Arab Egypt vs African Egypt

24 02 2011

Azad Essa, writing for Al Jazeera, has made an excellent point regarding the uprising’s in African and the Middle East.  In his piece, he points out that what occurred in Tunisia and Egypt and what is now taking place in Libya has been constructed into a story of Arab and Middle Eastern rebellion, even when it says more about the African continent than anywhere else.  It is worth noting that, with the exception of Yemen and Bahrain, the most successful revolutions to have taken place so far have been African nations.

Not only are these uprisings throwing off dictators and autocrats but the people of these post-colonial nations are standing up and establishing an identity which can stand, proudly, despite decades of humiliation by colonial powers and the tyrants who, typically, made themselves out to be saviours.

Anyway, read the full article for an entirely different perspective on what is unfolding.

The African Egypt versus the Arab Egypt

Egypt was suddenly a sexy topic. But, despite the fact that the rich banks of the Nile are sourced from central Africa, the world looked upon the uprising in Egypt solely as a Middle Eastern issue and commentators scrambled to predict what it would mean for the rest of the Arab world and, of course, Israel. Few seemed to care that Egypt was also part of Africa, a continent with a billion people, most living under despotic regimes and suffering economic strife and political suppression just like their Egyptian neighbours.

“Egypt is in Africa. We should not fool about with the attempts of the North to segregate the countries of North Africa from the rest of the continent,” says Firoze Manji, the editor of Pambazuka Online, an advocacy website for social justice in Africa. “Their histories have been intertwined for millennia. Some Egyptians may not feel they are Africans, but that is neither here nor there. They are part of the heritage of the continent.”

And, just like much of the rest of the world, Africans watched events unfold in Cairo with great interest. “There is little doubt that people [in Africa] are watching with enthusiasm what is going on in the Middle East, and drawing inspiration from that for their own struggles,” says Manji.

He argues that globalisation and the accompanying economic liberalisation has created circumstances in which the people of the global South share very similar experiences: “Increasing pauperisation, growing unemployment, declining power to hold their governments to account, declining income from agricultural production, increasing accumulation by dispossession – something that is growing on a vast scale – and increasing willingness of governments to comply with the political and economic wishes of the North. “In that sense, people in Africa recognise the experiences of citizens in the Middle East. There is enormous potential for solidarity to grow out from that. In any case, where does Africa end and the Middle East begin?”


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Categories : Politics

Egyptian State TV’s propaganda

10 02 2011

To get English subtitles, click the title of the video to go to Youtube and press  the “CC” button.


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Categories : Politics

Racism, the Media and the non-existant “Gang of 49”

25 04 2010

While doing some unrelated research, I stumbled upon this article which reported on a protest undertaken by Indigenous People on the steps of Parliament house at the time when the “Gang of 49” was being painted as the greatest scourge to white, middle class Adelaidean populations.  Of course, there never was a “Gang of 49” and the mainstream media pretty much fabricated and overplayed all stories relating to said gang.  The most moving aspect of the article is not its content but the comments section below.  I’ve chosen a select few to be reproduced here;

“To you Michael Atkinson, what is ‘pure evil’ is the fact that the ancestors of the alleged “gang of 49″ were massacred for their country (land, water, minerals) by the colonists.

Today, your “south australia” is still a penal colony and for this reason the sovereign people of these many lands are still being marginalised by the so called “australian government” for the same ongoing reasons….minerals for your crown. Our minerals and our lands.

When did the Kaurna people cede their land to you and your business acquaintances, willingly and without harrassment??? When did any of us… NEVER!!

No wonder some our young people are turning to crime. It seems to be their only way out of a miserable life that they have being locked into since “colonialism” entered our lands.

The deeds you mention, pale in comparison to your own Snowtown murders of innocent pensioners.

When the human rights of aboriginal people is truly addressed by an independent body and ourselves and the past acknowledged and acted upon, maybe our young people will have a reason to feel proud and start turning their lives around. But you don’t want it this way. We are billionaires with a refugee problem because the colonial system only exists to exploit our minerals, therefore the colonists have a PROBLEM in admitting and accepting their own legal faults to their own people.

Theft is hardly something for any politician to be pointing a finger at.

This last effort to project and incite rasicm before the hopeful re-election of this or any political party is very clear to all. What gang of 49? Who did the head-count?” – Isobelle Dingaman


“I copied this from another thread and it pretty much sums up the current politicians. The discussion so far has produced many facts. These ageing politician-colonists are on borrowed time. East Germany’s socialist government also crumbled and fell, amongst it’s lies and ideals.

Those natives who think they are enjoying all of the fringe benefits of this white society are selling the bigger picture short. Any of you on a government paypacket needs to reassess his or her dependency and whether or not you are just making a difference to “yourself” and how you appear to fit in, OR do you really care about your heritage which is being slipped out from underneath you. AND you are slipping out from underneath your cousins, but in particular the state wards. Do you care about these vicitims of the system? Or do you care more about how they could make you look? You are all a meal ticket for these colonists and they thrive on the fact you want to look respectable. Are you disassociating yourselves from the state wards here? It’s not clear.

Take a look at history and see what these colonists as you call them have, which belongs to you, yours and others including the state wards. What I see here is a lot of fish who are all caught nicely on the colonist’s hook.

This lady below is very smart. She worked it out. How many are still in there saying the right words, but not making the difference? Puppets for the colonists helping the colonists to assimilate YOU. And yes, the target is your land hence your forgetfulness. You think you need to be “acceptable” and “blend in”. You don’t. You need to BE who you are or continually expect to have these rallies.

This or any government wants power over YOUR land even by default. Default being assimilation and the death of your elders and you believing that they are YOUR government. They aren’t !!!

“Grotesque amounts of money” that have not produced a single house.

Natasha Robinson | August 15, 2009

ABORIGINAL politician Alison Anderson yesterday labelled the $672 million indigenous housing program the biggest scandal she had seen in her political career, as Labor narrowly avoided being thrown from power in the Northern Territory.
…”I dreamed that I could help change things for Aboriginal people in the bush,” said the member for the central Australian seat of MacDonnell.

“I believed the Labor Party cared about Aboriginal issues, that Labor was the party for the Aboriginal cause. After four years in the system, I know I was wrong.

“Labor lives on the Aboriginal vote, it talks constantly about Aboriginal people, but what it’s really good at is spending Aboriginal money.” ” – Gerard Reiper

“I live in Adelaide and didn’t now anything about this rally. So much for the mainstream media and what passes for freedom of the press. Looks like the press has the freedom to make certain people and issues invisible.

A month or so ago, a house in Elizabeth occupied by an Aboriginal family was the subject of a home invasion by white supremacists who beat up the father of the house in front of his family. The mother and the children were also threatened. Not only wasn’t this on the front page of the Advertiser, it wasn’t in there at all!

Many thanks again to CPRT for the courage to report on this.” – Mike


“Could it be Mike that the Adelaide media are all embarrassed by their obliging assistance in generating what could be called malicious racism, for want on no real news to report?

On checking their stories to date it’s all alleged, suspected and “not exactly”. There is no hard evidence of an organised gang. And like Klynton says, if they were so organised, why are they getting caught.

It seems we have discovered the source of racism (not that we didn’t know) for as Isabelle points out, nothing could top the Snow Town premeditated, gruesome murders.

Then there’s the Canning Stock Route massacres and other sordid undealt with criminal offences against the first people of this country. Since when was it a crime to be here first?

No other race of people is treated with such contempt, particularly on their own soil and generally they don’t belong to an “alleged” gang to be kept at the bottom of the pile.

The majority of Australians are no longer buying into this racism generated by a failed or perhaps ambitious system. It sounds like a coverup to me, or perhaps Custer’s Last Stand.

ADELAIDE NOW: “suspected” members of the Gang of 49
ADELAIDE NOW: THE “alleged” ringleader of last week’s Gang of 49
ADELAIDE NOW: the latest crime wave by the “so-called” Gang of 49
ABC: It’s “not exactly” a gang of 49
TOPIX: the “so-called” Gang of 49
SIMON BLAKE: The people that believe that “the Gang of 49 is a myth”
KLYNTON WANGANEEN: we have to deal with the “fallacies” of a “GANG of 49”

So, who “so-called” this the Gang of 49?
Is it any wonder the City media have buried their head in shame? How can they back peddle now??” – Anthony G

Though it seems the media have found a new way of portraying First Nations people as the greatest threat to white colonial society.

…

These same experts – including police who sparked the gang name in January 2007 when then assistant commissioner Gary Burns revealed Operation Mandrake was monitoring a group of 49 primarily Aboriginal offenders held responsible for hundreds of crimes – now are backing away from the name “Gang of 49”.

This is despite the term’s broad use at the highest levels of our government and social-justice system, including by Social Inclusion Commissioner Monsignor David Cappo.

Members of the street gangs, primarily formed for street fighting, have a formal initiation, which generally involves bashing someone or “taking a hiding” themselves, and actively recruit new members.

Some gangs also recognise their membership with the use of American-style gothic gang tattoos.

Police spokeswoman Shelay Boothey said police were not aware of these gangs being linked to criminal activity.

“There is no evidence of the existence of any organised indigenous criminal gang structures,” Ms Boothey said.

And yet…

James Cook University researcher Laura Swanson, who last year spent four weeks mixing with 10 known Gang of 49 offenders, told a national criminology conference the young offenders were “amused” by the media attention given to the Gang of 49 and enjoyed the notoriety.

Ms Swanson said the gangs copied American gangs such as the “Crips,” “Bloods” and “Latin Kings”, adopting their image, music, clothing and language.

Some offend as a necessity – to gain peer approval and build self esteem, even collecting newspaper reports on themselves in a form of competition to see who can get the most coverage with their crimes.

Police have Operation Mandrake at the ready for the next wave of offending, but now face a much more sinister, dangerous and unpredictable enemy than first thought.

Police cannot be sure when they will strike, who will initiate the assault because of the scattering of this loosely linked network of criminals.

There is no Gang of 49 ringleader to monitor and shut down.

There is no pattern to their crimes.

There are many young Aborigines eager to join the ranks of their jailed heroes who terrorised shop keepers, bar staff, bakers and bankers with their brash, reckless onslaught which has logged more than 1000 offences over six years.

“While the Gang of 49 is a group largely consisting of indigenous males who are connected by kinship ties, it does not have an organised structure, actively recruit members or have an identifiable leadership,” Ms Swanson told the Australia and New Zealand Critical Criminology Conference, held at Monash University.

“This is complicated further by their interactions with other gangs that do fit more closely with conventional understandings.

“While there does appear to be evidence that formalised gangs do exist, the Gang of 49 has been elevated to a highly questionable gang status.

“For the Gang of 49, there is no identifiable leadership, criminal activity is sporadic and spontaneous and the `members’, while connected by kinship, live in suburbs all over the city of Adelaide.

“There is no apparent specific rationale other than opportunistic crime and while there is an engagement with criminal activity, again, it is opportunistic rather than planned and structured.”

The cells – which international terror expert Marc Sageman says appear to be similar in their establishment and operations to terrorist organisations – can be characterised by the nature of their crimes.

These cells are experts in their specialist fields of crime and are motivated by different rewards. Some have perfected the art of car theft and desire the adrenalin rush of a car chase, now going to the extreme of stalking victims with high-performance cars to steal.

Other clans want to party and strike at bottle shops for their bounty, while those groups wanting ready cash generally hit unsuspecting members of the public on the streets and in their cars.

The most established of the cells has progressed to armed robbery with larger cash loads in mind.

So, in summary, there is no “Gang of 49” but the “Gang of 49” is a loose confederation of degenerate young, black, Aboriginal terrorists out to terrorise suburbia and murder respectable white folk in their sleep, who we don’t know when will attack, but we know they exist and they’ll be out to get us. /sarcasm

Yeah, sure, there ain’t no racism in these parts.


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Foreign Correspondent in Greece

23 06 2009

Moments ago a report by Foreign Correspondent ended and the particular subject of the report was Greece.  Over all, while I think it’s mentioning of the word ‘Anarchist’ presented a chance for exposure to Australian audiences, the report, ironically enough, lack any explanation of what Anarchists stand for.  Any discussion of the Anarchists was a discussion from a position of the old commenting on what amounts to a caricature of Anarchists as ‘rebellious youths’, which is the only impression you can get when you interview cops, a university professor, a teenage boy, a politician — practically anyone but someone who ascribes to the Anarchist ideology.

While I must give credit in the attempts of the reporter to give  a description of what has happened in Greece since the shooting of Alexandros, somehow the report itself fell short and left me feeling angry.  There was much discussion of the damage the Anarchists have caused in the riots since the end of last year, the street fights with police and much footage of the riots, giving the impression that this is what the Anarchists have to offer.  There was no discussion of the ultra-nationalist efforts calling for racial purity and the ousting of immigrants, or the collaboration between ultra-nationalist groups and the Greek police.  There was no mention of the defence Anarchists have given to immigrants that have sufferred attacks by these groups.

I think, however, the biggest critique I can offer of the coverage was in their explanation of the terrorist groups, Revolutionary Struggle, to which the foreign minister of Greece offerred this comment;

“I believe this is the worst fascist ideology. It has nothing to do with any values, it has nothing to do with any political thinking, it’s pure violence, so we are facing it again after November 17.”

The irony of it all is there is no distinction made in the report between Revolutionary Struggle, the group conducting all the bombings and murders, and the Anarchists on the street working in solidarity with immigrants.  Revolutionary Struggle, from my information, operate on a militant Marxist-Leninst ideology which it has inherited from November 17.  Unfortunately for the minister who seems to have her ideologies mixed up, this group ain’t fascist and unfortunately for the reporter, they ain’t Anarchist.  Golden Dawn are the fascists along with the nationalistics in the Greek government and Revolutionary Struggle are Leninists.  Yet the way in which the story was reported allowed Revolutionary Sturggle to bleed together with the mention of the Anarchists, never mind they each have a distinct set of ideas — chiefly that the Anarchists are not about to potentially blow up an entire block.

My last and final complaint is that the cover-up following the shooting of Alexandros was non-existent, instead merely confined to almost a footnote in the tale.

Although I suppose I may be mistaken as there is potential that future reports will elaborate more on the situation.  Not to mention I doubt we can expect much more from the media — at least the term ‘self-described’ Anarchist didn’t appear.

PS:  I’ll post the report at a later date so everyone and anyone can judge whether I’ve over-reacted or not.  It’s not yet up on the Foreign Correspondent website.


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