Democratic Palestine : 18 (ص 30)
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- Democratic Palestine : 18 (ص 30)
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a “1985, 25. 000
te est ad ‘torture.
10,000
ns were arrested and
: ed; 25% of them were children.
ie ther estimates indicate that two-thirds
of detainees in the same year were
ee e oo of Ce ee
fed in police custody and ¢ one
in detention, many of them young
; ne example of
ne mes against
an « f as was reported in
So Apr 1986: Eleven year old
Fanie Kuduku spent 57 days in solitary
contr n despite two four hea-
the arrest “Of Palestinians as YOUN as 12
years old. Those under 15 must be held
Separately from other
extract confessions to some alleged
child who has been :
prisoner Sy Lik nist crim ALE May ‘61
-ITHAPPENS UNDER APARTHEID... _
AND UNDER ISRAELI OCCUPATION:
‘DETENTION AND TORTURE OF CHILDREN
«uniess the military commander
ordered otherwise.» As one example,
nine out of ten youth in Duheisheh
care near Beene, in oe West
a gcuviem che oe occupa: in
authorities opened Al Fara’a Detention
Center near Nablus. Since 1982, hun-
dreds of West Bank youth have been
snatched from their homes or off the:
streets, incarcerated in Al Fara’a,
beaten and otherwise tortured to
‘erime’ of resisting oc upaon
Mohammad Abu Wardeh, 12 years oe :
who lives in Balata refugee camp near
Nablus. He was held for 18 days at Al
Fare a in 1985, and OG: ode fe ae
F h his eld
biotic, th ans he Spoke out.
ee ue torture at a press conference
Afterwards bone rearresting two of his |
older brothers, as punishment for
Mohammad’s public testimony about
MASS PERSISTENCE
Despite the extent of fascist repres-
sion, the struggle for freedom is
ongoing, though we are prevented from
learning all its details. Soweto Day was
marked by a general strike which was
90% effective in several major centers.
News trickling through the apartheid
censorship’s iron curtain indicates that
daily confrontations continue between
the regime’s forces and the people in
many areas. In this round, the Black
trade union movement has placed itself
firmly in the frontlines of the anti-
apartheid struggle. Since Soweto Day,
there has been a series of strikes
demanding the release of detained trade
union officials, an end to the state of
emergency and to apartheid as such. At
one point, four ‘diamond mines and a
gold mine shaft were halted for several
days running, showing the trade
unions’ potential to strike at the heart
of the racists’ and imperialists’ inte-
rests. The first ten days of July saw
200,000 workers on strike, culminating
in mass protests. Attacks in the vital
urban centers of apartheid expose the
regime’s failure to halt the revolutio-
nary armed struggle waged by the
ANC.
Reports indicate that mass organiza-
tions are still functioning, though in
great secrecy. Relying on many years of
30
experience, especially that of last year’s
state of emergency, many political
activists were expecting the regime’s
onslaught. Many avoided detention and
are able to move among their people,
organizing and coordinating the
struggle.
The ability of the masses and revolu-
tionaries to persist in their struggle is
due to a set of factors that have
emerged clearly over the past few years.
The 1981 movement, protesting the
regime’s celebration of the 20th anni-
versary of the Republic of South
Africa, marked the readiness of
broader sections of the masses to
engage in radical, united struggle to
challenge state power. There was mas-
sive involvement of the so-called
colored population in the anti-
apartheid struggle, while the Indian
community rejected the puppet council
created for keeping ‘coloreds’ and
Indians down, but just above the
majority Black population, in order to
perpetuate white minority rule.
Growing popular unity paved the
way for the creation of the United
Democratic Front which brings toge-
ther local groups representing every
sector of the people who suffer from
apartheid. The student movement,
which played a radical, pioneering role
a decade ago, is now part of a much
broader and sustained mass movement.
The movement: has ever more clearly
asserted its adherence to the ANC,
which gives mass action broader scope
as part of the ANC’s carefully defined
strategy for liberation. Another highly
significant development came with last
year’s formation of COSATU as the
largest and most representative wor-
kers’ movement in the history of South
Africa. Its alliance with the United
Democratic Front and with SACTU
(the banned trade union federation
affiliated to the ANC) meant a great
boost in the role of the working class in
the anti-apartheid struggle.
Bolstered by better organization and
clearly defined political aims, the cur-
rent mass uprising, which dates back to
1984, has not only withstood repres-
sion, but has created new realities.
Starting last year, a number of Black
townships became no-go zones where
the regime’s forces venture only in large
military convoys. Local structures are
being built, which are embryonic forms
of people’s power, and coordinated
with parallel structures in other areas.
CHANGING TIMES
A few years ago, US imperialism was
counting on the racist South African
regime to just plain liquidate the ANC.
Pretoria drew strength from the Reagan
Administration’s policy for exporting
counterrevolution, and it escalated
aggression against the African masses
and neighboring states. Today, due to
the advancing liberation struggle led by
the ANC, support to Pretoria has
become a problem for the imperialists.
They are forced to ask themselves: Can
we save both our interests and this
system of apartheid which has histori-
cally watched over them for us? Thus,
we see something approaching a poli-
tical crisis in Britain, due to Thatcher’s
resistance to sanctions, while the
Reagan Administration has found it
necessary to reappraise its attitude
toward the ANC. This is, of course, a
political meneuver designed to ward off
real liberation for the South African
masses, but the ANC is well-equipped
to deal with such maneuvers. Most of
all, it shows the changing reality
brought about by mass unity and mili-
tancy, revolutionary leadership and
persistent armed struggle. e - هو جزء من
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