History: Truth and Reconciliation

South Africa holds a certain hold on the minds of the world. Personally I have a mother who grew up under Apartheid, she may have been part of a privileged minority simply due to her skin colour, but the system still has impact today. For others especially in the South it provides a beacon of overturning oppressive systems.

The system of Apartheid in South Africa was abolished in 1994, but the affects on the people were not stripped from their psyche. It was known that a system needed to be put in place to deal with the cycle of violence that had plagued the people of South Africa. There had to be some recognition that it was the racist institution of Apartheid that had been the problem, not the people socialized under it. If any type of true unity and peace was to be established the sins of the past needed to be cleansed.

In 1995 an institution was created to deal with the aftermath of the violence committed under Apartheid, it was known as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The idea was to bring justice for the crimes committed, but with the least harm possible. For the commission to work people from both sides the perpetrator and victims had to be present. If the crimes were politically motivated and, proportional and, the perpetrator gave full disclosure of everything that happened in presence of the victims they were given the chance of amnesty.

The people brought to trial included crimes from every side of the violence including the former Apartheid government and African National Congress members. Some say that the Commission didn't do enough, but is a profoundly different way of approaching crimes then the more European form of victor's justice. Ultimately it was an institution that should be remembered and improved upon to deal with future injustice.

Opinion: Israel-Palestine Conflict

I'm a bit behind in work, but I will be updating soon once I get things back in gear. In the meantime I would like some feedback on my blog which can be seen in the poll in the sidebar. Here is something I wrote a few months ago which was inspired by watching a Noam Chomsky v. Alan Dershowitz debate.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most important issues within our time. I have thought a lot about the issue even with my separation from it. I am not Jewish, nor Muslim. I have in me no Arab blood, nor have any relatives that are Jewish or Palestinian, yet I feel that the issue must be talked about. It must be talked about as in my opinion it epitomizes one of the worst forms of modern imperialism.

Many people I know may have strong feelings on the issue and, I sincerely ask for comments and personal critique on the issue. There are both Palestinians and Jews who read this, some of whose views on the subject I actually don't know. In an issue as important as this civility leads to reason.

To many people it may not be much of a surprise that I stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. In my view there was no right for the formation of Israel after World War 2. It was mainly created for a way to deal with a people who had been just brutalized yet, just resulted in brutalizing another. The allies of World War 2 as winners of the war have been able to make themselves look as though they had done no wrong. Yet during the war they as well committed atrocities --–not as many of course-- and before the war racist animosity against Jews in many countries existed as well. The dispatch of the Jews to Palestine would make them a new great ally and, would try to heal the pain of the Holocaust -- which many people forget to mention included Queers, Blacks, the disabled, and political prisoners.

An ally in the middle east would help with the domination of Arabs that had started after the Sykes-Picot Agreement after WWI. It would also help with the continued control of the vital oil deposits in the region, most importantly Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and, Saudi Arabia. These oil deposits were first controlled by British Petroleum however, the British Empire was at the end of its power as its old colony and new ally gained power. American oil interests in the region peaked leading to wanted economic and political control of the region, thus America wanted to keep Israel as an extremely powerful player in the area.

Israel since that period after WWII gained rapid power and brought down terrible pain upon the Palestinian people. The United States has used their economic, military, and political power to help Israel's government to stay in power and, to hamper the peace process. As Noam Chomsky points out in the first Intifada Palestinians were killed 20:1 as well as tortured and, brutalized and, that it was only recently when the numbers were closer to 3:1 did people start paying attention, but they were watching the 1 not the 3. Despite the suicide bombings Palestinians have suffered much greater from terrorism then the Israelis.

I went to a high school with a high Jewish population,– approximately 40%. Yet, none of the ones that I met were for Arab-Jewish collaboration. In fact I had many people perplexed as to why I didn't agree with Israel. It is due to the imperialism and blatant state terrorism that I don't support Israel. However, Israel is a reality. A reality that needs to be worked with. Hopefully a two state solution that give Palestinians actual and free access to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Israel must give up its apartheid. In the words of the South African struggle Amandla Aweightu which in Zulu means power to the people. Power to the Palestinian and Israeli people so that they may both live together in peace.