---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Pambazuka Editor <[email protected]> Date: Thu, May 26, 2011 at 9:29 PM Subject: Pambazuka News 531: Lessons from the uprisings To: pambazuka-news <[email protected]>
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 531: LESSONS FROM THE UPRISINGS The authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa Pambazuka News (English edition): ISSN 1753-6839 CONTENTS: 1. Features, 2. Announcements, 3. Comment & analysis, 4. Tributes to Tajudeen, 5. Advocacy & campaigns, 6. Pan-African Postcard, 7. Obituaries, 8. Books & arts, 9. Letters & Opinions, 10. Highlights French edition /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 1 Features TUNISIAN REVOLUTION DID NOT COME OUT OF NOWHERE Sadri Khiari Béatrice Hibou speaks to France-based Tunisian dissident and intellectual Sadri Khiari about the roots of the Tunisian revolution and why no-one saw it coming. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73574 ****** LESSONS FROM THE UPRISINGS IN THE MAGHREB Gustave Massiah The revolutionary uprisings underway across the Maghreb region offer five initial lessons, says Gustave Massiah. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73571 ****** POLITICAL PERSPECTIVES FOR EGYPTIAN SOCIALISM Egyptian Socialist Party The newly formed Egyptian Socialist Party brings together supporters of the country’s transition into a socialist society to work together to develop a coherent strategy to ‘guide the people in the right direction’. In the following paper, the party sets out its perspectives and goals. The Egyptian Socialist Party will be launched in Cairo on 18 June. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73565 ****** ALGERIA: TOWARDS A COMMON HISTORY Smaïl Goumeziane While 50 years have passed since Algeria achieved independence from France, Algerians still lack a cohesive historical narrative of their past, writes Smaïl Goumeziane. Though fraught with difficulty, working towards such a history would go some way towards challenging ‘wars of memory’ and ‘selective amnesia’, Goumeziane stresses. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73575 ****** HOW MIGHT THINGS MOVE FORWARD IN LIBYA? Yash Tandon NATO’s (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) sustained assault on Libya ought to lead to calls for its leaders’ prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC), writes Yash Tandon, though ‘we know this will not happen’. A new regime run by ‘the people’, Tandon stresses, will merely see itself at the service of empire, helping to ensure access to oil, shore up Europe against refugees and bolster the region against forces deemed threatening such as Hamas and Iran; the challenge remains for Libyans themselves to sort out their differences and unite. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73566 ****** TUNISIA: THE ‘LAND OF FREE PEOPLE’ Amanda Sebestyen As the weaponless people who made the Tunisian revolution organise to fill the dangerous gap between the fall of the dictatorship and the election on July 24th, Amanda Sebestyen joins a delegation of the World Social Forum to witness the changes. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73589 ****** MEMORIES ON AFRICAN LIBERATION (1956 - 1975): PART 2 Helmi Sharawy In Part 1 ( http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73404 ) of this two-part article, Helmi Sharawy took Pambazuka News back to 1950s Cairo, remembering the host of African liberation movements that had offices in the Egyptian city. This week he details the disillusionment that came with the series of post-independence coups, the implications of the 1967 and 1973 wars with Israel and Nasser's eventual death. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73569 ****** HYPOCRITICAL WASHINGTON RAISES MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS Can democracy activists undo US and IMF damage? Patrick Bond ‘[P]olitical reconciliation between Washington and fast-rising Arab democrats is impossible,’ writes Patrick Bond, as civil society reformers in Palestine express their disgust with Barack Obama’s 19 May policy speech on the Middle East and North Africa. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73559 ****** BEYOND THE PRIVATISATION OF LIBERATION Horace Campbell As Africa celebrates Africa Liberation Day this week, the great challenge for the continent’s peoples remains liberation from privatisation, writes Horace Campbell. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73591 ****** THE IGBO GENOCIDE AND 5 JUNE 1969 Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe Reflecting on the availability of documentary sources, Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe discusses the history of the Igbo genocide. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73562 ****** SWAZI WORKERS STEP UP CHALLENGE TO ROYAL ELITE Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU) Following a series of mass actions in November, March and April, Swazi workers are putting their movement to end ‘exclusive control’ of Swaziland’s economy by royal elites onto the global agenda, with a solidarity conference that will take place during the International Labour Conference in Geneva in June. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73555 ****** SOUTH AFRICA: ON DEMOCRACY Richard Pithouse South Africans are told that voting is all about making their ‘own choice’, but in most cases, it’s ‘a very limited choice between two competing factions of the elite that are equally invested in scaling back people’s legitimate aspirations for a just society into an insanely unequal society contained with state violence, new forms of spatial segregation and “service delivery”’, observes Richard Pithouse. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73561 ****** PUT YOUR SHOES INTO MY SHOES >From the poor man to the rich man to conciliate the grounds of where we come from Sharon and Conway Payn Sharon and Conway Payn from the Symphony Way pavement dwellers discuss the unkept promises the South African government made about housing and their experiences on Symphony Way. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73568 ****** BREAKING BORDERS: EXTRAORDINARY STORIES OF MIGRANTS Deborah Walter Launched on Africa Day (25 May), a new five-part series of radio documentaries chronicling the lives, challenges, dreams and positive contributions of migrants living in South Africa is hitting the airwaves. In ‘Breaking Borders’, five migrants tell their stories of where they came from, what life is like for them in their new home and what their goals are for the future. Keep on reading to find out more and listen to the documentaries online. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73570 ****** SOUTH AFRICA: FRAMING THE HANGBERG UPRISING Aryan Kaganof A documentary made by South African film-makers Dylan Valley and Aryan Kaganof tried to piece together the real story of what happened to the residents of Hangberg, Hout Bay, when police attacked the community and destroyed their homes in a forced eviction in September 2010. But when a magazine interviewed Kaganof about what he discovered, he found that the media still shies from talking truth to power. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73588 ****** ALL ROADS LEAD BACK TO CHINA Khadija Sharife ‘Across Africa, China has become known as the agent of mass construction, wisely bartering infrastructural development … for long-term access to strategic resources,’ writes Khadija Sharife. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73580 ****** FRANÇAFRIQUE: WE’LL GO WHEN WE’VE FINISHED Sokari Ekine The impact of climate change on women in Ethiopia, questionable carbon credit and biofuels schemes, a Liberian activist’s work with child soldiers, and France’s commercial ties to its former colonies are among the topics covered in this week’s round-up of the African blogosphere, compiled by Sokari Ekine. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73572 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 2 Announcements EVENT: WOMEN AND SECURITY GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA UK book launch Pambazuka Press and The Africa Centre invite you to: Women and Security Governance in Africa ( http://bit.ly/jbJAd0 ) In the field of international security, discussions about women and children are usually marginalised. But is it possible to achieve human security without placing women at the centre of the policy agenda? Discussion with Funmi Olonisakin, Awino Okech, Ecoma Alaga and Ekaette Ikpe, chaired by Patricia Daley. The speakers' important new book, Women and Security Governance in Africa ( http://bit.ly/iqOi27 ) , will launched at this event and will be on sale at a reduced launch price of £13.50, discounted from £16.95 Free - All welcome Tuesday 31 May 6pm for 6.30pm The Africa Centre, 38 King Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8JT ( http://bit.ly/iIgvuC ) http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/73554 ****** FAHAMU REFUGEE LEGAL AID NEWSLETTER - JUNE ISSUE Fahamu’s Refugee Programme is pleased to announce the June issue of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter ( http://bit.ly/il4P80 ) , a monthly publication that provides a forum for providers of refugee legal aid. With a focus on the global South, it aims to serve the needs of legal aid providers as well as raise awareness of refugee concerns among the wider readership of Pambazuka News. You can also read the newsletter on our new blog ( http://frlan.tumblr.com ) and Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fahamu-Refugee-Legal-Aid-Newsletter) . ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 3 Comment & analysis DISPATCH FROM TRIPOLI: NATO'S FEAST OF BLOOD Cynthia McKinney ‘[I]t is transparently clear now that NATO has exceeded its mandate, lied about its intentions, is guilty of extra-judicial killings--all in the name of “humanitarian intervention”’, writes Cynthia McKinney from Tripoli. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/73579 ****** BURKINA FASO: PEOPLE NO LONGER AFRAID Pierre Sidy With the country witness to sustained, diverse protests in the face of a repressive and unrepresentative regime, Burkina Faso’s people are no longer scared of their government, writes Pierre Sidy. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/73584 ****** OUTLAWS AND IN-LAWS: WOMEN, WIVES AND MONEY Salma Maoulidi Looking at how Kenya's inheritance laws leave women in the lurch, Salma Maoulidi says it's impossible for African women to celebrate Africa Day when they are ‘not celebrated in the most intimate of spaces’ – their families and communities. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/73576 ****** 419S AND THE AFTERLIFE SCAM Cameron Duodu US preacher Harold Camping conned people into paying him $80 million in donations, by persuading them that the world was ending on 21 May. In the US, Camping is ‘exercising his constitutional right to practise “freedom of religion”,' says Cameron Duodu, but in Nigeria that’s what people call a ‘419’. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/73577 ****** AFRICA: CAUSE LOOKING FOR REBELS Alemayehu G. Mariam Reflecting on the need to challenge power and its abuses, Alemayehu G. Mariam encourages young people in Africa to organise, become politically engaged and work together in defence of human rights. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/73560 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 4 Tributes to Tajudeen A CUBAN POSTCARD FOR AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY Daisy Díaz Daisy Díaz, executive secretary of Cuban-African Friendship Association, sent Pambazuka readers this postcard, commemorating both African Liberation Day and the second anniversary of the passing of Pan-Africanist Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem on 25 May. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Tajudeen/73573 ****** TAJUDEEN’S TRUTH Aaron O'Dowling-Keane 25 May is both African Liberation Day and the anniversary of the sad passing of Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem. Aaron O'Dowling-Keane reflects on Tajudeen’s bold and intelligent insights, his steadfast commitment to Pan-Africanism and the esteem with which he was held. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Tajudeen/73557 ****** TWO LONG YEARS WITHOUT THE BOSS Sonny Onyegbula Sonny Onyegbula pays tribute to Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem some two years after his passing on African Liberation Day. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Tajudeen/73558 ****** HAUWA MEMORIAL COLLEGE: A DYING LEGACY Evelyn Osagie As you arrive at Hauwa Memorial College (HMC), Funtua, Katsina State, you are welcomed into its classrooms with these quotations: ‘Today's struggle is tomorrow's success’; ‘Better die in a quest than be a coward’; ‘A gentleman without policy is like education without certificate...’ and more written by the students. But the words are not the only things that catch your attention. HMC, Funtua, is is in a state of abject disrepair and two years after its founder's death, the place is under the threat of closure, writes Evelyn Osagie http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Tajudeen/73594 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 5 Advocacy & campaigns DECLARATION ON THE CONDITION OF THE AFRICAN CONTINENT Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa (GRILA) 'Several major events have taken place on the African continent since the start of 2011, in a particular global context. Already weakened by its unfavourable historic position in the global system, over the past two decades Africa has endured the horrors of neoliberal austerity measures, the pillage of its resources and the privatisation of warfar. Africa is more than ever at a crossroads because of the failure of the neoliberal model, the crisis of capitalism and the exhaustion of neocolonial modes of growth,'writes GRILA, in a statement to mark African Liberation Day on 25 May. (http://www.grila.org/ald_2011.html) ****** KENYA: 'UNGA-30 BOB' RALLY Bunge La Mwananchi Do you know that you have a constitutional right to eat a healthy meal everyday? Do you know that you have a constitutional right to have a good house? Do you know that the state should pay for you if you are unable to pay for yourself? Why do you allow your human and constitutional rights to be violated? Why do we suffer in silence as our leaders watch? For real answers, join all other Kenyans at: 'Unga-30 Bob' Rally Date: 31 May 2011 Time: 1pm Venue: Outside Harambee House, Harambee Avenue President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga are invited to explain to all Kenyans! Email: [email protected] ****** PETITION: FEMINISTS DEMAND LET JUSTICE BE DONE Bettina Aptheker ‘As feminists, we see the arrest of former International Monetary Fund director Dominique Strauss-Kahn on sexual assault charges as an opportunity to increase public awareness and as a wake-up call to renew action against sexual violence, not only in the US where his arrest occurred and in France, where media and many public figures are portraying him as the victim, but around the world.’Sign a petition ( http://bit.ly/mHmJZi ) demanding ‘freedom from sexual assault and harassment’ for women ‘at all strata of society and in all corners of the globe.’ http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/73590 ****** CRISIS RESOLUTION IN MADAGASCAR CCOC (Collective of Citizens and Civic Organizations) Sceptical about the effectiveness of the ‘roadmap’ being implemented by Madagascar’s ‘de facto authorities’, CCOC (Collective of Citizens and Civic Organizations) has issued a memorandum on resolving the country’s two-year crisis. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/73564 ****** AFTER LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS: EVICTIONS AND INTIMIDATION CONTINUE Abahlali baseMjondolo Following last week's municipal elections in South Africa, Abahlali baseMjondolo have issued a statement on the threat posed by the eThekwini Municipality’s Land Invasion Unit. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/73586 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 6 Pan-African Postcard THE AFRICAN CITY IN EUROPEAN EYES H. Nanjala Nyabola ‘[W]ould it be too much to ask for people to look at the African city and see more than just poverty?’ asks H. Nanjala Nyabola. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/73563 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 7 Obituaries GLENN COWLEY: AN APPRECIATION OF A SOUTH AFRICAN PUBLISHER Robert Molteno South African publisher Glenn Cowley, who ran the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press in the period 1998-2009, has passed away. Robert Molteno pays tribute. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/73553 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 8 Books & arts ‘OUR SOUTH AFRICA MOMENT HAS FINALLY ARRIVED’ Review of 'Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions' by Omar Barghouti Estelle Cooch In a review of Omar Barghouti’s 'Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions', Estelle Cooch praises the author’s profiling of the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement, mixing of the analytical with the anecdotal and emphasis on Palestinian agency. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/73556 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 9 Letters & Opinions DE-POLITICISING THE PROJECT OF UNITY Claudia Wegener radio continental drift Cultural worker Claudia Wegener reflects on what the ideas of politicisation raised by Mahmood Mamdani’s ‘An African reflection on Tahrir Square’ might mean in a UK and global context. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/73587 ****** ENRAGED BY THE TREATMENT OF HAITIANS Janice Karson Travelling to Haiti every year to provide people with medical care, registered nurse Janice Karson is shocked to find that aid workers refuse to help Haitians in areas they see as ‘too dangerous’. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/73583 ****** LIBYA: ON DEMOCRACY, DESTRUCTION AND DIPLOMACY Seth Ofori ‘The current Libya invasion by the West is absolute portrayal of their failed impracticable democratic ideologies,’ writes Seth Ofori, in response to an article by Jean-Paul Pougala. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/73582 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 10 Highlights French edition PAMBAZUKA NEWS 190: LESSONS FROM THE 'ARAB SPRING' http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/issue/190 Lessons from the uprisings in the Maghreb ( http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/73552 ) Gustave Massiah South Africa and Palestine: Civil resistance and conflict resolution ( http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/73522 ) Nathalie Janne d’Othée Conference on racism: How will it play out? ( http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/features/73521 ) Mireille Fanon Mendès France ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 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 ) . 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