Occupy Durban!

27 November 2011
Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

Occupy Durban!
Occupations Currently Underway in Hillary, KwaMashu and Pinetown

We are human beings, not dogs, and every human being has a right to a decent home and a right, if they choose, to a place in the city. Economic, political and legal systems that deny these rights are a threat to our humanity and must be resisted.

Silent forests and famine in east Africa

Wangari Maathai, The Guardian

This article was written by Nobel peace prize winner Wangari Maathai in September, shortly before her death. It addresses some of the main issues she and the Green Belt Movement were intending to raise at the UN climate summit, which starts in Durban, South Africa, on Monday

As long as Tahrir Square is in action, Tahrir is democracy

Omar Robert Hamilton, The Guardian

For five days a battle has raged across downtown Cairo between the central security forces (CSF) and unarmed protesters. At least 40 people are dead. Thousands are injured. There are seven field hospitals and hundreds of doctors at work in Tahrir Square.

In Tahrir Square

Aisha Hussein, LRB, 24 November 2011

 

I got a message on Sunday that the Tahrir Square field hospital needed medical help and supplies. As I used to be a nurse, I went. The tear gas is toxic in a way it was not in January. Various people have said that the cyanide component is greater or that phosphorus is causing the problem. I can positively confirm that the gas injuries are completely different and much more severe. We treated hundreds of youngsters who had totally collapsed and were not breathing. Most came to quickly but we had two deaths and one, a young boy, asphyxiated.

Three Gay Men Arrested in Cameroon

Mamba

Human Rights Watch has reported more details about last month’s arrest of three menin Cameroon for being gay.

Jonas, 19, and Franky, 20, were in the company of an older man on the night of July 25 and were returning from a bar when they were stopped by police officers of the Mobile Intervention Group in the capital Yaoundé.

Egypt’s military government is the enemy of our revolution

by Ahdaf Soueif in Cairo, The Guardian

As I write, the cabinet of Egypt’s prime minister, Essam Sharaf, brought in amid much hope, but emasculated by the military and so now discredited – has resigned – and we are getting conflicting reports about whether the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces (Scaf), the de facto president of Egypt, has accepted their resignation.

The Protection of Information Bill is AN ONSLAUGHT against DEMOCRACY and PEOPLE’S DIGNITY

History repeats itself first as tragedy then as farce.

- Karl Marx

When the National Party government realised that they were loosing their grip on power, they became pre-occupied with state security. They were so paranoid that secrecy and censorship became a tool of oppression. It was criminal to possess a document that government would perceive to be threatening and the media censorship was dominant and severe.

Angolan Spring – Protests Shaking Up Authorities

By Louise Redvers, IPS

LUANDA, Nov 15, 2011 (IPS) – Adolfo Andre knows what he wants for his country and says he will fight on until he gets it.

“What we need is the president to leave power, he’s been there for too many years and it is time for him to go,” he said defiantly.

The Nude Revolution in Egypt

by Sophia Azeb, Africa is a Country

So an art student named Aliaa Magda Elmahdy in Egypt decided to post nude photos of herself on her blog to “defy restrictions on freedom” and Twitter basically explodes. (Seriously – check the #NudePhotoRevolutionary hashtag and the tweets culled by this Lebanese site or Google her name.)

How USAID undermines democracy in Haiti

by Leslie Mullin, Pambazuka

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is an arm of the US State Department. Founded in 1961, USAID serves as a ‘velvet glove’ for US foreign policy. The political bias of its operations in Haiti goes back decades. Here are ten things to know about USAID in Haiti: