Hamas discussion dominates the African Blogging week

The main conversation in the Egyptian blogosphere this past week has been the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections.

responds to Hamas’ request for the international community not to cut aid. He writes scathingly that Hamas should “not get a penny from the international community” since without “mammon” they will not be able to maintain their social service network.

“If the international community is to respect the choice of the Palestinians, the choice of the international community should be respected as well
It's so funny that those who told countless Palestinian youth that blowing themselves up in an Israeli shopping center will earn them a place in heaven are now concerned lest the donors turn off the tap. I mean, I am so upset with Hamas, they should have more faith than this!! (sarcasm)”

Rantings of a Sandmonkey is equally disgusted with the Hamas win. In his post, ‘Hamas wins, Palestinians loose’ he writes:

"The Palestinians have truly shot themselves in the foot this time. Given how the US and the majority of the European countries view Hamas as a terrorist organization - as they should - it's not hard to imagine them cutting off all aid to the Palestinian government completely."

He calls those who believe Hamas will become moderate now that it is in power, “delusional and not listening to what Hamas are saying” which is “death to Israel” etcetera etcetera etcetera

One Arab World has a more considered response in his post ‘Hamas won, where from here?’ He compares the Hamas win to that of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

“Both evoking the emotions of a people in dire straights, benefiting from the gravitation of people in those circumstance to ideologies, and representatives of the only viable alternative to a corrupt government. Hamas builds schools, clinics, and shelters. Hamas is intertwined in the people and amongst them. More importantly though, Hamas will not bend to others will; and that image is an opportunity. As only Sharon could have pulled off Gaza only Hamas can accept it
Whatever Hamas the bad ass, accepts in terms of negotiations, the majority of the Palestinians on the ground will accept.”

He goes on to say that the old methods (presumably suicide bombs in Tel Aviv) will no longer work. Hamas is now the government so the next attack on Israel will be a declaration of war and with the settlers out of Gaza Palestinian causalities will be much higher than in previous Israeli attacks. He also factors in the forthcoming Israeli elections and the possibility of victory for Netanyahu which could mean a reoccupation of Gaza and a third intafada. All very grim.

Elsewhere in the African blogosphere:

New South African blog, African Voices and Visions has a story on Togolese market women known as “Nana Benz”. The women began importing Dutch wax prints from Indonesia in the 1930s and then exporting them throughout Africa. They became so rich in the 1950s and were the only ones able to buy Mercedes Benz cars, thus the name “Nana Benz”.

I don’t know the history of the importation of Dutch wax prints but as long as I remember they have always been readily available in the markets of West Africa. And yes West African market women are probably amongst the wealthiest, most empowered and independent in the region.

Burkina Faso blog, Under the Acacias is concerned over the recent expansion of gold mining in the country. Until recently gold in Burkina Faso was mined by hand and was a source of income for local communities.

“When gold was found there, a small gold town grew up, with all the accompanying problems of sickness, crime, prostitution (and therefore AIDS of course) etc. Men would hand-dig tunnels many meters deep and long, working ridiculous hours, sustained often by amphetamines and kola nuts more than food. Sometimes the tunnels would collapse, killing the men inside.”

Now mining has been taken over by Orezone (a Canadian mining company – “the company’s mission is to create wealth by discovering and mining the earth’s resources in an efficient, responsible manner” – haven’t I heard that one before?). The local hand diggers have now been replaced by company workers. Although not sad to see the hand diggers leave and the associated problems the system caused, at least they had options.

“And yet, it was one option among very few for people in this region. I would be sorry if hope was once again snatched from them with nothing to replace it. Orezone of course has its business to run, but I hope that their investment into the development of the region is more than a nominal gift of a well or food aid now and again. People's lives have been affected by the company's arrival, and it should not be that the result is that a few benefit while the vast majority of the poorest and most vulnerable are left once more with no options”.

France Watcher writes that French “gunboat diplomacy is back”. S/he uses France’s involvement in the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo as evidence that French foreign policy in Africa is dictated by the President and the Ministry of Defence. For example despite the presence of UN troops in Ivory Coast, the French have “their own operation”.

“The Chief of Staff of the French armed forces impudently publicly makes thinly veiled threats against the elected President of an independent sovereign state, and this is considered normal. Africans keep quite. What a shame.”

S/he concludes that French diplomacy in Africa has shown us that:

“French actions in Africa are basic, crude, and effective. You take directions from them, they support you, get you legitimized through some kind of electoral process, and demonize your enemies. You disobey them, they bomb you, demonize you, impoverish you, draw sanctions against you, and ultimately arraign you before the International Criminal Court on charges they decide on. Africans beware!”

Afrikan Eye begins an excellent series on “Afrikan contributions to civilisation”. In this first part s/he looks at the continents contribution to astronomy and science and technology. S/he mentions, among others, the Namoratunga of Kenya:

“These Cushites have a calendar which uses the rising of seven stars or constellations to calculate a 12-month, 354-day year. The stone orientation in Namoratunga is such that it allows for accurate observation of these stars/constellations. It is assumed that these ancient Africans astronomers made their observations with the NAKED eye since no telescopes had yet been invented.”

And the Dogon of Mali:

“These West Africans people have not only plotted the orbits of stars circling Sirius but have revealed the extraordinary nature of one of its companions- Sirius B- which they claim to be one of the densest of stars in our galaxy. What is most astonishing about their revelations is that Sirius B is invisible to the unaided eye.

The Sirius B star is of deeply significant spiritual importance to the Dogon and they have thus gathered intricate and detailed knowledge of this star which is invisible to the naked eye. The Dogon say that the orbit of Sirius B around Sirius (the visible one) lasts 100 years.”

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, [email protected]