Friday, July 4, 2008
WE MUST thank and express our gratitude to the Bush Administration for dropping Nelson Mandela and other members of the African National Congress (ANC) from the US terror watch list. What a gift to the Nobel Peace Laureate on his 90th birthday, which was celebrated by the entire world!
US President George W Bush last week signed a bill which will allow Mandela to travel to the US freely. Earlier, the latter was required to obtain clearance from the secretary of state before being allowed into the US, and even after clearance he and other members of the ANC could travel to the United Nations headquarters in New York but not to Washington DC or other parts of the United States.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted the restrictions imposed on Mandela and other ANC members were "rather embarrassing" as her South African counterpart was considered a 'terrorist' and she could only meet him after waiving the restriction!
One is not only surprised but also angry that it took 18 years (Mandela was released from the Robben Island jail in 1990) for the US Administration to realise that Mandela, whose name evokes respect and reverence all over the world, should be removed from the terror watch list. The inanity of the US administration can be gauged from the fact that in 1993 Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. If a Nobel Peace Laureate can remain on the US terror list, one can imagine what can happen to ordinary mortals.
It is interesting to note the language of the bill sponsored by Democrat Senators John Kerry, Sheldon Whitehouse and Republican Bob Corker, which said: "Mandela and ANC members remained on the list for activities they conducted against South Africa's apartheid regime decades ago." One fails to understand how "activities against the apartheid regime" can make a person terrorist. Everybody knows that Mandela was fighting for freedom and equality for his people against a regime, which was blackballed by the entire world for practising racial discrimination. The white supremacist regime committed unspeakable atrocities and crimes on non-whites. The racist regime not only segregated people on the basis of the pigment of their skin but also banned social contacts between whites and non-whites and grabbed 80 per cent of the land belonging to black majority. Black South Africans had no right to vote.
But the US did not find anything wrong with such repressive policies and continued their friendly relations with South Africa for a long time and even put the people like Mandela on the terror watch list.
This is the reason why one is not surprised when the US overlooks atrocities committed by the Israeli regime on Palestinians. After Mandela's release and dismantling of apartheid, South Africa has changed but Israel continues to do so which would put the then racist regime of South Africa to shame.
Former President Jimmy Carter in his book on the Middle East, entitled "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid", says Israel's current policy in the territories is "a system of apartheid, with two peoples occupying the same land but completely separated from each other, with Israelis totally dominant and depriving Palestinians of their basic human rights".
The settlement building and expansion spree on the West Bank continues. The new apartheid wall is being built, expropriating more Palestinian land and cutting many Palestinians' paths to occupied East Jerusalem. And more and more apartheid roads cutting the West Bank into ribbons are being built.
A senior ANC veteran, who visited Palestine several times, once commented to a Palestinian from the West Bank that "compared to what you Palestinians have to deal with, we have had a picnic".
US President George W Bush last week signed a bill which will allow Mandela to travel to the US freely. Earlier, the latter was required to obtain clearance from the secretary of state before being allowed into the US, and even after clearance he and other members of the ANC could travel to the United Nations headquarters in New York but not to Washington DC or other parts of the United States.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted the restrictions imposed on Mandela and other ANC members were "rather embarrassing" as her South African counterpart was considered a 'terrorist' and she could only meet him after waiving the restriction!
One is not only surprised but also angry that it took 18 years (Mandela was released from the Robben Island jail in 1990) for the US Administration to realise that Mandela, whose name evokes respect and reverence all over the world, should be removed from the terror watch list. The inanity of the US administration can be gauged from the fact that in 1993 Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. If a Nobel Peace Laureate can remain on the US terror list, one can imagine what can happen to ordinary mortals.
It is interesting to note the language of the bill sponsored by Democrat Senators John Kerry, Sheldon Whitehouse and Republican Bob Corker, which said: "Mandela and ANC members remained on the list for activities they conducted against South Africa's apartheid regime decades ago." One fails to understand how "activities against the apartheid regime" can make a person terrorist. Everybody knows that Mandela was fighting for freedom and equality for his people against a regime, which was blackballed by the entire world for practising racial discrimination. The white supremacist regime committed unspeakable atrocities and crimes on non-whites. The racist regime not only segregated people on the basis of the pigment of their skin but also banned social contacts between whites and non-whites and grabbed 80 per cent of the land belonging to black majority. Black South Africans had no right to vote.
But the US did not find anything wrong with such repressive policies and continued their friendly relations with South Africa for a long time and even put the people like Mandela on the terror watch list.
This is the reason why one is not surprised when the US overlooks atrocities committed by the Israeli regime on Palestinians. After Mandela's release and dismantling of apartheid, South Africa has changed but Israel continues to do so which would put the then racist regime of South Africa to shame.
Former President Jimmy Carter in his book on the Middle East, entitled "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid", says Israel's current policy in the territories is "a system of apartheid, with two peoples occupying the same land but completely separated from each other, with Israelis totally dominant and depriving Palestinians of their basic human rights".
The settlement building and expansion spree on the West Bank continues. The new apartheid wall is being built, expropriating more Palestinian land and cutting many Palestinians' paths to occupied East Jerusalem. And more and more apartheid roads cutting the West Bank into ribbons are being built.
A senior ANC veteran, who visited Palestine several times, once commented to a Palestinian from the West Bank that "compared to what you Palestinians have to deal with, we have had a picnic".