Egypt – Features

By Virginia Tilley

(source: BusinessDay – 26 April 2010)

It is gratifying to see the chief rabbi, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), and the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) come into such domestic and international disrepute. Newspapers here and abroad are covering the scandal of Justice Richard Goldstone’s effective exclusion from his grandson’s bar mitzvah and aghast editorials are springing up in the four corners of the world.

And the latest round of hasty explanations only shows they are justified: the Jewish so-called “leadership” (unelected) in SA abandoned its spiritual responsibilities so long ago that, facing this opprobrium but in fact fully endorsing a cruel and heartless attack on one of the community’s most eminent and principled members, the chief rabbi can now only offer flimsy rhetoric about “open shuls” that convinces no one (Judge welcome in shul despite report, April 21).

Read More »Jewish policing in sa overstepped

When Ordinary People Do Justice, Leaders Will Follow

By Nabeweya Malick

(source: Media Desk, Muslim Judicial Council)

International humanitarian groups led by Interpal, successfully delivered 47 vehicles loaded with food, aid and medicines on the 9th August 2010 to the suffering people of Gaza.  The people of Gaza welcomed the internationally contributed convoy with tears of gratitude and appreciation.  Amongst those who led the convoy was the South Africa represented Moulana Ihsaan Hendricks, Muslim Judicial Council and Al Quds Foundation’s President.

This has once again proved that the power of good will ultimately be victorious over the injustice of the oppressors of mankind, men who cowardly hide behind evil military machinery to oppress, starve and humiliate others in enclosed prison camps.     

Ever since a group of ordinary people from more than 40 different countries came together and set sail for Gaza we have seen various world leaders scramble to persuade Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza.  This scrambling in no way should be seen as coming from compassion for the suffering victims in Gaza, but rather their realization that when good ordinary people lead, it is time for them to follow.

It is this people power that brings joy to the heart, as we remember the spirit and strength of brave good men who rose in defense of justice in South Africa.

Today Palestine has the global support of ordinary people, a challenge for Israel propaganda machinery and their powerful army.  People from all walks of life, who through purity of heart and faith will relentlessly stand for justice against Israeli oppression.

This is proof that Palestine cannot be left in the hands of politicians; it is the ordinary people with love for humanity that will be the heroes.

The land convoys and the sea flotillas will continue until Gaza is free.

Read More »Global humanitarian groups break Isaraeli imposed seige on Gaza

The unnecessary war
By Roedad Khan

A internally displaced girl, who fled a military offensive in the Swat valley region, holds her pot while awaiting a serving of tea at the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) Yar Hussain camp in Swabi district, about 120 km (75 miles) northwest of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad June 7, 2009.
REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Somehow, our history has gone astray. We were such good people when we set out on the road to Pakistan. What happened?

Marx once said: "Neither a nation nor a woman is forgiven for an unguarded hour in which the first adventurer who comes along can sweep them off their feet and possess them". October 7, 1958 was our unguarded hour when democracy was expunged from the politics of Pakistan, perhaps forever, with scarcely a protest. The result is the mess we are in today.

"Liberty once lost", Adams famously told his countrymen, "is perhaps lost forever". We Pakistanis lost our liberties and all our democratic institutions in October 1999. Sadly, Pakistan also lost her honour and became a ‘rentier state’ on General Musharraf’s watch when he capitulated, said yes to all the seven demands presented to him at gunpoint by Secretary Colin Powell and joined the "Coalition of the coerced". Regrettably, this situation remains unchanged even though the country is now under a democratic dispensation!

Read More »The unnecessary war