First of all, I was hosted by two activists who founded Channel Four News, a hard-hitting, truth-telling, non-special interest news outlet serving Cape Town and all of South Africa.  But because of their hard-hitting questions to elected leaders, the post-apartheid era government chose to enact regulations that resulted in their temporary shutdown.  Undaunted, they organized a very informative film festival chock full of documentaries recalling the South Africa-Israel connections that beefed up repressive capabilities in both states; the role of Coca Cola during the sanctions era; scenes from Gaza after Israel’s Operation Cast Lead; and stories of general Palestinian life with plays, songs, and films.  Please click here to hear one of the most moving songs I have heard in a very long time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H99mzLiBenw

The name of the group is Desert Rose.  The woman singing loaned me her makeup because I was without my suitcases, and it turned out that she sang the most heart-wrenching song of the night, Ayala Katz.  The song has been banned by certain Rabbinical authorities in South Africa.  Please share this song with all of your friends.  I listen to it every day.

Much is at stake today in South Africa at  a time when criminal charges have been brought against the South African National Police Commissioner and those charges have implications for the country’s leading political party; in addition, there are ongoing investigations into arms deals that could lead all the way to top ANC leaders; information is beginning to leak out about secret negotiations between certain elements of the black resistance and the global elite even before ANC took power; and all of this information coming out at this time might indicate that the people’s interests were sold out long before the ink was dry on these arms deals.  It is good that South Africans are beginning to look critically and more closely at what they (and we, the progressive forces in the world) actually won and to investigate whether they voluntarily stopped short of complete victory.  Of course, it was the people on the ground, inside South Africa, who bore the brunt of the struggle and who should reap the benefits of the victory.  And they are not, and that’s why this line of questioning is more prevalent. Read more »