The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Richard Pithouse -
The living party, which ought to make possible the free exchange of ideas which have been elaborated according to the real needs of the mass of the people, has been transformed into a trade union of individual interests. - Frantz Fanon, Tunis, 1961
It’ll be some time before we really know what happened in the National Working Committee (NWC) of the African National Congress (ANC) on Monday. But it seems clear enough that a majority of the NWC supported a proposal to bring disciplinary...
Is Hamas willing to negotiate directly with Israel or not is the question put to Hamas representative in Lebanon, Usamah Hamdan, by The Real News Network.
Hamdan responds that negotiations are a political step which depend on political conditions. Until now the political climate has not allowed such a step, he says.
Would Hamas recognize the state of Israel if the majority of the Palestinian people supported a two state solution?
"If our people accepted anything through a free...
Saif Shahin -
America's failure to talk peace is undercutting its influence in the Middle East. It has cleared the way for proactive nations like Turkey and Qatar, who want a quieter neighborhood to push their economic growth, to step in and broker deals such as the recent Iranian nuclear fuel swap and the Lebanese accord of 2008. Continued U.S. intransigence may lead them to try and sort out issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well.
The United States chooses to be unconvinced by the...
An international convoy of ships, dubbed the 'Freedom Flotilla', carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza was intercepted and stormed in international waters by the Israeli Defence Force. It is confirmed that nine of the 600 activists, parliamentarians and media representatives aboard the flotilla were killed by Israeli soldiers.
Israel claims it opened fire on the activists in self-defence. However, this Al Jazeera report, which shows live footage of the attack, contends that those aboard the...
Jane Duncan -
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has issued a directive to a number of municipalities not to allow marches for the duration of the 2010 World Cup. How many have received it is unclear.
This ban came to light when a civil society march for quality public education, scheduled to take place on 10 June to Constitution Hill in Braamfontein, was banned last week. The Anti-privatisation Forum (APF) also planned to march to protest against aspects of the World Cup and general...
Subhankar Banerjee -
Will the Obama Administration Allow Shell Oil to Do to Arctic Waters What BP Did to the Gulf?
Bear with me. I’ll get to the oil. But first you have to understand where I’ve been and where you undoubtedly won’t go, but Shell’s drilling rigs surely will -- unless someone stops them.
Over the last decade, I’ve come to know Arctic Alaska about as intimately as a photographer can. I’ve been there many times, starting with the 14 months I spent back in...
