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This was written in January 2013.
Utterly shameful, obscene, and inexcusable that it is true today.
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It ain’t Xenophobia? Really?
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it’s not xenophobia?
the refrain is the same,
it’s the criminals to blame,
we still won’t be calling the attacks by their stinking name,
‘xenophobia’
yes,
that’s what it is,
but,
let us not be simplistic,
we have to face the ugliness of our collective shame,
because when mostly ‘foreigners’ get put to the flame,
how can we ignorance feign?
it’s xenophobia,
simple and plain,
with poverty & unemployment barrelling on a runaway train,
and it won’t just ‘go away’,
for as long as ignorant complicity continues to reign …
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_____________________
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‘Xenophobia’ is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as:
” noun:
intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries “
The synonyms for xenophobia are:
chauvinism, racial intolerance, racism, dislike of foreigners, nationalism, prejudice.
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_____________
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As a citizen of South Africa, I am acutely aware of the many challenges that our young country faces.
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The iniquities of our tortured past, the legacy of Apartheid, socio-economic issues etc. are just a few of the many problems that South Africa is grappling with.
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What is extremely disturbing for me is something that I have personally encountered, in conversations with friends, family, and fellow citizens from all walks of life.
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That something is how rife ‘anti-foreigner’ sentiment is within our various, and still divided communities.
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I have heard the most atrocious, insensitive, hate-filled utterances regarding the ‘foreigners’ who ‘take our jobs’, and ‘take our women’, and ‘are the cause of all the crime’, and ‘they must go back to their countries’, and most chillingly ‘we will kill these foreigners’.
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I am also aware that many intellectuals, think-tanks, NGO’s, and sociologists etc. have written and spoken volumes about how the failure of proper service delivery by the government and local municipalities, and the myriad other shortcomings that plague our country have played a part in the emergence of this abhorrent xenophobic sentiments that are being spouted almost as if one was talking about culling animals in the Kruger National Park.
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We have already witnessed the scourge of xenophobia, and not long ago, when organised bands of people marked, attacked and killed ‘foreigners’ in a frenzy of blood-letting and looting.
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This was in 2008.
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And today, as the father of the nation, Nelson Mandela lies ill in a hospital bed in Pretoria, I hear similar disturbing and blood-curdling hate-speech directed against ‘the foreigners’.
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What is going on?
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Where and how have we, as a country, failed, or more worryingly, chose to ignore the signs of this cancer that has to be dealt with, and dealt with as a matter of national priority.
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The synonyms for xenophobia include racism, racial intolerance, and prejudice.
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The neo-Nazis in Europe and elsewhere are xenophobes.
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No one disputes that.
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The neo-Nazis in Europe and elsewhere talk in almost exactly the same terms when they spout their rhetoric, when they go on ‘Paki-bashing’ sprees in England, when they deface Synagogues and Mosques and Temples, or when they beat up and kill ‘foreigners’ who ‘take our jobs’, and ‘take our women’, and ‘are the cause of all the crime’, and ‘they must go back to their countries’.
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What is particularly disturbing about the rise of xenophobia, especially in the South African context is the complicity of silence, and by extension, a shocking acceptance of these racist and murderously dangerous views, by ‘normal’ citizens.
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We are Africans.
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And above all, we are all human.
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This may seem like an obvious and unnecessary fact to point out, but when certain friends, family members, and people one interacts with daily, spew such xenophobic drivel, it needs to be taken seriously.
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Pogroms, xenophobic attacks, racism, intolerance, prejudice, casteism, religious bigotry, sexism, and homophobia, do not simply arise out of nothing.
.
There are societal, religious, traditional, cultural and other factors that do indeed create fertile ground for some of these noxious sentiments to germinate.
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It is incumbent on us all, people, just people, to engage with people, however close they may be to us, and challenge and make our voices heard that we will not stand mutely by, as such hate-filled venom is chucked around nonchalantly.
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We cannot be conspicuous by our silence and inaction when a large segment of our society, those who have chosen our country to be their home, often fleeing economic hardship, political and social violence, and numberless other factors that force, and this is important, people are forced into leaving their countries, often making hazardous and painful journeys in order to find safe-haven amongst fellow human-beings.
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As South Africans, we know just how friendly countries welcomed us during the darkest days of Apartheid repression and tyranny.
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Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and the other ‘front-line’ states paid dearly for offering South Africans fleeing Apartheid a place of refuge as well as a base of operations against the oppressive Apartheid system.
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Apartheid agents and security forces attacked, fomented insurrections against the governments in the front-line states, and still South Africans of all races, creeds etc. found a welcome home in these comradely countries.
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We should never forget this.
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Ever.
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Our government needs to be more vocal about its stance on xenophobia, and by doing so it will send a message that it will not stand by idly while people from other parts of the continent are constantly under the threat of being attacked.
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That said, we as citizens have a voice, and it is morally incumbent on all of us to do our bit so that the scourge of xenophobia is excised from this land.
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There is a simmering undercurrent of the possibility of attacks on foreigners as I type these words.
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If this is not taken seriously and dealt with, sadly we may see scenes similar to those we witnessed in 2008.
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AND IT IS HAPPENING NOW. TODAY.
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Mayibuye-i-Afrika!
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What Happens
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It has happened
and it happens now as before
and will continue to happen
if nothing is done against it.
The innocent don’t know a thing about it
because they are too innocent
and the guilty don’t know a thing about it
because they’re too guilty.
The poor don’t take notice
because they’re too poor
and the rich don’t take notice
because they’re too rich.
The stupid shrug their shoulders
because they’re too stupid
and the clever shrug their shoulders
because they’re too clever.
It doesn’t bother the young
because they’re too young
and it doesn’t both the old
because they’re too old.
That’s why nothing is done against it
and that’s why it happened
and happens now as before
and will continue to happen.
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* –
Erich Fried
parents who settled in England, was known for his political-minded
poetry. He was also a broadcaster, translator and essayist.
Erich Fried (6 May 1921 – 22 November 1988), an Austrian poet who
settled in England, was known for his political-minded poetry. He was
also a broadcaster, translator and essayist.
Born to Jewish parents Nelly and Hugo Fried in Vienna, he was a child
actor and from an early age wrote strongly political essays and poetry.
He fled with his mother to London after his father was murdered by the
Gestapo after the Anschluss with Nazi Germany. During the war, he did
casual work as a librarian and a factory hand. He joined Young Austria, a
left-wing emigrant youth movement, but left in 1943 in protest at its
growing Stalinist tendencies. In 1944 he married Maria Marburg, shortly
before the birth of his son Hans. In the same year his first volume of
poetry was published. He separated from Maria in 1946, and they divorced
in 1952. In the same year he married Nan Spence Eichner, with whom he
had two children; David (1958) and Katherine (1961). Erich and Nan
divorced in 1965. In 1965 he got married for a third time to Catherine
Boswell with whom he had three children; Petra (1965), Klaus and Tom
(1969).
From 1952 to 1968 he worked as a political commentator for the BBC
German Service. He translated works by Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot and
Dylan Thomas. In 1962 he returned to Vienna for the first time.
He published several volumes of poetry as well as radio plays and a
novel. His work was sometimes controversial, including attacks on the
Zionist movement and support for left-wing causes. His work was mainly
published in the West, but in 1969, a selection of his poetry was
published in the GDR poetry series Poesiealbum, and his Dylan Thomas
translations were published in that same series in 1974. The composer
Hans Werner Henze set two of Fried’s poems for his song-cycle Voices
(1973).
In 1982 he regained his Austrian nationality, though he also retained
the British nationality he had adopted in 1949. He died of intestinal
cancer in Baden-Baden, Germany, in 1988 and is buried in Kensal Green
cemetery, London.
An Austrian literary prize is named after him – the Erich Fried Prize
.
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Erich Fried
Such a gruesome act penned so pensively. Amazing Post Afzal!
Peace and Love always pal!
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Thank you and yes gruesome and appalling and inexcusable.
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This was something very different and yet perfectly related to. The choice of words and metaphors is wonderful and makes everything seem so realistic. The way how women in this society are treated and grief-stricken is completely and beautifully portrayed. I could feel my eyes moisten while reading some lines. What a masterpiece!! Kudos to you!!
You are welcome
#PATRICKSTORIES
Peace ✌and Love ❤
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Thank you so very much indeed, Patrick for being so kind and warm with your sentiments. They touch me deeply and yes it’s inexcusable how women are treated in our “liberal” 21st century. Power to the people a d warmest wishes and thank you again.
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You are welcome
#PATRICKSTORIES
Peace ✌and Love ❤
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THANK YOU as always.
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Thank you! I appreciate your thoughtful response.
Such an awesome way of replying someone. Thanks. Again
Also, I just posted:
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Would love to know your views. Love to see your contributions on it. I’m always excited for your comment. 🙂
You are welcome
#PATRICKSTORIES
Peace ✌and Love ❤
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All thanks to you for your words that are insightful and so so pertinent in this age of disinformation and the rising tide of hate and intolerance
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Thank you! I appreciate your thoughtful response.
Such an awesome way of replying someone. Thanks. Again
Also, I just posted:
1. AN OVERVIEW OF GENDER ROLES AND STEREOTYPES- AGENTS, EFFECTS AND WAYS TO COMBAT IT
2. PATRICK VIEW- 8 ARGUMENTS TO DISPROVE THE FACT THAT WOMEN BELONG IN THE KITCHEN
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Would love to know your views. Love to see your contributions on it. I’m always excited for your comment. 🙂
You are welcome
#PATRICKSTORIES
Peace ✌and Love ❤
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Peace & Love, brother and warmest wishes and regards to you and to all those who are dear to you
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You are welcome
#PATRICKSTORIES
Peace ✌and Love ❤
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Peace ✌
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Thank you! I appreciate your thoughtful response.
Such an awesome way of replying someone. Thanks. Again
Also, I just posted:
1. AN OVERVIEW OF GENDER ROLES AND STEREOTYPES- AGENTS, EFFECTS AND WAYS TO COMBAT IT
2. PATRICK VIEW- 8 ARGUMENTS TO DISPROVE THE FACT THAT WOMEN BELONG IN THE KITCHEN
3. PATRICK VIEW – HOW TO BE VEGETARIAN IN NIGERIA
4. A PERSONAL VIEW OF GENDER NORMS
5. THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
6. CHILD MARRIAGE – MEANING, CAUSES, EFFECTS AND SOLUTIONS
7. PATRICK VIEW: A SPECIAL FRIEND AND THEIR QUALITIES
8. HOW TO BE PERFECT IN EVERYTHING YOU DO
Would love to know your views. Love to see your contributions on it. I’m always excited for your comment. 🙂
You are welcome
#PATRICKSTORIES
Peace ✌and Love ❤
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Always and ever a pleasure my dear friend Patrick
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You are welcome too…..
#PATRICKSTORIES
Peace ✌and Love ❤
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Peace ✌and love ❤
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Thank you! I appreciate your thoughtful response.
Such an awesome way of replying someone. Thanks. Again
Also, I just posted:
1. AN OVERVIEW OF GENDER ROLES AND STEREOTYPES- AGENTS, EFFECTS AND WAYS TO COMBAT IT
2. PATRICK VIEW- 8 ARGUMENTS TO DISPROVE THE FACT THAT WOMEN BELONG IN THE KITCHEN
3. PATRICK VIEW – HOW TO BE VEGETARIAN IN NIGERIA
4. A PERSONAL VIEW OF GENDER NORMS
5. THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
6. CHILD MARRIAGE – MEANING, CAUSES, EFFECTS AND SOLUTIONS
7. PATRICK VIEW: A SPECIAL FRIEND AND THEIR QUALITIES
8. HOW TO BE PERFECT IN EVERYTHING YOU DO
Would love to know your views. Love to see your contributions on it. I’m always excited for your comment. 🙂
You are welcome
#PATRICKSTORIES
Peace ✌and Love ❤
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Brilliant my friend. absolutely so! I shall visit and read and I thank you deeply for sharing your humanist thoughts and brilliant penmanship
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Thank you! I appreciate your thoughtful response.
Such an awesome way of replying someone. Thanks. Again
Also, I just posted:
1. AN OVERVIEW OF GENDER ROLES AND STEREOTYPES- AGENTS, EFFECTS AND WAYS TO COMBAT IT
2. PATRICK VIEW- 8 ARGUMENTS TO DISPROVE THE FACT THAT WOMEN BELONG IN THE KITCHEN
3. PATRICK VIEW – HOW TO BE VEGETARIAN IN NIGERIA
4. A PERSONAL VIEW OF GENDER NORMS
5. THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
6. CHILD MARRIAGE – MEANING, CAUSES, EFFECTS AND SOLUTIONS
7. PATRICK VIEW: A SPECIAL FRIEND AND THEIR QUALITIES
8. HOW TO BE PERFECT IN EVERYTHING YOU DO
Would love to know your views. Love to see your contributions on it. I’m always excited for your comment. 🙂
You are welcome
#PATRICKSTORIES
Peace ✌and Love ❤
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Alway a pleasure to engage with you, my friend.
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Thank you! I appreciate your thoughtful response.
Such an awesome way of replying someone. Thanks. Again
Also, I just posted:
1. AN OVERVIEW OF GENDER ROLES AND STEREOTYPES- AGENTS, EFFECTS AND WAYS TO COMBAT IT
2. PATRICK VIEW- 8 ARGUMENTS TO DISPROVE THE FACT THAT WOMEN BELONG IN THE KITCHEN
3. PATRICK VIEW – HOW TO BE VEGETARIAN IN NIGERIA
4. A PERSONAL VIEW OF GENDER NORMS
5. THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING
6. CHILD MARRIAGE – MEANING, CAUSES, EFFECTS AND SOLUTIONS
7. PATRICK VIEW: A SPECIAL FRIEND AND THEIR QUALITIES
8. HOW TO BE PERFECT IN EVERYTHING YOU DO
Would love to know your views. Love to see your contributions on it. I’m always excited for your comment. 🙂
You are welcome
#PATRICKSTORIES
Peace ✌and Love ❤
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many many thanks as ever to you, my brother. Peace and Love
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You are welcome
#PATRICKSTORIES
Peace ✌and Love ❤
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I remain respectfully humbled.
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I know thanks
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Thank you!
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