SA Hero Shoots GF Dead

All the talk these days here in South Africa surrounds the recent fallen hero, Oscar Pistorius. For those of you who didn't watch the African version of DSTV during the London Olympics, Pistorius is supremely famous for being a double-amputee who excelled not only in the Paralympics, but also was the first double amputee to compete in the actual Olympics in London 2012.

Oscar Pistorius on the starting block

The tragedy?

Oscar Pistorius, winner of races and uniter of races (hah, get the pun?) here in SA, shot his girlfriend dead early in the morning of February 14th. Talk about a bad Valentine's day. :(

Pistorius and his girlfriend

The first rumor about the cause of the shooting was that he had thought his girlfriend was an intruder. This came about in part because of a tweet he posted last November:

He has been interviewed in the past stating that he also kept a "machine gun by the window." Perhaps overly paranoid, but keep in mind many South Africans are paranoid here. Crime is pretty crazy and especially white South Africans are infamous for their barbed-wire fences, security guards, barred-windows, and twelve-foot high walls around every house. The Silver Woods Country Estate, where Pistorius lived in Pretoria, is actually known for being one of the safest of the ubiquitous compounds where South Africans tend to live. That said, in 2004, a Springbok rugby player shot his 19-year-old daughter dead in the middle of the night because he thought she was a car thief stealing his car. So Pistorius is not alone in screwing up like this, not even for a famous guy.

All of that said, it has started to come out that she was sitting on the sink, locked in the bathroom in her nightgown, when he shot her. Doesn't sound much like an accident to me, nor the press. His girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was a model and law graduate, and he shot her four times with a 9mm through the bathroom door.

Pistorius appeared in court and cried, so he obviously seems to regret having done this. Rumors now swirl around, saying that he has always had anger problems (supposedly shot a gun into the floor of a nearby restaurant a couple of months ago), that his previous ex-girlfriends were not treated well, that it might have been "'roid rage," and who knows what else.

Random Kate Thoughts: Everyone here is really sad. They are sad for Steenkamp's death, but much more so for their fallen hero, Pistorius. He united people with his gold medals, and now everyone feels betrayed by his actions. And while thousands of women in South Africa experience violence at the hands of their partners every year, this week, all eyes are on this story. What might be the value of a poster child, so to speak? The story of Anene Booysen, a girl in another part of South Africa, who was sadistically raped and murdered, seems to have galvinized the country into action against sexual violence. What about domestic violence? Might this do the same? Or is it just going to be another celebrity gone wrong?

For the final bit of irony in this whole saga, here is the ad that Nike was going to run in the near future, featuring Pistorius himself.

Needless to say, it has been pulled.

Guest Post: Tunisian Opposition Leader Assassinated

Guest Post: Yassine from Tunisia

Last Wednesday morning, Tunisia woke up to the tragic and shocking assassination of Chokri Belaid, a leading opposition figure and secretary general of the left-leaning Democratic Patriots party. Chokri Belaid was shot outside his home in an upscale Tunis neighborhood as he was getting into his car. According to eyewitness accounts, later confirmed by the Minister of Interior, Belaid was gunned down by two unidentified men who shot him four times at his neck and head. This political assassination, which crowns escalating waves of political violence in the past months, is the first of its kind since the fulfillment of the 14^th of January 2011 Revolution, which signaled the birth of the Arab Spring.

Ironically, Mr. Belaid has warned countless times of the dangers of mounting political violence, and has urged a national dialogue to address this issue. On the night before his murder, Belaid stated at a Tunisian T.V. station that “the government’s laxity in face of the political violence the country has been witnessing and the non-condemnation of the perpetrators of such violence, whom all Tunisians know, is an effective green light for political assassinations.”

Chokri Belaid

A lawyer and human rights activist, Chokri Belaid has a long history of activism. He was one of Tunisia's most prominent secular political figures opposed to Islamist parties and an outspoken critic of the government. He is widely considered to be one of the top three leftist thinkers in Tunisia. The assassination has sparked protests and civil unrest since Wednesday, with police clashing with protesters and firing tear gas in demonstration in several cities around the country. A policeman was killed by a stone to the chest thrown by a protester. Last Friday, thousands of Tunisians attended Belaid’s funeral. There were minor clashes as his coffin was carried through Tunis, but the event was largely peaceful. Sporadic protests and clashes have been reported all around Tunisia, and many workers are observing a general strike. Unions say the Islamist-led government is to blame for the killing, an accusation it vehemently denied.

Belaid's coffin

The government was fast in attempting to contain the situation. Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali has tried to defuse tensions by announcing that he would form a non-partisan, technocratic government. His governing Ennahda party has rejected this. But Jebali on Friday told reporters he would go ahead with his plan, saying a technocratic government would not require the approval of the constituent assembly.

Random Yassine thoughts: Aside from being a great loss to the Tunisian political scene, Chokri Belaid’s murder establishes a grave precedent in a country where political assassinations have been rare. Even if I’m thousands of miles away from my homeland, I could ostensibly feel a climate of distrust and animosity settling within the society, which is becoming even more polarized. I don’t expect the instability and unrest growing inside the country to fade away anytime soon. Even the ultra-organized and usually consensual ruling party of Ennahda is being destabilized, with most members of the politburo disagreeing with Jebali’s decision to dismantle the Islamist controlled government and install a “technocratic” one instead. Jebali’s move is clever and demonstrates a cautious and non-inflammatory handling of the crisis, although I am very skeptical as to the impartiality of the prospective government. The only way to defuse the situation in my opinion is for the investigation to yield some meaningful outcomes, for that absence will prove very suspicious and would discredit the government’s intentions. One thing is certain, the assassination is clearly politically motivated. Whether it was a lone psychopathic gunman, some occult political or religious organization assassin, or a government orchestrated operation remains a mystery.

Guest Post: Egyptian Jon Stewart in Trouble

Guest Post: Hazem from Egypt

In the wake of the baffling Egyptian revolution of 2011 that, above anything else, engrained conviction in the Egyptian people that their lives were theirs to lead, a very peculiar new media figure appeared--"the Jon Stewart of Egypt." 

While there was nothing new about a media figure who heavily critiqued Egypt's political scene, there was certainly something unique about one who used such brilliant satirical comedy to poke fun at not one faction, but every faction involved in mainstream events and yet at the same time achieved huge widespread popularity. 

Bassem Youssef, originally a surgeon, had always been passionate about comedy. Then he began posting segments of "B+", his self-made show, on Youtube. As fans and views steadily multiplied and his message carried across the internet, he was contracted to present the show on one of the biggest channels on Egyptian air. Aided by even better resources and an entire team dedicated to researching clips and situations about political events, Youssef took his critique yet one step further.

Bassem Youssef

Alas, that has led to now, where Youssef has had an official complaint filed against him by a prominent Islamic lawyer. Given the disastrous constitution that has just been passed, which is extremely vague in many of its chapters and highly biased towards the Islamists and their philosophy, it is unclear what will result from the investigations. While this is certainly not the first time an official compliant has been filed against Youssef, this is perhaps the first time the complainer wielded this much power.

Random Hazem Thoughts: Bassem Youssef is a long overdue and extremely necessary addition to the Egyptian media. I don't just say this because I have tears in my eyes and can barely breathe because of his humor, but because he ventures into the areas of politics that need criticizing. He mentioned in one recent episode that the reason he is so exceptionally critical of the Islamists is because they now control virtually everything, including all branches of government. He openly professed that should the liberals take power, which he seems in favor of, he would not withhold an inch of the intensity he shows now. This is clear from the fact that during the elections, he indeed satirized all candidates with equal time, even the ones he openly favored. Youssef draws attention to the conspicuous holes in both our politics and our media. I find myself interrupting my laughter many times during his shows to seriously think, "No, the president couldn't have said that!" only to realize that he indeed made a completely unprofessional comment that made no sense. The truth is, we don't want Bassem. We need him.