---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Pambazuka Editor <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Mar 1, 2012 at 11:55 PM Subject: Pambazuka News 572: Calls for freedom and the drums of war To: pambazuka-news <[email protected]>
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 572: CALLS FOR FREEDOM AND THE DRUMS OF WAR The authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa Pambazuka News is delivered free to you with the support of donations from Friends of Pambazuka. KEEP PAMBAZUKA FREE AND INDEPENDENT! BECOME A FRIEND OF PAMBAZUKA NOW! http://www.pambazuka.org/en/friends.php Follow Pambazuka @pambazuka Pambazuka News (English edition): ISSN 1753-6839 CONTENTS: 1. Features, 2. Announcements, 3. Advocacy & campaigns, 4. Obituaries, 5. Books & arts, 6. Letters & Opinions, 7. African Writers’ Corner, 8. Cartoons /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 1 Features DARING TO INVENT THE FUTURE: THE FRIENDS OF PAMBAZUKA ARE GATHERING! Firoze Manji What do Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, South Africa, Nigeria, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Japan, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Canada, the Netherlands, the UK, and the USA have in common? http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80402 ****** DRUMBEATS OF WAR: ISRAEL’S DANGEROUS BRINKMANSHIP Horace Campbell The Obama administration has been complicit in the support for the expansionist policies of Israel. In this current economic and financial crisis a war with Iran will not only be about Iran: It will have global implications. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80368 ****** SOLIDARITY AND ITS DISCONTENTS Raha Iranian Feminist Collective Acts of solidarity across borders must be based on building relationships with activists in disparate locations, understanding the different issues and conditions of struggle various movements face, and on exchanges of support among grassroots activists rather than governments. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80345 ****** HOW MEDIATOR SIDETRACKED THE OPPOSITION IN SENEGAL On the Obasanjo-led AU-ECOWAS election observer mission Hawa Ba It can be argued that the opposition was the main looser in the so-called mediation initiative by former Nigerian President Obasanjo. Obasanjo also kept M23 busy enough to abandon street demonstrations that had become a daily occurrence. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80359 ****** LONDON CONFERENCE STRIPS SOMALIAN SOVEREIGNTY Mohamud M. Uluso Donor nations and regional partners gathered in London last week for a British-sponsored conference. The results are unlikely to solve the Somalian quagmire. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80361 ****** KENYA: OUTLAWED GROUP CALLS FOR SECESSION Kisiangani Emmanuel and Lulu Saida The whole issue mirrors the contradictory relationship between the right to self-determination as enshrined in international law and the principles of state sovereignty and territorial integrity. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80352 ****** IT MIGHT BE MORE USEFUL TO ENGAGE WITH SECESSIONISTS Rasna Warah For more than a century, Kenya’s coastal people have been repeatedly alienated from their land and marginalised from public services, particularly education. Now they want to break away from the rest of the country. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80353 ****** ALL CHARGES AGAINST AYANDA KOTA DROPPED Unemployed People’s Movement Although the charges have been dropped the fact remains that Ayanda was arrested on a bogus charge and assaulted and humiliated in front of his six-year-old son. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80339 ****** NAMIBIA: ETHNIC TENSION IN PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION RACE Ndumba Kamwanyah Namibia has tried to promote national unity and contain the scourge of tribalism, but it hasn’t quite succeeded. Top positions in government and in the ruling party are in the hands of people from one ethnic group. Now voices are being raised against this, as debate on presidential succession gathers pace. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80358 ****** AN UNENDING WELL OF INSPIRATION A tribute to Mangaliso Sobukwe Veli Mbele How it is that a man who gave so much to his people's quest for dignity has become a mere footnote in the contemporary narrative of the liberation struggle? http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80374 ****** THE CALL FOR FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND EQUALITY South African student leader speaks at Israel Apartheid week Mbuyiseni Ndlozi Laws of the world never liberated anybody, say Mbuyiseni Ndlozis in a speech during Israel Apartheid week. Governments are not going to listen to the law, nor will companies. We need to break the silence on Palestine in the interests of freedom, justice and equality. Debates about whether Israel is apartheid or not miss the point. It is a system of separateness at the expense of the people of Palestine who are not even allowed to return home. It is a system enough to makes us angry, it is a violation of fundamental values of freedom, justice and equality. The system offends our values. We have to drink from the cup of freedom and have to courage to mobilise for boycotts, disinvestments and sanctions. Only our voices will make governments and companies listen. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80381 ****** REFORMING NIGERIA’S ‘ELECTORAL REFORM’ Kola Ibrahim The Nigerian constitution and laws disadvantage the poor in terms of setting up their own parties to champion issues that are of interest to them. Any talk of electoral reform that does not address this matter will still leave the country’s politics firmly in the hands of the capitalist class. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80371 ****** WHEN STATE AND MARKET CLIMATE-FAILURES ARE AMPLIFIED BY SOCIETY-FAILURE Patrick Bond Advocating a risky market fix to a massive market failure under circumstances of widespread market melt is the latest version of state failure. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80342 ****** HAITI: ALBA EXPANDS ITS ALLIES IN THE CARIBBEAN William Camacaro When looking at the vast array of reconstruction plans and promises of aid to rebuild Haiti, the old cliché ‘actions speak louder than words’ rings true. But a determined group of Latin American and Caribbean countries is providing speedy and effective support. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80344 ****** WHY MASS INCARCERATION REALLY IS THE NEW JIM CROW Mass incarceration has created an underclass of Black US citizens with fewer rights and more bitter futures than the rest of America. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80357 ****** ‘THE DESTINY OF HAITI IS IN THE HANDS OF ITS CHILDREN’ The challenges facing Haiti are discussed in this Q&A with Ambassador Rodolfo Mattarollo, Special Representative of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Technical Secretariat in Haiti, who was interviewed by Claudia Florentin, the Spanish Editor of the Latin America and Caribbean Communication Agency (ALC). http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80360 ****** THE CLASH OF KENYA’S IDENTITIES Ngunjiri Wambugu Kenya needs to get to a point where intra-national identities do not threaten nationhood. It should not matter what tribe, race, religion, gender, class or age one belongs to. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80398 ****** IDENTITY IN THE AGE OF GLOBALIZATION Dharam Ghai Amidst all the wars, violence, natural catastrophes and personal tragedies that we are surrounded with, pluralistic notions of identity founded on a harmonious blend of universal values with local diversity hold out hopes of a better world. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80376 ****** TURBULENCE AND CLARITY Thoughts around identity and womanhood Nandita Dinesh 'When you believe so much in something, When who you are is so tied up in what you do, What you do begins to redefine who you are'. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/80399 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 2 Announcements LATEST EDITION OF FAHAMU REFUGEE LEGAL AID NEWSLETTER AVAILABLE The March 2012 issue ( http://frlan.tumblr.com/ ) of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid newsletter produced by the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Network is now available on their blog. The latest issue includes the following highlights: - How to apply for asylum in Brazil - Practice Advisory on Interim Memo regarding law students, graduates and other representatives appearing before United States Citizenship and Immigration Services - The importance of psychosocial support in the refugee status determination process - Asylum approval rate in Japan still shockingly low - Changes to refugee system in Canada further undermine refugees - Italy rebuked by European Court after deportations of Somali and Eritrean asylum seekers - Statement on Kenyan Government plan to relocate refugees back to Somalia Deportation news - Syrian refugees in Europe: news from Belgium and Sweden - Syrians in Jordan: Guests, not refugees - Democratic Republic of Congo London embassy staff resign and claim asylum - Open letter from Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers in Djibouti - Letter from the Rwandan Refugee Community in Zambia to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon - Refugees in Brazil denounce ‘exploitation network’ In addition to these articles, the edition also includes: Request for Sahrawi COI expert; Publications; Country of Origin and legal news; Conferences and courses; Info links; Resources; Vacancy announcements; Announcements; and Scholarships for African Commonwealth candidates for University of Oxford part-time masters in International Human Rights Law. Visit http://frlan.tumblr.com/ to read the edition. ****** RADICAL HISTORY REVIEW #119, ‘THE GLOBAL ANTI-APARTHEID ERA: 1946-1994’ Call for Proposals The Radical History Review seeks submissions for an issue on the global politics of the anti-apartheid movement, 1946-1994. The time frame underlines our sense of the global significance of what we call the Anti-apartheid Era, inaugurated by the postwar United Nations Debates on discrimination suffered by Indians in South Africa and culminating in the post-Cold War transition to democracy in South Africa during the 1990s. As we see it, this anti-apartheid era encompasses the evolution of the United Nations, decolonization, the Cold War, the founding of the non-aligned movement at Bandung, the rise [and fall] of Third World solidarity structures, the US Civil Rights Movements, Left-Leaning Revolutions, human rights politics, upheavals of the global Sixties, and the onset of neoliberal globalization and offers new ways of connecting and contextualizing these various developments. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/80362 ****** VOLUNTEER AS A FRENCH-ENGLISH TRANSLATOR FOR PAMBAZUKA NEWS Dear readers, Pambazuka News receives important and interesting articles in French, which we publish in the French edition of the magazine. But we believe these articles should also reach our English-speaking readers, hence the need for translation. We have a small team of volunteer translators, but sometimes they are not available or there are many articles that need translation. This is why we are inviting volunteer translators to join our team. If you enjoy reading Pambazuka News, this is your opportunity to support the magazine by volunteering as a French-English translator. Your help will be greatly appreciated. Please get in touch with the editor via [email protected] EDITOR ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 3 Advocacy & campaigns OGONIS CHARGE SHELL OIL WITH MURDER IN LANDMARK CASE Global Information Network The plaintiffs are relatives of victims murdered by Nigeria’s former military regime which was allegedly recruited by Shell to eliminate the opposition to oil exploration in the Niger Delta. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/80340 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 4 Obituaries KENYAN JOURNALIST AND COMMUNITY LEADER MURDERED John Bwakali A leading member of Kenya Indymedia - whose motto was that 'we are servants of the community' - has been gunned down. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/80364 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 5 Books & arts OPENING PANDORA'S BOX New Report Exposes Land Grabbing by the Extractive Industries & the Devastating Impact this is having on Earth Gaia Foundation The rapid global expansion and acceleration of the extractive industries presents an unprecedented & devastating land grabbing threat, claims a new report being launched in Westminster. The Gaia Foundation’s report, “Opening Pandora’s Box – A New Wave of Land Grabbing by the Extractive Industries and the Devastating Impact on Earth” has been produced in collaboration with GRAIN, the London Mining Network (LMN) and others. It looks at the global trends, dynamics and impacts of the extractive industries on the planets ecosystems and communities. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/80403 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 6 Letters & Opinions BILL GATES' SUPPORT OF GM CROPS IS WRONG APPROACH FOR AFRICA Glenn Ashton Bill Gates' support of genetically modified (GM) crops as a solution for world hunger is of concern to those of us involved in promoting sustainable, equitable and effective agricultural policies in Africa. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/80341 ****** ON THE IGBO GENOCIDE Gerry Caplan Herbert Ekwe Ekwe continues to disseminate his tenaciously held views about what many of us call the Biafran War of the late 1960s. It's important for Pamabazuka readers to know that much of his argument is challenged by most detached students of that terrible war. I hope others will jump into this debate to take on Mr. Ekwe in detail, so let me make only a few points here. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/80365 ****** ON THE IGBO GENOCIDE 2 Gavin Williams It is regrettable that Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe seems to have become the sole commentator on the appalling pogroms of 1966 and the civil war in Nigeria between 1967 and 1970. He is right that those directly responsible for the series of pogroms against Igbos, or for war crimes, have never been held to account and that Nigerians have not yet come to terms with the history of these events and of the war itself. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/80366 ****** ON THE IGBO GENOCIDE 3 Ian Smillie I read Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe's essay in your Issue 571 with dismay. It would be hard to exaggerate the horrors of the Biafran War, but Mr. Ekwe-Ekwe does an excellent job of it. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/80367 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 7 African Writers’ Corner FOR KATONDA AND MUKASA and the people of the lake I come and sit here as often as I can. Beside the lake, under my favourite fig tree. To relax, to contemplate. Or if I have a problem, it is a perfect place to search for solution. Some call it Nyanza, Outsider named it Victoria. We know it as Nnalubaale - We of Buganda. I prefer to come at evening time, when the lake is quieter - momentary visits of silence. Enraptured always; by the orange of sunset - the canvas of the Creator. In my sweet reverie, It's splendour of colour. Of the yellow-backed weaver, The paradise flycatcher. The kingfisher on the branch, dreaming of barbs and dragonfly. The shy situanga, amongst the reeds; one of the most beautiful of antelopes. Fisherman on the lake, Fish eagle above me. Blessed by panorama, A cinema called Rift Valley. There's no place I'd rather be than here. To see a Goliath Heron, prominent on his throne. The spotted-necked otter; the swimming supremo, a connoisseur of crustaceans. Being a farmer, This water's everything to me. The source of my health, The gift of fertility. So I think of Katonda, the Creator. And of Mukasa, guardian spirit of the lake. I thank and praise them, for what they continue to give me. I go to Bubembe Isle, The shrine of Mukasa. To say thank you for banana, For sugar cane and cassava. I speak through a priest or priestess, who we have titled mandwa. They are members of the Njovu clan, whose totem is the elephant. I give thanks for nile perch, And also tilapia. For the white-sand beach, And the woodland savanna. This shrine we call ekiggwa. The residence of the sacred drums. A place of pilgrimage, it's balm of beauty. The stork and the ibis, Buffalo and crocodile. I have a little time now, So I think I'll sit awhile. These moments are very precious to me. And when I leave, I feel refreshed, renewed. Walking home, smiling at the thought, of bouncing around with my son. Whether from Uganda, Tanzania or Kenya; we the people of the lake, are blessed by what Katonda has given us, guarded over by Mukasa. © Natty Mark Samuels, 2012. * BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS * Please do not take Pambazuka for granted! Become a Friend of Pambazuka ( http://www.pambazuka.org/en/friends.php ) NOW and help keep Pambazuka FREE and INDEPENDENT! * Please send comments to editor[at]pambazuka[dot]org - [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News ( http://www.pambazuka.org/ ) . ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 8 Cartoons MUSEVENI AND UGANDA'S NEW OIL WEALTH Gado Everyone in Uganda is enjoying the windfall from oil. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/80401 ****** SENEGAL'S WADE AT 85 Gado Numbers can be pretty confusing at election time. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/80400 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ Fahamu - Networks For Social Justice http://www.fahamu.org Pambazuka News is published by Fahamu Ltd. © Unless otherwise indicated, all materials published are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. For further details see: http://www.pambazuka.org/en/about.php Pambazuka news can be viewed online: English language edition ( http://www.pambazuka.org/en ) Edição em língua Portuguesa ( http://www.pambazuka.org/pt ) Edition française ( http://www.pambazuka.org/fr ) RSS Feeds available at http://www.pambazuka.org/en/newsfeed.php Pambazuka News is published with the support of a number of funders, details of which can be obtained here ( http://www.pambazuka.org/en/about.php ) . To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://pambazuka.gn.apc.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pambazuka-news or send a message to [email protected] with the word SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line as appropriate. The views expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Pambazuka News or Fahamu. 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