July 26 2008 — The former Malay kingdom of Patani is composed of what are now the three Thai provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. They are home to 1.8 million Muslims or 80 percent of the populace. The most that people from other countries know about this region is that it has a majority […]
Bilal Randeree
Bilal is a South African journalist with Al Jazeera English in Doha, Qatar.
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
Protest in Paris
Thousands of French filled the streets, carrying placards and banners, singing songs and shouting slogans. This is Paris, May 2008, 40 years after the social revolution known as “May 68” shook France. The uprisings in the 1960s saw a series of student protests and general strikes that caused the eventual collapse of the French government. […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mr Karzai, pass the rice please
Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister Faisal Al–Hajji, Kuwaiti Prime Minister Nasser Al–Sabah, Kuwaiti Prince Nawaf Al–Sabah, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Jordanian King Abdullah, Kuwait’s Amir Sabah Al–Sabah, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, Bosnian President Haris Silajdzic, and many more heads of states and government ministers attended the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) in Kuwait from 29 April […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Silent Tsunami
I calculated that my flight from London to Italy for the Human Rights Film Festival resulted in 0.340 tonnes of carbon dioxide. The flight to Dubai was 1.259 tonnes, and then another 0.130 tonnes to get to Qatar for the Aljazeera Documentary Festival. Were the benefits gained from these events worth it? Many human rights […]
Posted inLifestyle, News/Politics
Hijab revolution
May 1968 was a month of revolution for France. It was a series of student protests and a general strike that caused the collapse of the De Gaulle government. The events were seen as an opportunity to shake up the “old society” and traditional morality, focusing especially on the education system and employment. And 40 […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Fidel Castro, global economic adviser?
Fidel Castro, struggle hero and inspirational leader of the poor and oppressed of the world, has stepped down as President of Cuba after almost 50 years of heroic leadership. Under his leadership, Cuba has been a shining symbol of hope for the workers and poor people of the world. The government has consistently put the […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Crime is on the rise
This headline has been seen often over the past few days. Is it just me or is crime getting out of control? I decided to look at a few of the different newspapers over the past 24 hours and try to get a feel of what else is going on around here. Here is an […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Apartheid is real
“… the establishment of the Palestinian state is not our Nakba, or disaster — provided that upon its establishment the word ‘Nakba’ be deleted from the Arabic lexicon in referring to Israel.” This is from the address by Tzipi Livni at Annapolis. The Nakba means the “catastrophe” and refers to the expulsion and dispossession of […]
Posted inGeneral
I love South Africa?
I write this just a short while after finding out about the tragic death of a family member. The elderly member, grandfather of a few, loved by many, was tragically shot and killed in his home in the early hours of the evening on October 31. He was a soft and warm man, always with […]