CLIMB ON BOARD THE MANDELA BANDWAGON: SANCTIMINOUS PIFFLE REQUIRED

You need a strong stomach these days if you are to hear all the hypocritical self serving guff being spouted by right wing politicians, ‘celebrities’ and the terminally sanctimonious. To listen to David Cameron outside 10 Downing Street lauding Mandela, “a hero for all ages,” you could be forgiven for forgetting that here was a man who had once visited South Africa, all expenses paid, as part of a lobbying firm that had been contracted to undermine sanctions.[1]

Mandela and I fighters for justice
Of course in undermining sanctions he was knocking at an open door, the Tories had always bent over backwards in decrying sanctions and providing moral support for the Apartheid regime.

I was there, a bit player its true, fifth protester from right on back row, but still I remember the hostility and venom of the right wing of the Tory party and newspapers like the Telegraph and writers such as Peregrine Worsthorne. For the young who are now being given the impression that everyone supported the struggle it may come as some surprise to find out that the Anti Apartheid movement faced bitter opponents, not only in South Africa but here in Britain. Here are some of the arguments we faced:-


  • South Africa is a tribal country, if the white man allows majority rule the country will be torn apart by civil war.
  • The blacks are not ready to rule they will destroy South Africa.
  • The ANC is a communist front. Mandela is a terrorist and communist fellow traveller. Majority rule will end in misrule and a communist one party state.
  • It’s none of our business. (Heard Norman Tebbit still spout this line as recently as yesterday).
  • White Europeans simply do not understand the finer nuances of Apartheid and the ‘homelands’ policy. These things seem unpleasant to us but are necessary to hold the fragile racial balance together.

I could go on. The important thing is to resist the current attempt to re-write history. As I say I was a very small player and I am not even especially proud of the little I did, common humanity demanded nothing less. I could have done more. But the Anti Apartheid movement was not full to bursting point; we were, to coin a phrase, not all in it together. It faced determined, powerful and well resourced opposition, not least from so many on the right now queuing up to demonstrate their lifelong affinity with the struggle, crocodile tears streaming down their cheeks

Having visited this page I would be grateful for your feedback, either tick one of the boxes below or make a comment via the comments button.

Popular posts from this blog

NESRINE MALIK AND THE UNSUNG VIRTUES OF HYPOCRISY

Image
As I write this a 27 year old woman, Mariam Ibrahim, has just had a baby in a Sudanese prison, ‘the condition of the mother and baby is not known as Ibrahim's lawyer and her husband, a US citizen, had been denied access to her. Omdurman women's prison has a basic clinic, where the child is thought to have been born. Ibrahim has been shackled since being imprisoned.’ [1]   Mariam also has an 18 month old child who is also being held in prison with her. The ‘crime’ for which she is imprisoned is apostasy, for which she has received the death sentence. She has also been sentenced to 100 lashes, for the additional crime of having sex with her Christian husband. Although she has been a lifelong Christian her father was a Muslim, Sudanese sharia law forbids women to marry outside the Muslim faith, men needless to say can do as they please in these matters. Mariam Ibrahim and her husband.  Nineteen countries punish their citizens for apostasy, and in 12 of those countries
Read more

INTERVIEW WITH TOM VAGUE

Image
Tom Vague At the top end of All Saints Road there is a refuge, an enclave in which a local Bohemian culture retains a foothold, this is the Book & kitchen , a café/bookshop with adjoining terrace. Here the bustle of the nearby market gives way to conversation, conversation in the presence of images of the recent, and not so recent, past. The past of an area that has contributed so much to the life and culture of the city. I was there to meet local historian Mr Tom Vague a man intimately familiar with so much of this history. What Tom doesn’t know about the recent history of the area probably is not worth knowing. With Tom’s energy and effort Colville Community Forum, supported by City Living Local Life, recently held a gathering at The Book and Kitchen to celebrate this rich history. February 16 6-9 Pm, with Film Screening and Readings Exhibition February 16-26 2016. Featuring 30 Classic Westway Photographs and Posters. This represents one of a number of initiatives of t
Read more

LONDON BELONGS TO ME PART ONE

Image
. I. I have lived in London now just over thirty years, having moved here on 4 th July 1983 . I don’t know how long you normally have to wait to claim squatter’s rights but thirty years seems a good enough period to me. The glory of London is its parks and open spaces, you are rarely ever far away from a London park, common or heath. I am within fifteen minutes walk of Kensington Gardens or Holland Park , much closer to several smaller areas with grass and flowers and benches on which to sit, all maintained by Kensington and Chelsea council who also still believe in the value of trees. Those who would see what they call ‘the state’ shrink rarely mention such items in their calculations. What does it cost to maintain a tree? Too much by far for the likes of those right wing think tanks whom and I fear the phrase is soon likely to break under the strain under which it is now being placed, know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Holland Park is one of t
Read more