Pambazuka News 390: Palestine: a South African perspective
Pambazuka News 390: Palestine: a South African perspective
Fatima Hassan, is a prominent South African human rights lawyer who was part of a that in early July visited the Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The delegation undertook the mission in order to: "support those, Palestinian and Israeli, working daily, by non-violent means, to bring an end to the post-1967 Israeli occupation, to end all human rights abuses and breaches of international law, and to move towards peaceful relations and a just settlement...to express solidarity with those who are living in oppressive, restrictive and dangerous circumstances; and to to draw attention to the injustice of the occupation and its devastating consequences." Mukoma Wa Ngugi interviewed Fatima Hassan on the solidarity visit and the implications of the Palestinian struggle for Africans.
====
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Well, let's get straight to it: A Independent Newspaper article quotes you as saying "The issue of separate roads, [different registration] of cars driven by different nationalities, the indignity of producing a permit any time a soldier asks for it, and of waiting in long queues in the boiling sun at checkpoints just to enter your own city, I think is worse than what we experienced during apartheid." But the same article goes on to say that "Ms Hassan herself said she thought the apartheid comparison was a potential "red herring." Can you speak more about this?
FATIMA HASSAN: I think that the debate/discourse about whether this is Apartheid or not is not helpful. Too often people get bogged down in whether this IS Apartheid or not. And then use this as the measure of whether the situation in Palestine and Israel is intolerable from a legal and moral standpoint. Of course there are similarities in respect of the indignity and inhumaneness of the consequences of the occupation. And of course people in Palestine and Israel call the wall the 'apartheid wall' because it is premised on a policy of separation and closure.
But the context is different and the debate on whether this is Apartheid or not deflects from the real issue of occupation, encroachment of more land, building of the wall and the indignity of the occupation and the conduct of the military and police. I saw the check point at Nablus, I met with Palestinians in Hebron, I met the villagers who are against the wall- I met Israeli's and Palestinians who have lost family members, their land and homes. They have not lost hope though ---and they believe in a joint struggle against the occupation and are willing in non-violent means to transform the daily direct and indirect forms of injustice and violence.
To sum up – there is a transgression that is continuing unabated– call it what you want, apartheid/separation/closure/security – it remains a transgression.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Can you speak about the Palestinians in the West Bank and living under Israeli occupation. Are they struggling for inclusion and equal rights within Israel or for a viable Palestinian state?
FATIMA HASSAN: I think I have realised that physically and geographically --with the massive encroachment of land –that a 2 state solution may not be realistic. But it is not for me to determine the solutions for people who live there.
As for Palestinians, they stressed to us that they are against the occupation, not against Israel or Jews, but against the occupation and denial of human rights. What they want depends on who you speak to and where they live. Of course, everyone we spoke to stressed inclusion, dignity, autonomy.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Can South Africa serve as source of instruction to both Palestinians and Israelis? In what ways?
FATIMA HASSAN: In some ways yes and in some ways perhaps not. In SA we agreed to accept each other not as enemies but as people first , then we talked, and still do. As Dennis Davis from our delegation commented – 'they are talking divorce whereas we (SA) talked marriage'. There are ways in which we cannot be instructive because we have limited experience – we had invisible barriers and one road for everyone.
They have barriers, check points almost everywhere and different roads! They have children stoning other children who are trying to go to school (Hebron) – we had Bantu education and a language forced on us but not the scenarios we saw and heard of in Hebron.
We did not have deeply religious views and claims defining the injustice and land grabs. In fact faith based organisations mobilised against apartheid. In SA we have some (limited) experience on race and dealing with racism ---but not a racism rooted in religion.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Is there any instruction for the Palestinians in the South African struggle against apartheid?
International solidarity and exposure of injustice is critical. We used several means to struggle- inter solidarity and sanctions, limited armed struggle and mass moblisation. The Israeli and Palestinian joint struggle is perhaps the best place for us to offer solidarity as our struggle was also inclusive and mass based.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Do South Africans have a special responsibility to Palestinians? Is there historical solidarity between the PLO and the ANC?
FATIMA HASSAN: I think you have to ask the ANC about historical alliances…But of course they were historically linked.
Iowe any community and people around the world solidarity if they face injustice anywhere in the world or in my own country- I owe it as a human being, and as South African - because they provided solidarity to us during years of terrible race based oppression. Yes we have a special obligation to condemn and respond to injustice given our own shameful history.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: In the past African states have been very vocal in their support of Palestinians. For example in the 1970's a number of African countries cut diplomatic ties with Israel. What kind of actions can/should the present generation of African leaders take?
FATIMA HASSAN: Several small steps first- build a consensus and voice to condemn oppression and injustice in Israel and elsewhere.
Ensure that companies that benefit from building the wall and benefit from the occupation are not given business.
Ensure that they visit ordinary villagers and peace activists who are engaging in joint non-violent struggles as opposed to only meeting career politicians from one or other 'side'.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Did you get a sense of the ongoing struggle between Hamas and the Fatah movement? What in your opinion is a constructive response from Africans to this split?
FATIMA HASSAN: We only had 5 days of visits so this is impossible to answer properly. When I went to several villages there were activists who were originally part of both movements now working together to feed children, educate them and provide humanitarian relief as well as working with Israeli activists in a non-violent struggle.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: What is the effect of the wall-barrier on prospects for peace and on the Palestinians?
On the wall, fence, separation barrier, I think it is the biggest mistake and obstacle to peace-- it's physical presence, its emphasis on increased security, its ability to cut off people from their land, schools, neighbours and homes and from Israelis and Jews, will and cannot make anyone think that peace is even on the negotiating table.
The parts of the wall that we saw, the many demolition orders that had to be taken against parts of the fence/ wall show an absolute failure to understand the livelihoods and lives of people on both sides of the wall- the wall has meant that thousands of Palestinians have lost access to their land and livelihoods (about 250 000 are affected– with 8000 Palestinian families in the safety zone).
The wall cuts off neighbourhoods and to me only protects settlements – might I add that that many of the settlements are actually illegal and are considered illegal outposts. For it to work they have implemented complex permit systems – even a horse needs a permit to get across. It really is a shame.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Do you see a one state or a two state solution? Considering that a one state solution is not even on the table, and it does not seem that Israel will allow for a viable independent and thriving Palestinian state, how do you see one of the two solutions working?
I cannot comment on the prospects because I visited for 5 days only- I do not believe that I can comment on solutions- I went to learn. Off course one must be hopeful for a single state based on human rights for all with dignity and inclusion for all.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Finally, we never get to hear about Jewish/Palestinian solidarity movements yet they exist. Can you speak more about this?
FATIMA HASSAN: There is a growing number of such movements – they may be small and 'fringe' right now but I believe that their message is simple and universal- non-violence and inclusion of all people that make up Israeli and Palestinian communities. They will grow in strength and with our solidarity.
Combatants for Peace, Anarchists against the wall, Breaking the Silence, Bereaved Parents Families Forum are just some examples…And the Popular Committees in villages, Ta'ayush, Children of Abraham as well.
Their greatest strength right now is that they see everyone as human beings in a common struggle for peace; their greatest threat is that they talk about peace and human rights – they often told us that the greatest threat to removing barriers is fear – I think they are right. People are scared in Israel and Palestine – they are scared of peace.
*Interview conducted by Mukoma Wa Ngugi, co-editor of Pambazuka News.
*For more information on the solidarity visit, please click here: .
The primary intention of our visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories was to understand the reality. Rather than attempting to bring solutions, or to spend our time here debating solutions, we came to learn, and to witness first-hand the suffering, pain, anger and human rights abuses. While it is clear to us that there should be freedom and security for all who live here, our deepest concern is that suffering and human rights be addressed as the basis for moving towards a resolution. We have been deeply affected by what we have seen, and intend to engage in this regard, in our personal capacities, with all our communities and constituencies. We intend to be sensitive to the anxieties and perspectives that exist, and to use our visit to promote thoughtful discussion within and between our communities.
We also came to support what we understood to be a new and small movement of Palestinian-Israeli joint non-violent struggle. We found this, and it surprised us. Our hosts have proved that Israelis and Palestinians can and are working together to bring freedom and equality for all people in Israel and Palestine.
This work is characterised by mutual respect, true partnership, and a willingness to take personal risks for each other. We are immensely struck and moved by the courage and integrity of these people. Amidst the increasing difficulties under which all people are living, this work brings hope and the promise of a real peace, with justice, equality and security, in the future.
We would particularly like to recognise the joint work being done in occupied territory in Silwan, Bidu, Bil'in, Budrus, Na'alin and Hebron. This work is being done by the popular committees of these villages and cities, along with organisations including Ta'ayush, Children of Abraham, Anarchists Against the Wall, Combatants for Peace, Breaking the Silence, Active Stills, the Parents Circle, B'Tselem, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Coalition of Women for Peace, and Yesh Din.
*Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/
A new report details a wide range of abuses occurring on a rubber plantation in Liberia owned by the Bridgestone/Firestone tire company. The report, titled “The Heavy Load: A Demand for Fundamental Changes at the Bridgestone/Firestone Rubber Plantation in Liberia” was published by Liberian-based Save My Future Foundation (SAMFU) and exposes poor living and working conditions for rubber tappers, a meager pension system, barriers to educational and health access, water and air pollution and violations of workers’ right to organize. The report is also one of the first examinations of the role that several different security forces operating on the plantation play in violating the rights of workers, their families and communities surrounding the plantation.
Robert Nyahn of the Save My Future Foundation said, “There is time for everything, the time for exploitation and abuse is over; it is now time for Firestone to clean up the ugly and unimaginable past and begin to make fundamental changes that reflect a company committed to contributing to the growth and development of a developing country. With our hands joined together we will no longer accept this kind of evil.”
Emira Woods, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studiessaid, “This groundbreaking report shows that the heaviest load in Firestone’s largest rubber operation is still being born by the women and children of Liberia. After 82 years of exploitation masked by a massive public relations campaign, Firestone must be held accountable for its continued violations of worker rights and abuse of the environment. Liberian workers and future generations need good corporate neighbors. Firestone can and must do better.”
Tim Newman, child labor campaigner at the International Labor Rights Forum said, “This report reveals the widespread abuse of workers’ rights on the Firestone rubber plantation in Liberia. As the first independent and democratically elected union leaders on the plantation negotiate a new contract, it is important that Firestone take the demands of workers and their allies to heart. Eighty two years of exploitation is enough and the time is now for a new day on Firestone’s rubber plantation in Liberia.”
Firestone has operated the world’s largest rubber plantation in Harbel, Liberia since 1926. As the report shows, rubber tappers have a daily production quota they must meet in order to receive their daily wage which is just over $3 a day. As a result of the unreasonably high quota, workers must bring family members to work with them or hire subcontractors using their meager salaries. Additionally, workers must carry two 75-pound buckets of raw latex on sticks on their shoulders and work without protective gear. Workers live in crowded shacks without electricity, running water, indoor latrines.
The new report is a follow up to SAMFU’s 2005 report on human rights violations and environmental abuses on the Firestone rubber plantation called “Firestone: The Mark of Modern Slavery.”
*The complete report can be read online by clicking .
*Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/
Climate Change is accepted today even by die hard sceptics as a real crisis that must be urgently tackled for the preservation of the earth in a form that would sustain human and other life forms. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the best known body of climate scientists who accepts that most of the observed warming of the last 50 years is likely due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations due to human activities [1].
It has also been recognised as a human rights issue by the UN. There have been several conferences, studies and multilateral discussions on the issue. There has also been plenty of foot dragging by governments who erroneously think that prodigious carbon emission is a mark of progress and development.
We note that the global North has historically contributed disproportionately to the amounts of greenhouse gasses (GHS) in the atmosphere whereas the global South has been saddled with the impacts and is now being forced into a corner from where she has no option but to seek means for mitigation of the impacts and adapting to them as well. It is instructive as we shall see that the slant of these official frameworks and mechanisms have been intimately tied to trade and have had the main slant of opening up opportunities for huge financial benefits for polluting industries while the South will be further pushed into the debt trap through the strategies of the World Bank and other international financial players.
This paper aims to review governmental frameworks for addressing climate change with an underlying premise that there is an urgent need for the delinking of carbon emission from positive development.
The KYOTO PROTOCOL
The Kyoto protocol will effectively end in the year 2012. The protocol had set very minimal targets for reduction of carbon emissions that was to be achieved between 1990 and 2012. Major emitters such as the USA and Australia did not accept these targets. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other analysts have shown that even if the targets set by Kyoto were met, the climate crisis would not have been sufficiently tackled.
Following the announcement by International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Ocampo-Moreno of the application to the Court for an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar El-Bashir on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur, the African Union (AU) chair, Tanzania, has said that any attempt to arrest the Sudanese President would derail efforts to find a lasting solution to the conflict. The AU added that ‘the move would also affect the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in the Southern Sudan and the efforts to solve Sudan-Chad crisis’. A special report of the Executive Council of the AU states that "African states can lodge diplomatic protests objecting to the abuse of universal jurisdiction by some states, especially where a right of diplomatic protection may be more appropriate to proceed in cases concerning nationals of the states concerned". The Ugandan government has suggested that the AU Peace and Security Council investigate the alleged crimes against humanity committed by Sudanese President. Furthermore, the AU has urged the United Nations (UN) Security Council to defer the ICC process. Arab League criticisms and almost daily demonstrations in Sudan against the ICC have added weight to that call. ‘While transitional justice may be necessary and important, judicial approaches have been accused of endangering fragile peace processes by threatening the perpetrators, while some fear that non-judicial means let murderers get away.’ Lessons from other African countries remain invaluable to countries seeking peace with justice, in this vein, former representative of the UN high commissioner for human rights in Liberia, Dorota Gierycz, shares her experiences of transitional justice mechanisms in Liberia in an interview with IRIN. Meanwhile, the UN-AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) forces, which was expected to be 26,000 strong, now totals 8,000. The announcement came as UNAMID welcomed 172 Chinese military engineers.
The reaction of the African blogosphere to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by President Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai outlining a framework for talks on Zimbabwe's political crisis has ranged from guarded optimism to outright condemnation.
Dibussi Tande reviews:
This report from Liberian-based Stop Firestone coalition member, the Save My Future Foundation, details human rights, labor and environmental abuses on the Firestone rubber plantation in Liberia. The report is an update of SAMFU's 2005 report on Firestone.The report is also one of the first examinations of the role that several different security forces operating on the plantation play in violating the rights of workers, their families and communities surrounding the plantation.
There has been a continuing debate amongst grass root Kenyans as to what is truly causing the high food prices. Theories proposed have ranged from there having been poor harvests due to lack of rain; and the after-effect of the post-elections violence and displacement; the disappearance of traditional foods from the farmers’ options of crops and that the food crisis is a global problem.While there may be some truth in these factors, Kenyans nevertheless see a clear link between the high food prices and corruption.
Tasintha Programme and Equality Now sponsored and organized a 3 day regional African Conference from 20-22 June 2008 in Lusaka Zambia. The Conference - with participants from Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe - gave organizations and survivors of commercial sexual exploitation the opportunity to share their experiences and strategies in working to end the trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of women and girls.
Remember Goldenberg! Cost Kenya 10% Of GDP. The final opinion on the evidence reviewed is that although the above were criminal actions of an economic nature, they could only have succeeded with the necessary political backing they were provided with by officers of state who flagrantly violated the basic rules by which they were bound in virtue of their positions.
The Third EQUINET Regional Conference on Equity in Health in east and southern Africa will be held at Speke Conference Centre, Munyonyo, Kampala, Uganda September 23rd -25th 2009. The conference theme 'Reclaiming the Resources for Health: Building Universal People Centred Health Systems in East and Southern Africa' highlights the opportunities we seek to highlight for improving health equity in east and southern Africa.
On the heels of yet another G8 summit the global hand-wringing about the crisis of African development lumbers ahead with its parade of conferences, commissions and concerts proclaiming support for the poor from the seats of power. Conspicuously absent from the spectacle of solidarity is any acknowledgement of history. In fact, the discourse and politics of the West’s relationship with the African continent is deliberately, decidedly and dangerously a-historical.
Like the small boy watching the parade, who exclaims that the emperor has no clothes, Gerald Caplan has written a small but powerful book to expose this latest betrayal of Africa: the denial of context and history. A Canadian scholar and political activist with a life-long commitment to justice and African development, Caplan has made a much needed intervention in debates about Africa’s future. His book, The Betrayal of Africa, asserts that history matters, for understanding the present in which we live, and for finding ways forward to the future we desire.
Africa faces the greatest challenges of any region in tackling extreme poverty, which afflicts the lives of millions on the continent. Despite stronger economic growth, more than 40 per cent of the population of Africa still lives on less than $1 a day, and education and health systems are inadequate in many areas. The Millennium Village in Ruhiira, Uganda shows how modest inputs can enable communities to improve their lives and livelihoods.
Opening new opportunities for women is a key to development, as well to strengthen efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. In Nigeria, where cultural attitudes and traditional beliefs often circumscribe women’s roles and hinder access to training and education, a women’s project is changing lives.
According to a report appearing in the South China Morning Post, Beijing authorities are secretly planning to ban black people and others it considers social undesirables from entering the city’s bars during the Olympic Games, a move that would contradict the official slogan, “One World, One Dream”. Bar owners near the Workers’ Stadium in central Beijing say they have been forced by Public Security Bureau officials to sign pledges agreeing not to let black people enter their premises.
Human Rights Watch is pleased to invite you to a news conference to be held in Nairobi on July 28, 2008. Researcher Ben Rawlence will present the findings and recommendations of a new Human Rights Watch report on Kenya: “All the Men Have Gone: War Crimes in Kenya’s Mt. Elgon District.”
This is a vivid study of the day-to-day experience of living in a working class neighbourhood on the Cape Flats. It deals with issues of criminality and the search for dignity in a harsh, economically depressed urban landscape. Gangs are the main focus of the study, but gang members are presented on a broader canvas as family members, neighbourhood friends, members of sports clubs, employees. Within this intensely claustrophobic world devout Christians and Muslims, drug dealers, cops, gangsters and welfare workers all rub shoulders.
On 11 May of this year, representatives of 18 African Human Rights NGOs meeting in Maputo, Mozambique, to participate in the World Organisation Against Torture
(OMCT) African regional seminar on the economic, social and cultural root causes of torture drafted and adopted the Maputo Declaration Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. In this document, the seminar participants - representing organisations from various countries in Africa - express their extreme concern at the erosion of the absolute prohibition against torture and urge concerted action at both national and international levels to bring an end to this practice.
The soldiers in the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) will be the first men to benefit from a government policy to use male circumcision as a tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS, according to senior health officials. Early in 2008, the Rwandan Ministry of Health declared its intention to include circumcision – scientifically proven to reduce a man's risk of contracting the virus from an infected sexual partner by as much as 60 percent – in its HIV prevention programmes. The voluntary circumcision programme is expected to start in August.
The article, , provokes some important things to think about when engaging in the victim's rights work around SGBV...It is not as simple as giving voice in the courtroom...Hopefully more resources can be put into the day to day support activities that are desperately needed.
Thank you so much for your enlightening article, . Now some of us are actually able to analyse the issue of xenophobia with important background information that which we had no knowledge about. i must say, it was very informative and educative!
Certainly I agree with your analysis in . But I just wish that this whole grievance v. grievance contest could be avoided in favor of the candidates' stands on the issues.
I personally am more 'radical' than either of them, and perhaps there's not enough difference between them on issues such as war, global warming, emptying the prisons and other social issues to make a choice, but with Hilary's known history of NAFTA-backing, kicking mothers off welfare rolls with no good substitute-backing, bombing Kosovo (even, reportedly, to using nuclear weapons)-backing, among other things, I can find no way to relate to her as a woman, let alone a candidate for anything. None of the progressive women I know can stand her - we feel she still doesn't know now what she "didn't know then"!
I'm hoping that Obama is more progressive than he's daring to say, in order to get elected. This is looking dubious in light of some of the 'advisors' he's calling on: Madeline Albright!; Robert Rubin!, etc. Let's hope he's taking their advice as what not to do!
As a collective of concerned organizations and individuals, the Resist AFRICOM campaign is comprised of organizations and individuals that are dedicated to speaking out against this extension of the military industrial complex. It is imperative that those of us that care about various wars in Africa show our support of this campaign. Whether it be the pending war in the Niger Delta or the continous tragedies in the Congo, Sudan or Somalia, it is time we come together to say: enough is enough! AFRICOM is currently staged in Stuggart, Germany and as of October 2007, it is scheduled to be a fully functional military command in October 2008.
The debate is no longer whether to use information and communication technologies (ICT) in education in Africa but how to do so, and how to ensure equitable access for teachers and learners, whether in urban or rural settings. This is a book about how Africans adopt and adapt ICT. It is also about how ICT shape African schools and classrooms.
The African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) will be attending the XVII International Aids Conference in Mexico, August 3rd- 8th. Activities AWDF will be involved in at the Mexico conference include the press launch of a progress document on the achievements of our HIV/AIDS fund since it’s inception in November 2005.
In the republic of innovation, life is unfair. A relatively small number of places — all in wealthy countries or in China and India — create nearly every important technological advance. Consider Wilfred Mworia, a 22-year-old engineering student and freelance code writer in Nairobi, Kenya. In the four weeks leading up to Apple’s much-anticipated release of a new iPhone on July 11, Mr. Mworia created an application for the phone that shows where events in Nairobi are happening and allows people to add details about them.
The application by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a warrant of arrest for Sudanese President Omar Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur creates both big opportunities and big risks for peace in Sudan.
These are the first charges of genocide and the first charges against a head of state to be brought before the ICC. The judges will now have to weigh the Prosecutor’s evidence and decide – a process that could take some months– whether to issue the arrest warrant.
EU foreign ministers have stepped up their pressure against Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean president for almost three decades, by adopting additional sanctions against his regime. The fresh sanctions will see travel restrictions and a financial embargo imposed on 37 people and four companies connected to Robert Mugabe. Similar measures against 131 Zimbabwean officials have already been in place for some time.
Here is the full text of the Memorandum of Understanding signed today by the ruling Zanu PF party and the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change, one led by Morgan Tsvangirai and the other by Professor Arthur Mutambara. The historic signing was on Monday 21 July, 2008.
This report aims to shed light on how innovative solutions have arisen at the local level to address sustainable development challenges in Africa. The case studies in the volume identify the determinants of success, ongoing problems and unfinished business, and the scope for replication. The report is a contribution to the background documentation for the 16th and 17th sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development, which has Africa as one thematic focus. Its preparation is the result of a fruitful dialogue and interaction between the UN Secretariat and practitioners in the field in Africa.
The Development Worker will work as a Child Welfare Programme Development Adviser with the organisation to help build its capacity in organisational development (OD), effective programme design, planning and management, fundraising, networking, and marketing the organisation. S/he will also support the building of capacity in ZNCWC’s membership, including through the development of trainings / training materials so that the membership become more effective in responding to the needs of children
The Batsirai Group is a Zimbabwean non-governmental organisation working to strengthen community responses to HIV and AIDS. Following a successful one and half year placement focussing on community mobilisation, organisational learning as well as participatory monitoring and evaluation, the organisation is currently seeking to consolidate its work in promoting community participation in HIV and AIDS interventions among its target beneficiary communities. The Programme Adviser will therefore assist in strengthening systems documentation, knowledge management, Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials production and dissemination.
I hope you have all seen reporting over the past few days about the video of the shooting of Ashraf Abu Rahma in the Palestinian town of Ni'lin and the obvious abusive use of force by the Israeli Occupation Forces. If not, briefly, Rahma was handcuffed, blindfolded, beaten, and eventually shot at close range by a rubber coated steel bullet fired by an IOF soldier. The event was documented by a 14 year old girl who captured this human rights abuse on video from the window of her home. The video shows that Rahma was handcuffed and blindfolded when he was shot, and clearly identifies the face of the soldier who shot him. Residents of Ni’lin have since seen this soldier, who continued to serve his unit in Ni’lin. The shooting took place in the presence of a lieutenant colonel, who held Rahma’s arm as the soldier deliberately fired the shot.
As the petition notes: "The shooting of Ashraf Abu Rahma is consistent with the abuse that Palestinians suffer at the hands of the IOF, and consistent with the abuse that the people of Ni'lin suffer as they exercise their basic human right to protest against the construction of the illegal apartheid wall that is being built on their land....."
The petition demands that the soldier in question, his lieutenant commander, and all others involved in this incident are brought to justice. This shouldn't even be a question.
Please consider signing the petition and please circulate as they need as many signatures as possible within this week.
Video can be watched at: [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/
The Joint Working Group (JWG) a network representing 24 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) organizations throughout South Africa was outraged by a column that appeared in the Sunday Sun on 20 July 2008 (Call me names, but gay is not ok) that is filled with hate speech against lesbian and gay people.
Women, Ink., a project of the International Women's Tribune Centre, is urgently seeking new publications about various gender and development issues - with a special focus on those produced in the last three years by small independent and women's presses and information-producing groups in the Global South.
In line with the Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)’s information blitz activities programme, we will now be sending you a weekly update on the service delivery situation and other related issues in Harare. This alert will be titled ‘Harare Last Week’ and will be sent to you every week. This is the first issue of the ‘Harare Last Week; 13-19 July 2008’.
The Kenya Government was jolted into action by the rising cases of student riots with Education minister Sam Ongeri chairing a crisis meeting with key players in the sector. As the key leaders in the education and security sectors were seeking a solution to the crisis that has affected over 300 schools in the last one month, Tourism minister Najib Balala said the ban on caning should be lifted.
The Proteus Fund is seeking a strong program leader for the National Security Human Rights (NSHR) Collaborative Fund, our collaborative program supporting work to restore human rights and promote progressive national security policy. The Program Officer reports to the Proteus Fund Executive Director.
Every year, SOAWR, which is a regional network of 26 civil society organizations and development partners across Africa working towards the promotion and protection of women’s human rights in Africa, attends. During the Summit, SOAWR challenges the host country to sign, ratify and/or domesticate the AU Protocol on Women’s Rights. Following the Regional consultation strategy on the same held in Tunisia, 2007, SOAWR took up the lead once again and sent press releases and other material to its members and stakeholders in the process urging Egypt, the host for the AU Summit 2008, to ratify the protocol.
Equality Now, an international human rights organization dedicated to ending violence and discrimination against women globally, is seeking to recruit a Program Officer, who will assist the Nairobi Office Director with program work and specifically in the areas of managing a fund for grassroots activism to end female genital mutilation (FGM), helping draft and publish Awaken, a semi-annual newsletter that addresses FGM, and research and campaign related to the legal defense of adolescent girls in Africa. Applications must reach Equality Now by 31 July 2008. Equality Now will unfortunately only be able to respond to short-listed candidates.
The Africa Youth Trust is seeking to recruit programme officer for its East African Youth Reinventing A Democratic And Human Rights Culture And Centering Youth Voices In Regional Law Making programme. Attached are the Terms of Reference and requirements needed for the post. CV can be emailed directly to [email][email protected] Application closes on 5th August 2008 at 4:00pm local time.
At the forefront of feminist publishing in South Africa for 20 years, the Agenda journal raises debate around women’s rights and gender issues. The journal encourages critical thinking, debate and social activism and strengthens the capacity of women and men to challenge gender discrimination and injustices.
The IBSS/SAPSE accredited and peer reviewed journal will be published in mid-November 2008. We invite contributors from all over the African continent and other countries in the South to write on the above-mentioned topics from either a research or an activism perspective. Please submit no later than 6 August 2008.
The Kenya Government will start implementing the Ndung’u report on irregular land allocation from next week, Lands Minister James Orengo has announced. Orengo said he has studied the report and does not need to consult Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki or form another commission to implement it.
Teachers’ unions are now asking the Government to shut down all secondary schools to end the mayhem, but Education Minister Sam Ongeri has ruled this out, saying it would postpone the problem. The unionists called for tough measures as one more student died in Western Province, more schools were closed and striking students arraigned in court, with no sign of let-up in the chaos that has paralysed secondary education.
The Rwandan government has made notable progress in reforming its judicial system since 2004, but fair trial is still not assured, said Human Rights Watch in a newly released report. The 113-page report,“Law and Reality: Progress in Judicial Reform in Rwanda,” examines changes to the judicial system adopted over the past four years. The report documents reforms including the abolition of capital punishment, but identifies continuing areas of concern.
We are writing to urge you to take decisive action on the problem of violence against children, and specifically corporal punishment in schools and in other settings. We believe that in your new role as Minister of Education, you will have a crucial function in improving the future of young Kenyans and protecting their rights.
Tens of thousands of civilians are still unable to return to the contested town of Abyei, two months after half of the town was destroyed in fighting, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. A Human Rights Watch investigation in June 2008 documented the deaths of at least 18 civilians in the fighting in mid-May, most of them deliberately killed by Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) or allied militia.
Climate change has a profound effect on food security in Africa, as increasing temperatures and shifting rain patterns reduce access to food across the continent. This transpired at a conference on global warming and climate change July 21-July 24 in Cape Town, South Africa. The discussion was organised by South Africa’s Fynbos Foundation, which aims to realise investment in the media, publishing, arts and culture sectors, and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University in the United States.
South Africa’s award-winning multilingual software developer, Translate.org.za, has been awarded a grant by the Mozilla Corporation to extend its translation tools. The US-based Mozilla Corporation, a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, co-ordinates the development of popular Internet software projects such as the Firefox web browser and the Thunderbird email client.
The scientific evidence is now overwhelming: climate change is a serious global threat and it demands an urgent global response. It currently affects and will affect basic elements of life for people around the world – access to water, food and livestock production, health and the environment. Hundreds of people could suffer hunger, water shortages and coastal flooding as the world warms.
The World Bank overstated its commitment to environmental projects since 1990, possibly by billions of dollars, an internal watchdog group reported on Tuesday. The bank's official estimate for commitments to programs specifically aimed at helping the environment is US$59 billion from fiscal 1990 to 2007, according to the Independent Evaluation Group.
As the Zimbabwean government and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) prepare to enter power-sharing talks, Amnesty International called on both parties to ensure there are no pardons for those who committed human rights violations in the post-election period. “There can be no lasting political solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe without addressing past human rights violations. While human rights violations must end immediately, investigations must be carried out and alleged perpetrators brought to justice,” said Amnesty International.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed the release of Tunisian journalist and human rights activist Slim Boukhdir. Boukhdir, who has been the frequent target of harassment by Tunisian authorities, on Monday was released early from a one-year prison sentence.
The first women lawyers association in Somalia has been established in the Somaliland region with the help of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). “It will take time for the male-dominated legal profession to understand and accept the importance of women lawyers in society,” Antonia Lulvey, UNDP’s judiciary project manager, said.
Displaced people this week began returning to their homes in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with the help of the United Nations refugee agency. Five boats chartered by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ferried the first group of 712 people – from a settlement for internally displaced persons (IDPs) at Tchomia – across Lake Albert to the town of Gobu in the Ituri district of DRC's Orientale province.
Human rights officials with the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have expressed serious concern about the living conditions in the Mbuji Mayi central prison, where at least 26 prisoners have died from severe and acute malnutrition since February. In the latest incident at the prison, located in Kasaï Oriental province, four prisoners died of hunger last week, bringing the total number of deaths in one month to 10.
The National Congress for the Defense of the Congolese People (CNDP) rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda (photo) is reportedly provoking fights against other militia groups and causing instability in the restive North Kivu province. Meanwhile, President Joseph Kabila's government has accused the rebel group of going on rampage and executing civilians whom they claim to be members of other militias in the area.
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni says that his government will not hold further negotiations with the Lord Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony. The President made the remarks shortly after meeting the First Vice President of Sudan General Salva Kiir who is in Uganda on an official visit. What remains is for him to sign the peace agreement,” Mr. Museveni stresses.
Potato farmers forming part of the Western Free State Seed Growers (Pty) Ltd, in Christiana have identified farm workers skills development as a key requirement for agricultural economic growth in South Africa. The farmers in partnership with government’s AgriSETA and a private owned company, Media Works have embarked on an Adult Basic Education and Training (Abet) meant to provide adult basic education and training to permanently employed farm workers in different national languages as well as numeracy skills.
As members of Zimbabwe’s political elite finally sat down for talks in South Africa on Thursday, many of their fellow citizens who sought refuge in the country are facing deportation back to the homes they fled as a result of political violence.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ruling party will not accept a power-sharing deal that fails to recognise his re-election or seeks to reverse his land reform programme, a state-owned newspaper said on Friday. The conditions, which the Herald newspaper said were agreed at a ZANU-PF politburo meeting earlier this week, could dim prospects for a deal at negotiations between Mugabe's party and two factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.
A Darfur rebel faction that has a pact with Sudan's government accused the army on Friday of bombing a village this week even while President Omar Hassan al-Bashir was in the region making a call for peace. Tension has grown in Darfur since the International Criminal Court's prosecutor said on July 14 he would seek an arrest warrant for Bashir for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
A journalist working for French radio in Niger must remain in prison after the country's prosecutor appealed on Friday against a court order this week dismissing charges of collaboration with rebels, a judge said. Moussa Kaka, who works for French state-owned Radio France International (RFI), has spent 10 months in prison. The charges against him have twice been dismissed only for the prosecutor to appeal both times against the freeing of the journalist.
Cape Town researchers have announced plans to launch a pre-exposure prophylaxis (Prep) HIV prevention trial among men in the city. Prep is a therapy taken to prevent, rather than to treat, an infection or illness, and it is one strategy being studied by the University of Cape Town’s Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, as part of its effort to develop new HIV prevention tools.
With an HIV prevalence of 19 percent -- the highest in the world -- AIDS is having an unprecedented impact on Swaziland. Life expectancy has fallen from 60 years to 31 years, the world's lowest figure, and one in three children are orphaned or left vulnerable from AIDS. Last year, about 40 percent of the population needed food aid.
In a twist of realism, a new feature film, "Johnny Mad Dog", uses a cast of actual ex-child soldiers from Liberia to portray the violent lives of youth forced to participate in armed conflict. The original script was adapted from Emmanuel Dongala's acclaimed book "Johnny Chien Mechant". Johnny, 15, and his small commando unit comprised of young boys ages 6 to 15, rip through an unnamed African country, terrorising and slaying everything in their path.
Cinema in all its diversity will once again be celebrated at the 29th Durban International Film Festival which runs from 23 July to 3 August. Featuring more than 200 films from more than 95 countries, spread over more than 300 screenings at 26 venues across the city, the festival will bring together established masters of cinema and innovative new talents from around the world.
Cancer care in Africa faces the same challenges as general healthcare, but also needs local data and targeted solutions, says Twalib Ngoma. African countries face many challenges when providing health services in general, and care of cancer patients in particular. Financial constraints are one obvious barrier. But many others exist, and need to be understood by anyone seeking to improve the situation.
The fight against corruption in Southern Africa needs tougher laws against bribery and fraud, more transparent political financing, cleaner public procurement and a stronger judiciary, according to seven studies just conducted across the region in the second half of 2007.
TI-France and the SHERPA Association have reported that a law suit was filed at the Court of Paris on Wednesday 9 July, relating to the circumstances under which huge real estate and financial capital was acquired in France by Denis Sassou Nguesso, Omar Bongo, Téodoro Obiang, Blaise Compaoré, Eduardo Dos Santos and their close associates or families.
According to the UNICEF Humanitarian Action Report 2008, there are 16,000 children aged under 14 living with HIV in Lesotho and an estimated 180,000 children orphaned or made vulnerable by AIDS. Some of these children have been forced by the circumstances to head their families and yet there is no programme in place to educate them about HIV.
According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Congo has continued to feel the effects of a decade-long brutal civil war that ended in 2003, displaced millions of people and ravaged the economy. The war left in its wake thousands of children without birth certificates, young girls with babies from unknown fathers, and child soldiers needing demobilisation and reintegration into civil society.
The urban poor in the Horn of Africa are the new face of hunger in a region where up to 14.6 million people now require humanitarian assistance due to poor rains, high food and fuel prices, conflict, animal disease, inflation and poverty.
The persistent and increasing outbreaks of violence against members of the gay community in Africa are jeopardising efforts undertaken to combat HIV, both within this group and across the population as a whole, AIDS activists warned at a recent meeting in Limbé, Cameroon.
The government's campaign to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child is failing pregnant HIV-positive women in Kenya's remote rural areas. A shortage of testing sites and trained medical staff in rural areas means many of these women are unaware of their status and that their babies are at risk of contracting the virus.
The return of over 4,000 Mauritanian refugees who have been living in exile in Senegal for almost two decades has been smooth on the whole, but in some cases tensions are arising as refugees complain about their new living conditions and come up against difficulties in reclaiming their land.
Mali's government and Tuareg rebels reached aceasefire agreement on Monday to end almost a year of sporadic clashes in the country's vast northern desert, Algeria's official APS news agency said. The truce came after four days of talks in the Algerian capital, Algiers, between government envoys and members of the rebel Democratic Alliance for Change mediated by Algeria's ambassador to Mali, Abdelkrim Ghrib.
The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Tuesday denounced the alleged embezzlement of $1,3-billion by public companies and finance officials. The embezzlement was revealed following a public audit.
Uganda President Yoweri Museveni already looks set to win re-election in 2011, ensuring stability for the fast-growing economy despite concerns about democracy under one of Africa's longest-serving rulers. News that the 64-year-old former rebel will stand again has found favour with investors hungry for opportunities in emerging markets, but confounded opponents who have criticised his increasingly autocratic leadership style.
Pambazuka News 384: Zimbabwe: Hunger, terror, displacement and death
Pambazuka News 384: Zimbabwe: Hunger, terror, displacement and death
In 2006, Mimi Cherono Ng'ok, a young Kenyan-born photographer chose to document immigrants from different African countries living in Cape Town, South Africa. Her interest in this project was sparked by the attacks of the Somali community who were living in Cape Town in 2006.
This report is the result of a participatory survey of 512 children aged from 7 to 14 years from ten regions in Mainland Tanzania. Children want and need to be heard – they can provide a valuable perspective which should be taken into account by adults. As the ‘consumers’ of education, children provide useful information for those working for and with children – from policy makers to teachers. This report contains their opinions on a range of issues relating to education, such as school services (including healthcare, water supply and food), textbooks, performance by teachers, discipline, extra charges, and their desired improvements to education.