30 April 2015 — Pambazuka News

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Pambazuka News (English edition): ISSN 1753-6839

CONTENTS: 1. Features, 2. Announcements, 3. Comment & analysis, 4. Advocacy & campaigns, 5. Obituaries, 6. Books & arts, 7. Letters & Opinions, 8. Jobs

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1 Features
BURUNDI ON THE BRINK
Jean Claude Nkundwa and Jonathan W. Rosen

Burundi is burning. If the UN, the international community and the African
Union don’t act quickly, and prepare to intervene if necessary, the small
East African nation could explode into a full-scale civil war that will
destabilize the entire Great Lakes region.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94597
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THE APRIL DEMON
Karl-Chris Nsabiyumva

Despite the sharp salience of ethnicity in Burundi’s politics historically,
the ongoing disturbances are not about that. They centre on one issue: the
people are protesting against violation of their Constitution by a greedy
and dumb political class.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94598
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BALTIMORE AND THE HUMAN RIGHT TO RESISTANCE
Rejecting the framework of the oppressor
Ajamu Baraka

Race and oppressive violence have always been at the center of the US
racist colonial project. It is only when the oppressed resist that they are
counseled to be nonviolent like Martin Luther King – by murderous
warmongers like Barack Obama.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94603
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EMMANUEL SITHOLE IS DEAD
Mary Serumaga

At times like this you can almost forget the good and gentle South Africans
you have met over the years. The slow Sunday brunches after a foray into
the Mall when everybody calls you ‘My sister”
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94606
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XENOPHOBIA REQUIRES ROOT-CAUSE CRITIQUE AND STRATEGIC RESISTANCE
Patrick Bond

Mere ‘be-nice’ appeals and marches will not address the root causes of
xenophobia in South Africa. Jacob Zuma?s ANC government is at fault not
only for neoliberal, pro-corporate, job-killing policies, but for
tightening immigration regulations, compelling refugees to live under
illegal informality. That requires resistance.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94604
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BITTER BOY WHO SHAMES HIS FATHER AND HIS PEOPLE
Bandile Mdlalose

President Zuma’s son Edward is xenophobic and racist. Like the disgarceful
Zulu King Zwelithini he supports, whose reckless utterances sparked the
attacks on foreigners, Edward continues Cecil Rhodes’ odious legacy of
dividing Africans.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94605
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WILL ANC GOVERNMENT EVER PROSECUTE SOUTH AFRICANS IN ISRAELI ARMY?
Eddie Cottle

The ruling party vocally supports the struggle for freedom and justice of
the Palestinian people. But South African Jews – in flagrant violation of
the law – have enlisted in the Israeli armed forces that have committed
wanton crimes against humanity in Palestine.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94602
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THE BANDUNG DIAMOND JUBILEE: TIME FOR A NEW WORLD ORDER
Mammo Muchie

April 18, 2015 marked 60 years since that historic day that began
South-South Afro-Asian collaboration for decolonisation, development and
freedom. As we commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of the Bandung Conference,
it is important to build more hope in the ongoing quest for a new inclusive
world.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94607
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CANADA: AFRIKAN PETTY BOURGEOIS IN BED WITH CONSERVATIVE MAYOR JOHN TORY
Ajamu Nangwaya

The only supreme quality of Tory that was left unexpressed by these
endorsers-cum-cheerleaders is his ability to walk on water or raise Bob
Marley or Claudia Jones from the realm of the ancestors.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94601
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WHERE IS BLACK AMERICA?
Obama and the Israel-Iran-Palestinian conundrum
Francis A Kornegay Jr

The African-American political establishment within Obama’s Democratic
party constituency appears to be ‘missing in action’ instead of acting as a
core base of support for Obama?s attempt at a complicated resetting of
Middle East policy.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94600
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2 Announcements
CALL FOR ARTICLES: AFRICAN PERSPECTIVES ON THE POST-2015 AGENDA FOR
DEVELOPMENT

Pambazuka News, in collaboration with AfricAvenir (www.africavenir.org),
invites contributions on the evaluation of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and the question of the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs).
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/announce/94504
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3 Comment & analysis
ENCLOSING OUR OWN TERROR
Wangui Kimari

A lot of questions remain unanswered about Kenya’s 700-kilometer wall now
being constructed on the Somali border ostensibly to keep out Al Shabaab
militants. The consequences are serious for the Somali people in Kenya and
across the border. It is an apartheid idea derived from Kenya’s military
partners: America and Israel.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94620
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ETHIOPIA: ECONOMIC GROWTH, POLITICAL REPRESSION AND ISIS
Fikrejesus Amahazion

With national ‘elections’ close – periods historically marked by boycotts,
corruption and vote-rigging, violence and repression – Ethiopia merits
attention. It’s a country characterized by widespread torture, oppression
and crackdowns on perceived dissidents.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94609
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ANY HOPE FOR NIGERIAN STUDENTS UNDER BUHARI?
Wole Olubanji

With Buhari freshly elected, the higher education community in Nigeria has
hope that their underfunded sector will reap benefits in the president’s
honeymoon phase. But students and educators must not relax now; they must
take advantage of this changing of the guard to advocate for their needs
with renewed vigor.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94619
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XENOPHOBIA: BLAME THE VICTIM!
Abdulrazaq Magaji

Maybe President Zuma and his xenophobic countrymen are right, after all.
Why would a Nigerian close his barber shop in Karmo ghetto to go operate
the same in Soweto? Why would a second degree holder prefer to travel to
Johannesburg to be a cabbie when that line of business would have been more
profitable in Lagos?
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94599
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AMERICAN RESPONSIBILITY FOR GLOBAL REFUGEE CRISES
Margaret Kimberley

When refugees from the Indian subcontinent, sub-Saharan Africa, Central and
South America and other places risk their lives for a chance at low-wage
precarious labor in Europe or the US, it’s because of decisions taken at
the center of global economic and political power, places like Washington
D, London, Brussels and New York.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94608
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4 Advocacy & campaigns
ZINDUKA EAST AFRICAN FESTIVAL CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION IN BURUNDI

The movement expresses solidarity with Burundians and appeals to
authorities to uphold the human rights of all citizens, including the
freedoms of assembly, association and expression. East African leaders
should act quickly to prevent the current crisis from spiraling into a
full-scale disaster.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/94622
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XENOPHOBIA: CIVIL SOCIETY WANTS AU RIGHTS BODY TO ACT
Open letter to the African Commission regarding the xenophobic attacks in
South Africa

The loss of lives, injuries to persons and damage to private property and
the dignity of foreign nationals living in South Africa are a grave
violation of their rights protected under the African Charter on Human and
Peoples? Rights.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/94613
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XENOPHOBIA IS A SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUE

Awethu! joins the call for an urgent end to the xenophobic atrocities
bedevilling the country.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/94617
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A WIN FOR AFRICAN LESBIANS
Statement on decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples?
Rights to grant observer status to the Coalition of African Lesbians

As spaces to engage in issues related to social justice and human rights
continue to shrink on the continent and globally, the granting of observer
status to the Coalition of African Lesbians is a milestone in the African
human rights system and indicates commitment from the Commission to the
principles of the African Charter on Human Rights.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/94615
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STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN EAST AND THE HORN OF AFRICA

Statement by the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project to
56th Ordinary Session of the Africa Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
Banjul, Gambia, 21 April 2015
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/94614
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SWAZILAND: GOVERNMENT MUST FULLY RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF ACCUSED
Africa Judges and Jurists Forum

The government of Swaziland must fully respect the rights of Chief Justice
Ramodibedi, Justices Anandale and Simelane, Registrar Nhlabatsi and Mr.
Shongwe, as accused persons.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/94610
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FREE THE BOIKETLONG 4!
Workers International Vanguard Party

Witnesses could not even identify the four, but this was immaterial to the
judge. ‘You opposed the ANC and therefore you are guilty’, is the message
from the courts.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/94611
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5 Obituaries
THE REBEL, ORONTO DOUGLAS: MEMORIAL FOR A FRIEND
Daphne Wysham

His fearlessness in the face of violence, torture and even threats of death
meant that he carried the message against the planet-plundering oil
companies around the world, speaking truth to power, no matter the price.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/94618
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6 Books & arts
‘TRADE IS WAR: THE WEST’S WAR AGAINST THE WORLD’
A new book by Yash Tandon

Drawing on decades of on-the-ground experience as a high level negotiator
in bodies such as the World Trade Organization, Tandon challenges
prevailing orthodoxy, insisting that, for the vast majority of people, and
especially those in the poorer regions of the world, free trade hinders
development and visits relentless waves of violence and impoverishment on
their lives.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/94612
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7 Letters & Opinions
ON FEELING WITH NKRUMAH, THINKING WITH NYERERE

I appreciate the effort you took (http://www.pambazuka.net/en/category.php/comment/55475 ) to make your case.
I am happy to hear you refer to pragmatic PanAfricanism. Whatever cannot be
built piece-by-piece is a project at-risk. Only a Napoleon of sorts can
build such a continental government.

Some of the hurdles to a united Africa – and I use “united” with
reservation – are language/cultural diversity, dictatorial or corrupt
politicians, religious extremism, and perceptions of racial divide between
black and Arab Africa.

The United States of America was practically envisioned to be a unity of
white, English-speaking, Christian, free-market and democracy loving
immigrants. The Americans did not have as many hurdles as we Africans.

Let’s be pragmatic about our future, Africa !

Saint John
jesus.african@yahoo.com
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8 Jobs
VACANCY: DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS, TRUST AFRICA
Location: Dakar Senegal Deadline: 30 May 2015
TA
Trust Africa

The goal of the Director of Programs is to manage the programs of
TrustAfrica (convenings, grant- making, knowledge generation and provision
of technical assistance) working under the supervision of the Executive
Director and in close collaboration with All Staff.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/94621
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End of Pambazuka-news Digest, Vol 356, Issue 1
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