I think Mahmood Mamdani’s essay in the LRB is well worth a read. I say “I think”, because I don’t really know a great deal about the history and politics of Sudan, or what’s likely to make things better or worse in Darfur in the near future. But it seemed interesting to me, in a gloomy kind of a way.
From Amnesty International:
Amnesty International today called for the immediate and unconditional release of Karim Amer, the first Egyptian blogger to be tried for writing blogs criticizing Egypt’s al-Azhar religious authorities, President Husni Mubarak and Islam.
Karim Amer, a former al-Azhar University student and blogger, is facing up to 10 years in prison for his writings in a trial that resumes today. Charges against him include “spreading information disruptive of public order and damaging to the country‚s reputation”, “incitement to hate Islam” and “defaming the President of the Republic”.
“Karim Amer’s trial appears intended as a warning by the authorities to other bloggers who dare criticize the government or use their blogs to spread information considered harmful to Egypt‚s reputation,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme. “This is particularly worrying as bloggers have increasingly been posting information about human rights abuses in Egypt, including torture and police violence against peaceful protesters.”
The trial opened on 18 January 2007 before Maharram Bek Court in Alexandria. Karim Amer was charged under Articles 102, 176 and 179 of Egypt’s Penal Code. Amnesty International has been urging the Egyptian authorities to review or abolish this and other legislation that, in violation of international standards, stipulates prison sentences for the mere exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion.
“Amnesty International considers Karim Amer to be a prisoner of conscience who is being prosecuted on account of the peaceful expression of his views about Islam and the al-Azhar religious authorities. We are calling for his immediate and unconditional release.”
I’m moving offices at the moment, which means, among other things, going through old boxes of stuff. Here’s something I found in one of them, a label from a Libyan bottle of mineral water:
An old one, but I’ll use last month’s 40th anniversary of UDI as the spurious peg to hang it on and justify recirculation:
Q: Why is Rhodesia like Oklahoma!?
A: It’s Surrey with the lunatic fringe on top.
Class Worrier Raj shares his opinions on land reform with the readers of yesterday’s South Africa Mercury.
Somebody has just come to this blog looking for a recipe for Libyan Soup, which makes me happy.
Here’s a transcription of the English-language display that accompanies the exhibit of Colonel Gaddafi’s Volkswagen Beetle in the Tripoli Museum:
Vehicle, Volkswagen
Property of 2nd Lt- Moammar Ghedaffi
Veh. Reg. No. 23398 LB
Date 6/4/1967This vehicle has been part in serious events astonishing surprised travelled thousands of kilometers crossed valleys plains villages cities rural zones lanes and avenues. All over the country during ember years which Moammar Ghedaffi lived underground in a journey of 4000 days of clandestine activities.This vehicle has carried manuscripts, secrets and men.
It was kept under closed watch, controlled observation, hot pursuits and investigations by oppressive military and security services of the defunct regime.
More than one warrant and more than an enquiry have been launched about it in several regions from Benghazi to Brega from Abugrem to Sirta, Tripoli, Sebha, Deran Zarwia and Beida.
This vehicla suffered failures, collision courses, incidents, halted journeys in difficult circumstances and hard times full of dangers that waylay it.
In more than once, carrying instigating circulars, such as the circular distributed by the Leader himself in Tripoli streets on behalf of workers calling the masses to rebel and revenge. At other time, transporting organisational and ideological pamphlets to build and inspire the free Unionist Officers.
It was embodied the simplicity in confronting the Mercedes-Benz car which has incarnated clamor haughtiness and false arrogance.
There were great differences between both cars, while the Volkswagen was rolling up time and distances to bring closer the salvation day, the Mercedes was moving between right club, gambling halls and military bases by agents of the Italians, Americans and British in the defunct regime. All paid from the Libyan people’s wealth. The people were suffering from poverty, oppression, sleeping on the ground, and protecting themselves from heat and cold by zinc panels under yoke of an agent regime that had lost sovereignty, will and legitimacy. Whereas it infiltrated to the country from abroad in the darkness under the cover of charlatanism, heresy and perversion under the protection of colonization.
This car as simple, normal and popular as it is shall be one of the flagrant public eye witnesses about the journey of four thousand plays clandestine action.
Glory to the Revolutionary Moammar Gheddafi, Leader of the Great El Fateh of the 1st September 1969.
Department the Morale Guidance.
Couldn’t have put it better myself.
I’m back.
A group of us academic types were off in Libya last week, seeing things like this, this, this, this and this, seeing all kinds of images of Colonel Gaddafi, and eating lots and lots of Libyan Soup. (Recipe by Delia here.)
It was all splendid.
And we all seemed to manage to cope for eight or nine days without booze admirably, and with no funny and/or distressing side effects.
Over the last few days we were off in Morocco visiting the archaeologists who were playing “Mafia” (scroll down to “here’s how Mafia works”) and digging up the lower slopes of the site at Volubilis; hence no blog activity. And I learned that there’s something slightly strange about walking across the tarmac with your beloved at Casablanca airport to get onto the plane that will take you North.
In any case, I wasn’t at all tempted to stay behind with a naughty French police officer.
Adèle Geras — whose recent event at the Oxford Literary Festival was, I am told by people here, an exceptionally good one — gets a different kind of Nigerian mailbag from the rest of us…(Or perhaps the bit about sending along bank account card details in the strictest confidence, etc., was left out of the blogposting?)
Do you recognise this? Read carefully…
Kunesipoki esihlupha i-Yurobhu � isipoki sobukhomanisi. Zonke iziphathimandla ze-Yorubhu endala zakhe umfelandawonye ongcwele ukuze kuphephethwe lesipoki: u-Phapha nenkosi yase-Rashiya, U-Metternich kanye no-Guizot, ubuxhwanguxhwangu base-Fulansi (French Radicals) kanye nezimpimpi zamaphoyisa ase-Jalimane.Ngeyiphi inhlangano ephikisayo engajivazwa yiziphathi-mandla ngelokuthi inobukhomanisi? Ngeyiphi inhlangano ephikisayo engaziphenduleli, kulezinye izinhlangano esezithuthukile ezindleleni zazo zokuphikisa, nakulezo zeziphekulazikhuni, ngalelichaphazi lensolo yokuba zinobukhomanisi?
Kubili okuvela kulamaqiniso: �
I. Ubukhomanisi sebuvunywe yiziphathi-mandla zase-Yurobhu ukuba nabo bungamandla.
II. Sesifikile isikhathi sokuba Amakhomanisi aphumele eshashalazini, abhekane nomhlaba wonke, asakaze imibono yawo, izinjongo kanye nezindlela zawo bahlangabezane nalenganekwane yesipoki sobu-Khomanisi bephethe isibophezelo salenhlangano qobo lwayo.
Ukuze lokhu kufezeke, ama-Khomanisi amazwe ngamazwe ahlangene e-London adweba lesibophezelo esizoshicilelwa ngalezilimi: isi-Fulentshi, isi-Jalimane, isi-Taliyane, isi-Felemishi (Flemish) kanye nesi-Danishi (Danish).
Yes, it’s the opening passages of the first-ever (we think) translation of The Manifesto of the Communist Party into Zulu. Download the entire text here.
The news, just in, from Harare, on indymedia.org:
Fear and Loathing In Harare by Zim Admin, Monday 11 March.
“They’ve already stolen the elections. They’ve won.”
I was talking to a leading independent journalist earlier today. His despondency echoes throughout the Left in Zimbabwe.
It seems as if the government have engineered the election result they wanted. The rest is just paperwork. They�ve managed to prevent people in urban pro-MDC areas from voting. They�ve managed to coerce people in rural areas, through lies, threats of violence, kidnapping of MDC election observers, killing of activists, and propaganda, to get the rural population to vote for them.
They’ve plucked out the key strategists from the MDC. Today Welshman Ncube, allegedly fleeing the country, arrested at the Botswana border. Tomorrow Tendai Biti, David Coltart and perhaps one or two other whites. Or so it feels.
This Government is smarter than the Opposition have given it credit for. No one here has slept in days. We’re tired. So tired. The vote has been for nothing. A farce that will be endorsed in a couple of days by the official election observers. Many observers don’t think this has been a free and fair election. Their opinion is sure to be overruled by their political masters, those who want stability, not justice…
Hope is, right now, in short supply.
More from “Zim Admin” was published today at The Voice of the Turtle.
Nick Assinder writes in his bit of the BBC website:
It is impossible to stand next to Tony Blair in a village in Sierra Leone, surrounded by some of the poorest and most traumatised children in the world, and argue that he is wrong to have come to Africa. And to suggest he is simply playing politics with these people is, frankly, insulting.
Only a fool would suggest the poverty, internal strife and economic problems of Africa can be solved overnight
If one thing has become clear during this whirlwind tour of west Africa it is that Tony Blair means what he says when he talks about the West’s moral duty to help this struggling continent.
It is also clear that the prime minister feels personally driven to use his position to do what he can.
Talking to him on the trip has only served to convince most of those travelling with him that he is absolutely sincere.
This is nothing to do with grand politics or sweeping gestures, it is about not standing by. And the prospect of failure is no excuse for not trying, he insists.
And it would also seem particularly odd if a leader of the Labour party, which prides itself on its internationalism, did not lift his eyes beyond purely domestic politics.
Don’t you love that one word, “frankly”? In any case, there are plenty of reasons to be troubled by Mr. Blair’s zeal for his Mission to Africa, and one place to start thinking about what these might be Raj Patel’s incendiary new article over at ZNet.
Nick wrote [11.2.2002]: Today’s Voice of the Turtle article on “What does NEPAD stand for?” got me thinking — surely we are meant to understand that this is a “kneepad”, and that therefore the scarred conscience of the world is located in its knees. Shades of playground frolics past…?
