MRN

The aspiration of the Media Review Network is to dispel the myths and stereotypes about Islam and Muslims and to foster bridges of understanding among the diverse people of our country. The Media Review Network believes that Muslim perspectives on issues impacting on South Africans are a prerequisite to a better appreciation of Islam.

Design to confuse

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By Virginia Tilley

(source: BusinessDay, 7/5/2010)

Although there’s little to engage seriously in the letters that responded to mine, readers may wish to have some misinformation corrected.

I’m accused by H Gluckman of not having my facts straight in affirming the Goldstone affair had obtained a global reach (No fatwas from Jews, Letters, April 29). If H Gluckman has no internet access, a recent edition of SA’s Jewish Report bemoans the global scope of the scandal in its cover editorial.

I’m also accused of making up the scathing denunciations of Jewish critics of Israel that have appeared in the pews of SA’s shuls. I’ve been in those pews and draw on personal experience (Get your facts right, Letters, April 29). I can’t speak for Steven Friedman or Ronnie Kasrils but if correspondents H Gluckman and Sol Cowan are so confident of their portrait of the tolerance and inclusion these men have enjoyed, it’s simple to ask them. (A climate of intimidation, Mr Cowan, is not measured by the public face of those rare individuals who stand up to it.)

Rightwing terror plot uncovered

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By Firoz Osman

The arrest and trial of alleged right wingers on charges of treason is a matter of serious concern to all South Africans. The Media Review Network applauds the South African Police Service for its speedy and efficient uncovering of what appears to be an organised right wing plot to destabilise South Africa.

We call on our security and intelligence agency to remain vigilant particularly with regards to the upcoming World Cup and threats posed by rightwing elements and their possible international rightwing supporters.

Cairos chants of dissent

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

Two demonstrations this week called on the government to increase wages and pursue genuine reform. But are the authorities listening?

By Amira Howeidy

(source: Al-Ahram Weekly Online)

The heart of Cairo — its central nervous system, politically and administratively — was the venue for loud opposition against the ruling regime twice this week. In Hussein Hegazi Street, which hosts Egypt’s cabinet, and Tahrir Square, a kilometre or two away, representatives of the country’s expanding dissent movement demonstrated two days in a row against the government’s economic and political policies, the three-decade old state of emergency, and the rule of President Hosni Mubarak..

The first demonstration, dubbed by its organisers as the "2 May strike" occupied Hussein Hegazi Street for three hours Sunday afternoon, where approximately 1,000 political activists and labour workers rallied against the regime. Opposition leaders who participated said the event was unique with political movements and workers united in action. The strike came in response to government apathy towards a court order of 30 April requiring the president, the prime minister and the National Wages Council to set a minimum "fair" wage.

The pRice of courage

by MRN
January 1, 2013July 25, 2013

By Ramzy Baroud

(source: Palestine Chronicle)

In his report on Gaza issued late last year, prominent South African jurist Richard Goldstone accused Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes. His language also showed awareness of the fact that the former is an occupying power with the most sophisticated weapon arsenal imaginable (as reflected in the number of Palestinian victims), and the latter is a besieged, occupied faction in a state of self-defence. Although Goldstone must have been aware of the kind of hysteria such a report would generate, he still did not allow ideological or ethnic affiliation to stand between him and his moral convictions.

Despite some initial apprehension — owing to the fact that Goldstone is a self-declared Zionist with links to Israel — many justice and peace advocates were comforted by the man’s past record. He was a former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and former prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals of the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.