Protest When Kissinger Gets Intrepid Freedom Award

May 23, 2013. 5:30 pm

Protest When Kissinger Gets Intrepid Freedom Award 
The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum

Pier 86, 12 Ave. & 46 Street
New York City

Join ETAN and other organizations in protesting Henry Kissinger's appearance at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum. Kissinger - whose government career involved denying people their freedom and democratic rights - is slated to receive the Intrepid Freedom Award for - we kid you not - "his distinguished career defending the values of freedom and democracy." The ceremony also will honor David Koch, executive vice president of Kansas-based Koch Industries, Inc.

Sponsoring organizations include: ETAN, Big Apple Coffee Party, Chelsea Neighbors United to End the War, War Resisters League/NYC,Veterans for Peace Chapter 34, War Criminals Watch/World Can't Wait; more to come

Remind people about Henry Kissinger's sordid history concerning East Timor, West Papua, Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, Cyprus, Bangladesh, Angola and elsewhere.

Let us know your coming on Facebook

On December 6, 1975, then Secretary of State Kissinger and President Gerald Ford visited Jakarta. At their meeting, Ford gave Indonesia's dictator Suharto an explicit go ahead for the invasion of East Timor and Indonesia invaded the next day. According to East Timor's Commission on Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR) up to 180,000 died as a direct result of the illegal invasion and occupation. Declassified and leaked documents show that Kissinger understood that Suharto was balking at invading, concerned that the U.S. would cut off its supply of weapons and military training. Kissinger guaranteed continuation of weapons shipments. According to Timor-Leste's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation as many as 180,000 people died as a result.  For more on Kissinger's role in East Timor click here. 

Indonesia invaded West Papua, then Netherlands New Guinea, in 1961. Henry Kissinger, in his capacity as the Secretary of State, played a personal role in insuring that West Papuans were not given the opportunity to have a genuine independence referendum in 1969. The sham "consultation" that took place instead, the so-called

"Act of Free Choice," condemned the West Papuan people to decades of terror under an Indonesian military occupation, which continues today. Kissinger later served on the Board of Directors of Freeport McMoRan, the U.S. company which controls one of the world’s largest copper and gold mine in West Papua. Kissinger defended the company’s interests in post-Suharto Indonesia.

Hold Kissinger Accountable leaflet: Educate about Kissinger's role in Indonesia's illegal and brutal invasion of East Timor and Indonesia's annexation of West Papua Print out and distribute at future demonstrations (PDF)

There will also likely be a demonstration the evening of May 30 in New York City, should the Appeal of Conscience Foundation go forward with its Statesman of the Year award to Indonesia's president. Stay tuned. In the meantime, sign the petition.