I just heard about this shocking story in South Africa and signed a statement in solidarity: The savage attack on Zainub Dala shows the terror of the freedom to use words, and the desire to obliterate them. On Wednesday March 18 author, Zainub Priya Dala was violently attacked as she left her hotel during the…
Showing all posts tagged South Africa
Thoughts and insights from Cape Town's Open Book literary festival
I’ve just returned from Cape Town’s Open Book literary festival where I was a guest speaker. It was a stimulating week of discussions about politics, South Africa’s post 1994 reality, apartheid, Palestine, writing, Africa and much in between. I was warmly welcomed and often provoked by the conversations. One of my sessions was on disaster…
What Mandela teaches Israel (but she isn't listening)
The great Gideon Levy in Haaretz (and one of the finest columns on the death of the great South African, though Jonathan Cook’s dissenting view is vital): South African President Nelson Mandela, in his address for International Solidarity Day with the Palestinian People on December 4, 1997, said: “We know too well that our freedom…
Can divesting in fossil fuel companies help the climate crisis?
The US campaign 350.org aims to lead a public movement against climate change by putting financial and painful pressure on fossil fuel companies that cause climate change. It’s an interesting idea, debated below on Democracy Now!, as similar tactics were used against apartheid South Africa and today’s apartheid Israel:
South Africa pays compensation to apartheid victims
I hear these stories and hope that Israel will be forced to pay compensation to Palestinian victims of its racism in decades to come:
Making the logical connection between apartheid South Africa and today’s Israel
During my recent After Zionism book tour of Israel and Palestine, I had the opportunity to watch the wonderful documentary about Paul Simon’s Graceland album, Under African Skies, and the complex political discussion around apartheid and boycotts against South Africa. Journalist Joseph Dana, writing in The National, looks at the film and places it in…
South Africa applies law against Israel and Jewish state complains
Here’s hoping many other countries follow this lead: Israel… is condemning a new South African regulation requiring that products made in West Bank settlements must be labeled as coming from “occupied… Palestinian… territory.” A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Yigal Palmor, called the requirement “totally unacceptable.” He said, “What is totally unacceptable is the use of tools which, by essence,…
Understanding apartheid South Africa and why it’s relevant today with Israel
I just watched this remarkable documentary, Under African Skies, about Paul Simon and the recording of his legendary Graceland album. It tackles apartheid, Simon’s refusal to abide by the cultural boycott against South Africa and the politics around the issue. It’s highly relevant today – and Simon clearly understands little more today playing in Israel…
Another totally typical day in Israel/Palestine
One (via the Guardian): A belief that every Palestinian child is a potential terrorist may be leading to a “spiral of injustice” and breaches of international law in… Israel‘s treatment of child detainees in military custody, a delegation of eminent British lawyers has concluded in an independent report backed by the Foreign Office. The nine-strong delegation,…
One day soon Israel and its blind defenders will speak like De Klerk
Such an interview brings a sense of melancholy. F.W. de Klerk, the last leader of white South Africa, who joined with Nelson Mandela to bring an end to apartheid and shared a Nobel Peace Prize for their achievement, is interviewed on CNN at a summit of Nobel Laureates in Chicago. Here’s a man who realised…