Botswana National Front: "We do not want a repeat of last year's "Flotilla incident"!"

Reproducing a statement of the BNF, the main opposition party in Botswana:

29-06-11
Press Release

The Botswana National Front (BNF) would like to identify itself with the efforts of believers in Human rights and the struggle for emancipation of the Palestinians who have seen it fit to mobilise humanitarian support for them. The New Peace Flotilla to Gaza will not only deliver the much needed humanitarian aid, but will also draw world attention to the plight of the Palestinians and expose the inconsistencies of the World when it comes to Israel and Palestine. Hopeful this will bring the liberation of Palestine closer.

As it is right now, 10 vessels from different countries boarded by people of different nationalities, some of whom are Jewish, are currently on the way to Gaza. The Israeli government continues to illegally occupy Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem. The people living in these areas have been subjected to so much abuse and have no Human Rights.

We should remember that in 2008/9, Israeli Defence Force assault of Gaza which the Amnesty International dubbed, "22 days of death and destruction" left over 1400 dead. Of these, 326 were children under the age of 16. 112 were their mothers, said a UN Fact Finding Mission. Schools, hospitals, power installations and other badly needed infrastructure were badly damaged. The Israeli army used missiles, cluster bombs, rockets, banned white phosphorus, tank shells and machine guns against unarmed civilian population, save for a few stone throwing youths.

Just last year, Israel shot and killed 26 children whose sin was to scavenge for construction material from the war ruins. Unemployment figures within Palestine stand at a staggering 45%. Medical supplies and medicines have almost run out.

The Israeli blockade of Gaza, which is illegal, has turned the Palestinians into a group of holed up abused people. This is leaving bad scars on the minds, souls and bodies of the Palestinians. It breeds hatred and war.

The Geneva Convention on Human Rights allows a blockade if it is against an enemy during wartime and is used to secure borders and the population. What we are seeing in Gaza is a blockade that seeks to punish a civilian population of 1.6million unarmed people by a heavily armed expansionist regime that kills as and when it wants to. A state that receives billions of US$ annually in the form of US aid. A state that commits so many atrocities but is never punished.

There is no doubt that there has been incidents of firing of home made missiles from Palestinian territory to the nearest point in Israel, Sderat. This was done by some who were venting their anger at the illegal settlements and their treatment at the hands of the ruthless and barbaric Israeli state. Most of the missiles landed harmlessly except for one or two instances where there has been death.

The killings on innocent people,the type of fire power and the length of the operation by far surpasses what Muammar Qaddafi has been accused of by the ICC. Why the Israeli leaders have not been brought before the ICC up to now shows that this Court was set up for certain individuals and to achieve "certain" goals. This therefore makes it compulsory for the international bodies like the UN to be transformed so that they can serve us fairly and democratically.

UN Security Council Resolution 1860, adopted on January 2009, calls for "the unimpeded provision and distribution throughout Gaza of Humanitarian assistance, including food, fuel and medical treatment." International Humanitarian organisations doing work in Gaza say that this has not been fulfilled.

On 31st May 2010, in what got to be known as "Flotilla raid", the Israeli Forces, on International waters, attacked and confiscated 10, 000 tons of Humanitarian aid destined for Gaza which were on six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla".

The BNF position regarding the resolution of the Middle East crisis has not changed; Israel should abide by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 of 1967 which called on it to withdraw to the 1967 borders and for all the countries in the Middle East, including Israel to live in peace within secure and recognised boundaries free from threats of force.

It is our hope that the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government will make its voice heard and put pressure on its friend and close ally, Israel to ensure safe and unhindered passage of the much needed humanitarian aid to Gaza. We do not want a repeat of last year's Flotilla incident! Israel should not attack the Second Flotilla! The people of Gaza need the aid! Away with Israeli blockade of Gaza!

Moeti Mohwasa
BNF Information and Publicity Secretary.
+267-72256959

Botswana National Front statement on Egypt and Tunisia

This came to us by e-mail, reproducing below

01-02-11

PRESS RELEASE

The Botswana National Front (BNF) has been following the events in the Middle East with a keen interest. It has to be understood that what has happened in Tunisia and is now happening in Egypt is a sign that the People want to take control and determine their destiny. There are also signs that other countries which have not known genuine democracy are also on the brink of experiencing the People’s revolution. The Tunisian Jasmine Revolution has set the tone. The political, social and economic realities of the middle east have been altered. We are hopeful that the "Front of January 14" which is a front formed and led by the left parties of Tunisia will not allow this to be just another revolution in vain. The revolution should not start and end with people taking to the streets. The people should feel the fruits of their uprising and sacrifices. It should not be about replacing one looter with another. There should be a complete change in the political, social and economic structures.

The people are rising because they feel their interests are not being taken care of. The lack of democratic space and unfair distribution of resources has given room to these uprisings. The Egyptians and Tunisians are taking charge and not allowing the elite to act and decide on their behalf. They have seen what can happen if you allow such a situation to prevail, where you just vote and seat back. It is not like the Egyptians are not aware that elections are due in September. They lave lost confidence in elections because they say, “this is the revolution of the people who are hungry; this is the revolution of the people who have no money against those with a lot”. The events elsewhere in Africa have obviously made them see elections as a farce. Ivory Coast, Kenya, Gabon etc being good examples. There is now a stalemate in Ivory Coast even after the people have spoken. What the Egyptian state, parliament and judiciary have failed to carry out on behalf of the People is now being carried out by the people themselves. It debunks the myth that only the state, parliament and judiciary are the only arms that provide for checks and balances in government. The people are asserting their authority and supremacy. The people’ revolution is for sure not going to stop until those who shun democracy leave office. The tone has been set and the world will never be the same again. This is a lesson for other dictators. These events are going to inspire others who are oppressed and bring about more openness in undemocratic societies. Egyptian leader and former air force officer, Hosni Mubarak who came into power in 1979 after the assassination of Anwar Sadat currently enjoys the support of the army but this has not stopped the people from taking to the streets to speak out against injustices perpetrated by Mubarak and his allies and call for their immediate evacuation from office.

Mubarak should give up power and allow for peace and change. Because of his over obsession with pursuing his personal interests, he will not realize that the capitalist system that has propped him up over the years will suffer if he does not go. It holds true that the system is pregnant with the seeds of its own destruction. The situation will deteriorate and the oil prices will go up. This will not be good for the capitalist dominated global economy as the rise in fuel will affect the economic recovery as inflation will go up. The US which has been providing financial assistance of about US$ I.5 bn per year to Egypt is not happy to see crude oil prices go up. This will slacken recovery at a time when the Obama administration is under pressure to grow the economy with presidential elections not so far off. The US foreign policy in the middle east is now at crossroads because of the people’s uprising. US stocks suffered the biggest one day loss in nearly six months while the crude oil prices have gone up. Probably sensing that the their ally, Mubarak is likely to suffer the Ben Ali fate, the US has asked the Mubarak regime to avoid using force against its people. Just to ensure that they are on the side of the people. The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government should have its voice heard and be on the side of the people. They went against the SADC consensus on Zimbabwe and recently invited Alassan Quattara to Botswana on a state visit at a time when other countries are busy trying to find a solution to the Ivory Coast impasse. While the Botswana government foreign has lately been to break ranks with the rest of the region and shout and make their views heard without due consideration, they have been quiet on Swaziland, which still remains undemocratic and continues to detain political and trade union leaders. The inconsistency of its foreign policy is disturbing. It emphasises the view that they are a regional proxy of the West.

These events in Tunisia and Egypt are also going to change the geo-political landscape of the middle east. The Egyptian leader helped a lot in ensuring that Israel continues to persecute the people of Palestine. Egypt was the first Arab state to sign a peace agreement with Israel. Winds of change are now blowing though the region and there is a glimmer of hope for the liberation of the Palestine people.

The Mubarak regime is collapsing because it failed to fully empower and develop its people. We at the BNF have always maintained that the resource that has to be empowered and developed is the people. It is the empowered and fully developed people who will in turn develop the country. By this we mean an all rounded development; political, social and economic. If this does not happen then the people will rise up and put right what is wrong. It might be delayed but it can not be stopped. People have to also share in the prosperity of their country. They have to benefit from whatever stake is there in the country otherwise that very stake is itself threatened. This is the advise we can give to the dictators and opponents of democracy, social and economic justice.

Moeti Mohwasa

BNF Information and Publicity Secretary

Botswana Muslim Association condemns Israeli Apartheid state

From Mmegi Online;

"For the Botswana Muslim Association (BMA), "Israel is an apartheid state" and "Israel's occupation of Palestine is a very sad situation," said its Deputy Chairman Bawood Khonat.

He said it was ironic that "Zionists", who were victims of horrible atrocities committed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War, should become perpetrators of similar horrors themselves.

"What happened to them is what they are doing to the Palestinian people," Khonat said."