Post by maruf on Apr 15, 2005 1:45:35 GMT -5
Audio: Swap The Land For The Bible
www.dawah.tv/broadcast/sf/africa_commision.xpl
Desmond Tutu often tells a joke: when whites arrived in South Africa, they had the Bible and blacks had the land. The whites told the blacks to close their eyes and pray, and they did. When the black people opened their eyes, they saw that they now had the Bible and the whites had the land.
This may have been said in jest but what underlines this is a very serious issue. The history of European involvement has been one of brutality and bloodshed, laced with ideology. David Livingston once said of one of his missions in Southern Africa that they were to bring "civilization, commerce and Christianity"
The same sentiment has now been revived in Tony Blair's Africa Commission report published last week. British Prime Minister Tony Blair last Friday challenged the world to help end the poverty, conflict and disease plaguing Africa, as he released an international report on how to ease the continent's woes.
"There can be no excuse, no defence, no justification for the plight of millions of our fellow beings in Africa today. There should be nothing that stands in our way of changing it."
The 400-page report calls on the international community immediately to double foreign aid bound for Africa to $50-billion and to make fighting Aids a priority. It set 100 percent debt cancellation as a goal and urged rich
nations to drop trade barriers that hurt poor ones. It also said African leaders must move faster towards democracy, stamp out corruption and take other steps to improve the way their countries are run.
The 17 members of the Commission for Africa - chaired by Blair and including Live Aid activist and musician Bob Geldof and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi - acknowledge that other efforts to rescue Africa have foundered.
The report urged rich nations to drop "politically antiquated, economically illiterate, environmentally destructive and ethically indefensible" trade barriers. But it also said African countries needed to drop barriers that
blocked trade within the continent.
Salim Fredericks discusses the report and the political reasons behind it
www.dawah.tv/broadcast/sf/africa_commision.xpl
Desmond Tutu often tells a joke: when whites arrived in South Africa, they had the Bible and blacks had the land. The whites told the blacks to close their eyes and pray, and they did. When the black people opened their eyes, they saw that they now had the Bible and the whites had the land.
This may have been said in jest but what underlines this is a very serious issue. The history of European involvement has been one of brutality and bloodshed, laced with ideology. David Livingston once said of one of his missions in Southern Africa that they were to bring "civilization, commerce and Christianity"
The same sentiment has now been revived in Tony Blair's Africa Commission report published last week. British Prime Minister Tony Blair last Friday challenged the world to help end the poverty, conflict and disease plaguing Africa, as he released an international report on how to ease the continent's woes.
"There can be no excuse, no defence, no justification for the plight of millions of our fellow beings in Africa today. There should be nothing that stands in our way of changing it."
The 400-page report calls on the international community immediately to double foreign aid bound for Africa to $50-billion and to make fighting Aids a priority. It set 100 percent debt cancellation as a goal and urged rich
nations to drop trade barriers that hurt poor ones. It also said African leaders must move faster towards democracy, stamp out corruption and take other steps to improve the way their countries are run.
The 17 members of the Commission for Africa - chaired by Blair and including Live Aid activist and musician Bob Geldof and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi - acknowledge that other efforts to rescue Africa have foundered.
The report urged rich nations to drop "politically antiquated, economically illiterate, environmentally destructive and ethically indefensible" trade barriers. But it also said African countries needed to drop barriers that
blocked trade within the continent.
Salim Fredericks discusses the report and the political reasons behind it