Global Change
Global Change
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360° Analysis / Africa / ANC / Anti-Apartheid / Apartheid / Gandhi / Madiba / Mandela Funeral / Nelson Mandela / Qunu / Samuel Ollunga / South Africa / Global Change / AfricaA eulogy for a leader who uplifted humanity. On Sunday, we bid a final farewell to this generation’s most beloved leader. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, a man for the ages, will be laid to rest. Leaders and dignitaries from all over the world have flocked to little-known Qunu, in South Africa, to see Mandela return to his roots, to the home of his people and the place of his childhood. Last Tuesday, a sea of world leaders arrived in Soweto to pay their final respects to a leader whose appeal transcended race, borders and beliefs. People turned up in the thousands and even a heavy downpour did little to dampen their spirits. The Boy From Qunu Mandela was a worthy heir to Mahatma Gandhi. He...
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360° Analysis / FD Rosevelt / Gandhi / Jacob Zuma corruption / Margaret Thatcher / Nelson Mandela / Ronald Reagan / UK backing of apartheid / Global Change / AfricaBy Atul SinghDespite his flaws, Mandela is one of the greatest men of all time. [Note: Click here to read parts one and two.] A true test of greatness is whether a person can walk away from power. George Washington could have died in office but chose to retire to his plantation. Gandhi had a near-divine status in India and chose his simple abode to the trappings of power. In a continent first ravaged by colonization and then by “big men” who clung to power until they died, Madiba set a glorious example by leaving office after a single term. He could have easily stayed on for another term – even for life – but he retired to a life of simplicity and discouraged the development...
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360° Analysis / Archbishop Desmond Tutu Truth and Reconciliation Commission ( / Chief Mangosuthu Buthulezi / F.W. de Klerk / Genadendal / Inkatha / Joe Slovo / Nelson Mandela / Nobel Peace Prize / Oliver Tombo / Pollsmoor prison / Prisoner 466/64 on Robben Island / PW Botha / Record of Understanding / Rivonia Trial / Sharpville massacre / South African Communist Party / South African Constitution / Global Change / AfricaBy Atul SinghDespite his flaws, Mandela is one of the greatest men of all time. [Note: Click here to read parts one and three.] The young Madiba was coming of age in the 1940s. As the rest of the world seemed to be marching to freedom, South Africa was turning back the clock. After the 1948 election in which only whites were allowed to vote, long-standing discrimination was expanded and codified into legislation, inaugurating the apartheid era. Madiba threw himself into the struggle to overthrow apartheid and embraced Marxism, partly influenced by friends and partly because the Soviet Union was supporting wars of independence in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The apartheid government...
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360° Analysis / Anglo-Iranian Oil Company / Atul Singh / BP / Congo CIA plot / decolonization / Gandhi / Mau Mau Revolt / Mosaddegh / Mubutu / Nelson Mandela / Patrice Lumumba / Global Change / AfricaBy Atul SinghDespite his flaws, Mandela is one of the greatest men of all time. [Note: Click here to read parts two and three.] Nelson Mandela has died. A giant among men, he has left an indelible mark on human history. Madiba, as many call Mandela, is an inspiration to me. He was “prepared to die” for a “free society” and spent nearly 28 years in prison for his beliefs. Yet when he was unconditionally released from prison, he made peace with the very people that had taken away his liberty. Those of us who were born in former European colonies have memories of our struggles for freedom seared into our souls. Just as Madiba heard the tales of “Dingane and...
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African National Congress / aids / ANC / Apartheid / HIV / National Party / Nelson Mandela / Nelson Mandela Day / Politics / Rivonia Trial / Robben Island / South Africa / 360° Context / Global Change / AfricaMandela has become a symbol of what one can achieve with true dedication to a cause. Background When Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was born in 1918, South Africa was a country entirely different from what it is today. Since colonial times, people of color in South Africa were seen as second-class citizens despite the clear non-white majority. In 1948, when the National Party (NP) was elected, it institutionalized racial segregation with a policy of "apartheid." Public services, resources and even living areas were allocated based upon race. Anyone not classified as white had to deal with being treated as inferior. Like no other, Mandela's life had always been closely...
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Aliya / Arabic / Efrat Settlement / Eliora Katz / Gush Etzion Settlement / Hebrew / Hebron / IDF Checkpoint / Iftar / Islam / Israel / Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process / Jerusalem / John Kerry / Neturei Karta / Orthodox Judaism / Palestine / Palestinian Territories / Ramallah / Focus Article / Middle East & North Africa / Global ChangeBy Eliora KatzAn orthodox American-Persian Jew discovers that the road to peace is paved with rice and opera. This is the last of a two part series. Read part one here. From the old city’s Damascus gate, Eitan, Samuel, a Dutch anthropology student and I tread through the strange faces and smells of a Ramadan bazaar until we reach what seems to be an East Jerusalem bus station. “What kind of passport do you have?” Samuel asks, as it dawns on me that if not for the last name, in his jeans, plaid button down and sleek glasses, I would have mistaken my first Arab-Israeli friend for a hirsute Jew — perhaps a Yeminite, Iraqi, or even a Persian member of the tribe like myself. “...
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Eliora Katz / Iftar / Islam / Israel / Israel-Palestinian Peace Process / Israeli-Palestinian Conflict / Jerusalem / Judaism / Occupied Palestinian Territory / Orthodox Judaism / Palestine / West Bank / YaLa Young Leaders Movement / Focus Article / Middle East & North Africa / Global ChangeBy Eliora KatzAn orthodox American-Persian Jew discovers that the road to peace is paved with rice and opera. This is the first of a two part series. Heading deep into the desert, from Ramallah to a small Palestinian village couched between the Judean hills, I can’t help but ask: “Who built this paved road beneath my tires and when?” I am shadowing the footsteps of so many who have made the trip before me. They were either Arab families returning from the big city; shepherds seeking grazing land; Benjaminites en route to the Temple; Shin Bet officers looking for terrorists; or if they were reporter pilgrims, trying gauge the climate of a town immured by a wall. As my lemony taxi reaches...
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360° Analysis / Anwar Akhtar / Balakot Project / British Pakistanis / Civil society / development / Edhi Foundation / Elections / Pakistan / Pakistan Calling / Pakistani Diaspora / PK Calling / RSA / The Samosa / Europe / Global Change / Central & South AsiaBy Anwar AkhtarWhat is the biggest challenge facing Pakistan? This is the last of a two part series. Read part one here. In a conversation with Fair Observer's Nishtha Chugh, the Director of The Samosa, Anwar Akhtar, discusses the origins of Pakistan Calling: a film project in collaboration with the Royal Society of Arts that shows links between civil and cultural organizations in Pakistan and the UK. Nishtha Chugh: So your program is, for example, going to go to Pakistan, collaborate with role models like Asma Jahangir, Hina Jilani, and then where is the filming going to take place? Anwar Akhtar: We work with Karachi University film school; we work with SZABIST University film school; we work with...
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360° Analysis / Anwar Akhtar / Balakot Project / Civil society / development / Edhi Foundation / Elections / Nishtha Chugh / Pakistan Calling / Pakistani Diaspora / PK Calling / RSA / The Samosa / Europe / Global Change / Central & South AsiaBy Anwar AkhtarWhat is the biggest challenge facing Pakistan? This is the first of a two part series. In a conversation with Fair Observer's Nishtha Chugh, the Director of The Samosa, Anwar Akhtar, discusses the origins of Pakistan Calling: a film project in collaboration with the Royal Society of Arts that shows links between civil and cultural organizations in Pakistan and the UK. Nishtha Chugh: Nawaz Sharif is the new prime minister of Pakistan. What kind of changes are you expecting to take place, or what will happen in his leadership — he's a changed man, of course — with respect to your initiative? Anwar Akhtar: I think the most important thing about the recent Pakistani...