Press is not telling us what we need to know — Steven Friedman
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Law and Constitutionalism, Politics, Economics and History, South African politics on 08/09/2010
Steven Friedman makes a great case for media freedom. (See article below) He tells us that the media is not free enough because it fails to speak to the concerns of the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society. He uses two examples that talks about their failure to hold provincial and national Cabinet ministers [...]
Open Letter to the SA Zionist Federation: Why are you supporting occupation, settlement and oppression?
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Palestine/Israel on 07/09/2010
The following open letter has been sent to the South African Zionist Federation (Cape) by the committee members of Open Shuhada Street. It is a response to an email circulated by the Federation. Open Shuhada Street openshuhadastreetza@gmail.com 6 September 2010 SA Zionist Federation (Cape) wpzc@ctjc.co.za / leahwpzc@ctjc.co.za Open Letter to the SA Zionist Federation Why are [...]
“The cynical use of Gilad Shalit”: What does Gilad Shalit have to do with Queers?
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Palestine/Israel, Social Justice Coalition on 05/09/2010
Gilad Shalit has been held prisoner in Gaza under the Hamas government for more than four years. He has not been allowed visits by his family or the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The 24-year-old soldier has also been denied any form of communication including letters to his family or the ICRC. The Goldstone Commission asked that the Hamas government allow visits by his family and the ICRC, as well as, allowing Shalit the right to write letters pending his release.
Bayard Rustin: The invisible civil rights rights leader, organiser, intellectual and gay man
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Equality and LGBTI politics, Politics, Economics and History on 03/09/2010
In 1986, I learnt of the American activist and leader Bayard Rustin (17 March 1912 – 24 August 1987). Rustin formed the US Committee to Support the South African Resistance – a forerunner of the global anti-apartheid movement. I only fully realized how significant his contribution to global freedom was when I read an article [...]
In Defence of Science: Seven points about traditional and scientific medicine
Posted by Zackie Achmat in HIV/AIDS & Health, South African politics, Treatment Action Campaign on 02/09/2010
In a couple of days, I will complete my first six years on antiretroviral treatment — I started taking HIV medicines on 05 September 2003. I am still on my first regimen zidovudine (AZT), lamivudine (3TC) and nevirapine (NVP). I am alive because of science and activism. To remember those who have given their lives [...]
Karl Marx on press Freedom Support the Right to Know Campaign
Posted by Zackie Achmat in South African politics on 01/09/2010
Simon Spoor alerted me to this excellent article by Karl Marx on press freedom. The Right to Know campaign is mobilising local and global public opinion against the government’s Secrecy Bill. What Marx says about press freedom is also true for the right to access information. The Marx article is difficult but worth working through [...]
Boycott Ahava: Wellness Warehouse Responds — Open Shuhada Street Plans protest
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Open Shuhada Street, Palestine/Israel on 31/08/2010
Wellness Warehouse Director, Dr. Sean Gomes responded last week to the Open Shuhada Street letter requesting it to stop stocking Ahava products. Gomes’s response evades the issues of profiteering from the Occupation and misleading the public about the origin of Ahava products. However, he seems amenable to stop stocking Ahava if the pressure increases. Open [...]
Boycott Ahava Occupation Products — Deadline for Wellness Warehouse — Join Open Shuhada Street Meeting
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Open Shuhada Street, Palestine/Israel on 20/08/2010
Wellness Warehouse (South Africa) has until close of business on Monday 23rd August 2010 to respond to the demand by Open Shuhada Street to withdraw its stock of Ahava Products. Join our meeting tomorrow to discuss action. Ahava is a privately held Israeli cosmetics company which manufactures its products in the Occupied Palestinian Territories via [...]
Learning science, including evolution, is a human right — Doron Isaacs
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Equal Education on 19/08/2010
DEDICATION This article is dedicated Mzikayise Boto, an Equal Education member and leader – an Equaliser – in grade 11 at Harry Gwala High School. Mzi was tragically killed in an act of violence on Friday 13 August in Khayelitsha. The memorial service is today at 4pm at the Evangelical Mission Church in Harare, Khayelitsha. [...]
The Republic of Silence – Jean-Paul Sartre on The Aftermath of War and Occupation
Posted by Zackie Achmat in Politics, Economics and History on 18/08/2010
Jean-Paul Sartre is known as one of the most important philosophers and writers of the 20th century. He lived through World War II first as a French prisoner of war, then as a professor of philosophy associated with the underground socialist movement. Sartre was a sympathiser (not activist) of the French Resistance to the Nazi [...]
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