Uri Davis, born to Czech And British Jews in Palestine is now on Palestine’s governing council. Is he a contemporary Yossel Mashel Slovo?
Jeune Afrique’s Nicolas Marmié makes the comparison between Uri Davis, recently elected to Fatah‘s Revolutionary (sic) Council, and the great leader of the South African Communist party Joe Slovo. Of course, the SACP was allied against racial oppression from before Slovo’s joining in the 1940s, and it was 33 years from his co founding of Umkhonto we Sizwe in 1961 to the first free elections in 1994. Even if the comparison is apt, Israel has a long way to go. But more than timelines, Davis is trying to cross a divide much deeper than even South African Apartheid. Uri Davis, born in Palestine to parents married in Palestine in 1939, has had to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim woman to really be accepted also shows the gulf between these cultures.
Perhaps the much vilified comparison of political and state Zionism with Apartheid masks the fact that the divisions between the peoples of Israel/Palestine is even deeper than that in South Africa. Religion, language, messianic nationalism, and the constant appeals to competing victimhood make a wound seemingly impossible to heal.
Uri Davis, a self described “Palestinian Hebrew” (prior to his pro-forma conversion a “anti-Zionist Palestinian Jew”) is at least making a start, while most Israelis have spent the last thirty years with their heads in the sand. That won’t stop a return to something that looks more like a pre-Nakba society, but just keeps us stuck in a bloody morass. Davis knows this too well.
The attempts to Bantustanize the West Bank and Gaza Strip occupied in 1967 will fail in Palestine just as it has failed in South Africa. One simply mourns the bloodshed that this entails and the suffering in the first instance inflicted against the indigenous people.[2004 interview]
Like Joe, he’s the face of the future. You can demonize it (like Slovo, universally despised by Apartheid government and media), you can ignore it, you can even slow it to a crawl, but no one can stop it.
- Why Israeli Jew Uri Davis joined Fatah to save Palestine. Peter Beaumont. The Observer, Sunday 23 August 2009.
- The lonely struggle of Uri Davis. Seth Freedman. guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 September 2009
- Slovo: The Unfinished Autobiography of ANC leader Joe Slovo. (1997)
- Against Israeli Apartheid. Desmond Tutu & Ian Urbina. July 15, 2002 edition of The Nation.
- Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide. A book by Ben White.
- http://www.israeli-occupation.org/
- http://www.anc.org.za/people/slovo.html
- http://www.uridavis.info/
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The Israeli’s Joe Slovo? by T. Miles, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
As I noted on the 10th of March, the CSRD junta in Niger has replaced all the civilian Region Governors with military men to administer local affairs during the transition. We now have the full list, and while I for one hate to see any military governing, a careful look at the men (all men) coming and going in Niger's Regions gives us an opportunity to examine what's going on behind the scenes, and what it augurs for the future.
More ...
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The new military Junta in Niger has released their first real vision of their promised return to democracy. Niger's expectations, a redux of recent history, are being played to by the soldiers.
After a day of confusion, President Tandja and his supporters are under arrest by the military. I have maintained the live updates from the 18th, and added an in depth analysis of the new CSRD junta.
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a dinosaur comic about about potable water conservation in sub-Saharan Africa?
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Niger's rulers would have expected this to be wrapped up by now, with the previous legal deadline for a new president to pass on the 22nd with a shrug. But fears (or hopes) remain that some of those most loyal to the project are looking to abandon their President
Join the second march on the UN by Guineans and their allies in New York City, Thursday December 8th. If you can't make it, there are ways to get involved, so please do!
"If you watch it frame by frame you can pinpoint the exact moment his heart rips in half..."
Anti-fascist activist Ivan "Bonecrusher" Khutorskoy was murdered in Moscow this Monday. 
As the "Abuja I" talks begin with ECOWAS, President Tandja of Niger is increasingly backed into a political and financial corner. Will his "6th Republic" be sacrificed as a way out?
The local elections are odd enough. But "Claude Levi-Strauss" is the 4th most popular search on Yahoo? Right between "Dancing With The Stars" and "H1N1 Symptoms". 
I know all the debates about voting not changing anything, and while I tend to agree, I'm not asking you to overthrow capitalism with a vote. It won't do that. But it is a splendid soapbox.... So Vote Reverend Billy for NYC Mayor, Greg Pason for NJ Governor, and Debbie Rose for City Council. 
Popular sound systems blend traditional sounds with DJ beats, and keep people across Bamako on their feet. But will Mali's capitol ban the "Balani Show" dance parties?
A recent seizure of US arms in Nigeria highlights the profit and loss of small arms supplied to West Africa.
Blood on the streets of Conakry is a price the Junta is willing to pay for power.
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