanuatu.
The West Papuan flag is hoisted from the city hall in the capital of Papua New Guinea.
The Morning Star flag is raised in Jayapura/Port Numbay, the capital of West Papua, in defiance of the Indonesian authorities.
Thousands of people raise their fists in support as Blue King Brown hold the Morning Star flag on stage at the East Coast Blues and Roots Festival in Australia.
Morning Star flags flown off the coast of West Papua.
The Morning Star proudly held aloft in Auckland.
Can you beat this?