The Pathfinder Press Bookshop received phone calls and a visit from police officer Paul O'Neill of Christchurch Central police station on November 9. He said the purpose of his visit was to convey "concern" expressed by Operation Deepfreeze (the United States Antarctic Program base) about the "anti-American character" of the shop's window display. He added that no formal complaint had been filed and that the bookshop had the "free-speech" right to have such materials in its window. The display in the window featured demands such as "End imperialist war against Afghanistan;" "Oppose attacks on unions, immigrants, workers' rights;" and "Build unity with struggles of working people."

The display also reproduced an editorial from the Militant newspaper of October 15 entitled "War at home and abroad," which discussed the connection between the employers' intensified attacks on working people at home and their brutal wars abroad. It featured a statement issued on September 11 by Martín Koppel, Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor of New York, which said in part: "By its systematic superexploitation of the peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America; by its never-ending insults to their national and cultural dignity; by its ceaseless murderous violence in countless forms--U.S. imperialism is turning North America into a death trap for working people and all who live there."

A number of books published by the New York publishing house Pathfinder Press were also prominent in the window, authored by Malcolm X, Che Guevara, socialist leaders in the United States, and others.

Supporters of the Pathfinder Press Bookshop are calling on all defenders of democratic rights to speak out in defense of the right to display and sell literature that expresses political views contrary to the governments in Wellington and Washington. The police officer's visit was an act of intimidation not only against supporters of the bookshop, but against all those who likewise wish to oppose and campaign against the imperialist war drive.

The cop timed his visit to coincide with a Militant Labor Forum being held at the bookshop on the subject of New Zealand's and Australia's involvement in the Afghan war and why working people and youth should oppose it. Militant Labor Forums are held weekly and are a venue where those involved in fights against injustice and exploitation can participate in discussions on issues of importance to working people.

The bookshop shares office space with the Communist League and Young Socialists, which have had a presence in Christchurch for more than 30 years. It was the campaign headquarters for Annalucia Vermunt, the Communist League candidate for mayor of Christchurch in the recent local body elections. The campaign, which was featured prominently in the shop window, consistently spoke out against the imperialist war in Afghanistan.

Vermunt, who is manager of the Pathfinder Press Bookshop, said in response to O'Neill's visit, "This probe by police to try to intimidate opponents of the war points to why working people should oppose the new 'antiterrorist' laws being proposed by the government. The target of such laws will be the voices of dissent against the bosses and their government, in an attempt to silence such political views and curb the organization of working people. Increasing the powers of the cops and courts to intimidate and harass will only benefit the rulers as they press ahead with their attacks on the wages, conditions, and social entitlements of working people while participating in wars abroad like the one being waged against Afghanistan today."  
 
 
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