---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Pambazuka Editor <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2011 18:42:27 +0100 Subject: Pambazuka News 534: Interpreting the 'Arab Spring' To: pambazuka-news <[email protected]>
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 534: INTERPRETING THE 'ARAB SPRING' 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. Advocacy & campaigns, 5. Pan-African Postcard, 6. Obituaries, 7. Letters & Opinions, 8. African Writers’ Corner /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 1 Features 2011: AN ARAB SPRINGTIME? Samir Amin The year 2011 began with a series of shattering, wrathful explosions from the Arab peoples. Is this springtime the inception of a second ‘awakening of the Arab world?', asks Samir Amin. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73902 ****** FAITH AND THE POLITICS OF TERRORISM Ayi Kwei Armah Africa’s intellectual history puts into clear perspective the burning issues of our day, including imperialism, globalisation and the culture of terrorism, argues Ayi Kwei Armah in this article from Global Breaking News ( http://www.globalbreakingnews.com/news/3908/82/Faith-and-the-Politics-of-Terrorism ) . Retrieving that history would 'change our perception of Africa, and our self-perception as Africans, enabling us to leave the suffocating hold in which European domination has locked us.' http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73905 ****** CHILLING THE ARAB SPRING Neoliberal financiers in North Africa and Palestine Patrick Bond ‘There appears to be very little difference in what is being advocated [by the IMF] to Arab democrats today and what was advocated to Arab dictators yesterday,’ writes Patrick Bond. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73932 ****** LIBYA: NATO'S WAR OF AGGRESSION ON SOVEREIGN AFRICAN STATE Obi Nwakanma Despite all pretence at humanitarian rhetoric, the Western invasion of Libya is simply a question of securing oil and energy resources and responding to the challenge to its international hegemony posed by China and India, writes Obi Nwakanma. ‘It is the 19th century all over again,’ Nwakanma stresses, while underlining the threat posed to Nigeria by blindly supporting the invasion. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73923 ****** MAGHREB UPRISINGS: TRUTH IS ‘IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND’ Sokari Ekine Despite all the news and analysis on Libya, we still don’t know very much about who the rebels are and where their support comes from, writes Sokari Ekine. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73928 ****** TRUTH DISPATCH: UPDATES FROM LIBYA Cynthia McKinney On the ground in Tripoli and western Libya, Cynthia McKinney reports that the current NATO-led war looks nothing like the mainstream media would have us believe: ‘The situation on the ground in Tripoli … could not more different from what is being portrayed by Western news networks and newspapers.’ http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73940 ****** SUDAN: THE ‘CONFLICT IS INFLAMING EVERY HOUR’ Sokari Ekine Sudan’s invasion of the town Abeyi; sexual harassment in Egypt; the impact of Egypt’s uprising on migrants; the detention of Syrian blogger Amina Arraf; Western Sahara; and the opening of the a centre for women in Eastern Congo, the City of Joy, are among the topics featured in this week’s review of African blogs, by Sokari Ekine. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73919 ****** HAITI: THE RIGHT TO HOUSING A number of organisations in Haiti representing social organisations, grassroots movements and people displaced in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake came together over the period 19–21 May 2011 to discuss the country’s housing crisis. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73904 ****** FACE TO FACE WITH THE CONGO Part one Cameron Duodu Cameron Duodu reflects on the exciting and challenging times he had in the Congo in the 1960s. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73943 ****** AFRICAN AWAKENINGS AND NEW VISIONS OF SOLIDARITY Firoze Manji, Molly Kane and Pius Adesanmi Recorded on 25 May at Ottawa's Carleton University, the following is a video of a talk (http://www1.carleton.ca/africanstudies/multimedia-ias-videos-audio-and-pictures/pambakuza-talk-with-firoze-manji-and-molly-kane/ ) led by Firoze Manji and Molly Kane of Pambazuka News and hosted by Pius Adesanmi. The panellists discuss 'African awakenings and new visions of solidarity' to celebrate Africa Liberation Day. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73933 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 2 Announcements FOOD VOLATILITY LINKED TO US HEDGE FUNDS' LAND GRABS IN AFRICA Oakland Institute A series of investigative reports reveal never-before-seen materials connecting financial backers – including US universities and pension funds – to land deals responsible for destabilisation of food prices, mass displacement and environmental damage, writes the Oakland Institute. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/73946 ****** WHY DID THE OAKLAND INSTITUTE PUBLISH ITS FINDINGS ON LAND GRABS IN AFRICA? Oakland Institute 'Land grabs encompassing the size of France, displacing thousands of families, building miles of irrigation canals without concern for environmental impacts, allowing crops to be planted that do not improve food security for Africa--done with little or no consultation with those directly impacted, and have no accountability or transparency--are exactly the kind of issues the Oakland Institute was established to investigate and make public.' http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/73944 ****** JOIN US FOR AN AMANDLA! CULTURAL CELEBRATION OF THE FIGHTING SPIRIT OF 16 JUNE FEATURING: Raakwys (The reunion of one of Cape Town's greatest Bands) PLUS: The Zoe Abrahams & De Kaapo, DJ Sampie: Zounds of Da South, Spoken word/poetry, Stand up Comedy & more... DATE: 15 June 2011 TIME: 7pm till late VENUE: AIDC Solidarity Centre,129 Rochester Rd, Observatory, Cape Town DONATION: R10, Bring your own XYX and meat to braai. INFO: [email protected], 0838867164 or 0214472525 ****** ZANZIBAR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL The Zanzibar International Film Festival, now in its 14th year and the largest of its kind in East Africa, takes place from 18-26 June. Renowned the world over for putting African film, music, art and design at the forefront of the international scene, main events are in Stone Town, Zanzibar, with some events on Pemba Island and mainland Tanzania. See the website ( http://www.ziff.or.tz ) for more details. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/73947 ****** DOSHISHA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION Academics, NGOs, policy makers, students and other interested parties are invited to participate at the Doshisha International Conference on Humanitarian Intervention, to be held in Kyoto, Japan from 27-29 June 2011. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/73945 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 3 Comment & analysis HAITI: ARISTIDE STANDS, THE PEOPLE STAND Nia Imara Tens of thousands of Haitians turned out to greet democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on his return to his country. Though originally forced into exiled under the Bush administration, Aristide has been treated in much the same fashion by Obama's government, writes Nia Imara. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/73897 ****** SIERRA LEONE: REMEMBER THOSE LIVING ATOP THE HILL AT KISSY MENTAL HOSPITAL Roland Bankole Marke Life for the mentally ill in Sierra Leone is ‘incredibly hard’, writes Roland Bankole Marke, and even for those incarcerated in the psychiatric hospital, there is little to look forward to. Who is to blame for the situation and what should be done to improve access to good clinical care? http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/73936 ****** PAN-AFRICANISM FOR A NEW GENERATION Kingwa Kamencu Drawing on the immortal words of Thomas Sankara, Kingwa Kamencu calls on all those concerned for Africa to ‘dare to invent the future’, in an opening speech at the Oxford University Africa Society ‘Pan-Africanism for a new generation’ conference. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/73901 ****** POWER, PRIVILEGE AND VIOLENCE AND INJUSTICE AGAINST WOMEN Kabahenda Nyakabwa ‘Imagine if all African women could break the silence of sexual abuse without fear of shame and reprisal,’ writes Kabahenda Nyakabwa. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/73903 ****** OF LOSING AT THE CONFERENCE TABLE Onitaset Kumat Get moving. That's the message from Onitaset Kumat on how to revive Africa. 'We must communicate to cooperate to elevate and we should have started years ago.' http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/73906 ****** WHAT IS THE UNGA REVOLUTION? Patita Tingoi The Unga Revolution, a group of young people who gather daily at 1pm in Nairobi’s Harambee Avenue to campaign for the right to food and housing, reminds Kenyans that they need to exercise our civic duty more often, observes Patita Tingoi. ‘We need not give up just because we can survive on what we have today, tomorrow might be a different ball game all together.’ http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/73929 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 4 Advocacy & campaigns FINAL CALL FOR ORGANISATIONS TO SIGN THE DAKAR APPEAL AGAINST LAND GRABBING! During the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal, in February 2011, social movements and organisations released a collective appeal against land grabbing. Over 150 organisations have already signed. If your organisation would also like to support this appeal, please do so before 15 June 2011. The Dakar Appeal, together with the names of organisations endorsing it, will be presented during the mobilizations against the G20 Agriculture Ministers' meeting in Paris on 22-23 June. Read and sign the petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/dakar/petition.html http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/73937 ****** HUNDREDS OF YOUTH DETAINED IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA EG Justice Security forces in Equatorial Guinea have detained more than 200 youth in the past week. The reasons for the detentions remain unclear, although government authorities chastised parents for giving their children too much liberty, writes EG Justice. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/73935 ****** STAND UP FOR AFRICA! STAND UP FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE! Africa Trade Network et al Developed countries must become carbon neutral well before 2050, undertake ambitious nationally appropriate mitigation actions, pay their adaptation debts and discontinue carbon market mechanisms. These are some of the conclusions reached by delegates who attended a meeting on the climate crisis in Johannesburg between 24-26 May. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/73898 ****** SUPPORT THE FREE MAXWELL DLAMINI CAMPAIGN Swazi student leader tortured and forced to sign confession Free Maxwell Dlamini Campaign The President of the Swaziland National Union of Students, Maxwell Dlamini, has been detained, tortured, and forced by Swaziland’s regime to sign a confession that says he was in possession of explosives during the April 12 Swazi Uprising - a movement inspired by similar uprisings in North Africa and The Middle East. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/73892 ****** REDUCTION OF PRICES OF BASIC COMMODITIES Open letter to the President and Prime Minister of Kenya Unga Revoution Steering Committee The Unga Revolution, a ‘self motivated and non-violent movement of the people of Kenya aimed at realising all the rights and privileges as enshrined in the constitution of Kenya’ has called on the government to ensure that all citizens are guaranteed their right to food, shelter, healthcare, education and social security, as enshrined in Article 43 of the country’s constitution, in part by reducing the prices of basic commodities. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/73938 ****** STATEMENT ON THE UK GOVERNMENT’S MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN THE LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA UK WILPF UK WILPF ‘is extremely troubled by the worsening situation in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. In particular we are concerned with NATO’s excessive military aggression and with the UK government’s actions, which are fuelling a civil war in the North African country.’ http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/73934 ****** CALL FOR ACTION: TELL IGLYO TO GET OUT OF ISRAEL Palestinian Queer Groups We Palestinian queer activists from alQaws ( http://www.alqaws.org/q ) for Sexual & Gender Diversity in Palestinian society, Aswat ( http://www.aswatgroup.org/ ) — Palestinian Gay Women, and PQBDS ( http://www.pqbds.com/ ) (Palestinian Queers for Boycott Divestment and Sanctions), are writing to you to express our disappointment with the International Gay and Lesbian Youth Organization’s [IGLYO] decision to hold its General Assembly for 2011, this December, in Tel Aviv, Israel. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/73891 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 5 Pan-African Postcard THE LANGUAGE OF PAN-AFRICANISM H. Nanjala Nyabola ‘If we are to have a truly Pan-African language, shouldn’t it be a language that best reflects Africa as it is today, rather than as we imagined it to be 100 years ago,’ asks H. Nanjala Nyabola. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/73900 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 6 Obituaries DEATH OF A PANTHER Remembering G Seth Markle & Mejah Mbuya Former Black Panther Geronimo Ji-Jaga died in Arusha, Tanzania last Friday. ‘His death marks yet another loss of a committed social justice activist of an era that is gradually fading from our collective memory,’ write Seth Markle and Mejah Mbuya. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/73911 ****** IN MEMORY OF NONTSIKELELO 'MAMA' ALBERTINA SISULU The death of Albertina Sisulu has been met with national mourning in South Africa. At age 92, Sisulu, an anti-apartheid struggle icon, had survived the darkest days of apartheid rule. She was banned for a continuous 18-year stretch by the apartheid regime and was separated from her husband, Walter Sisulu, for 25 years while he was in jail. In this article, Shaka Sisulu pays tribute to his 'Gogo'. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/73930 ****** SAYING GOOD-BYE TO GIL SCOTT-HERON 1949–2011 Bill Fletcher, Jr Poet and singer Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘albums became part of my life and his songs and messages were part of the support system on which I and many other Black radicals came to depend,’ writes Bill Fletcher, Jr. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/73914 ****** THE REVOLUTION STILL WILL NOT BE TELEVISED Keeping it Real Larry Pinkney Politically conscious musician and poet Gil Scott Heron’s ‘physical body is gone from us now but his message is more relevant than ever. We everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people know only too well that the revolution still will not be televised-- "it will be live",’ writes Larry Pinkney. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/73915 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 7 Letters & Opinions ZUMA SHOULD FOCUS ON ZIMBABWE INSTEAD OF LIBYA Ndumba J. Kamwanyah I question the wisdom of the African Union (AU) sending South African President Jacob Zuma, who is also the SADC mediator and facilitator on the Zimbabwean crisis, to Libya in an attempt to revive the AU ‘roadmap’ (another AU loaded word) for ending the conflict between Muammar Gaddafi and the anti-Gaddafi uprising. Zuma’s visit to Tripoli occurred amid concerns over Mugabe’s refusal to abide by the SADC roadmap for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/73922 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 8 African Writers’ Corner PRAYER FOR RAIN Akwe Amosu These are dry days. I stop to breathe as if the wall of heat must be coaxed aside to let air enter, leave... http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/73899 ****** WE HAVE COME HOME Lenrie Peters We have come home >From the bloodless wars With sunken hearts Our booths full of pride >From the true massacre of the soul When we have asked ‘What does it cost To be loved and left alone’… http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/73890 ****** /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 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. 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