A Dutch Life

This has been such a long time coming, and I can’t tell you how happy and relieved I am about this:

‘We will say sorry’: Rudd – Federal Election 2007 News – FederalElection2007

KEVIN Rudd has vowed to act quickly after he is sworn in as prime minister to make a formal apology to Aboriginal Australians on behalf of the nation.

I’m pleased that Australia has a new Prime Minister, that we have an opportunity to take a fresh look at issues which have haunted Australian politics for more than a decade.

I remember “Walking for Reconciliation” in 2000. I remember personally approaching an Aboriginal artist performing in Adelaides mall and saying “Sorry”. I remember John Howard, tirelessly claiming that we didn’t do it, and therefore we didn’t have anything to be sorry for.

Mr Howard, you were wrong. We, as a country did do it and we should have apologised long ago, and I look forward to this now coming day with hope.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7121025.stm

…Thousands of people marched today, to put pressure on a justice system to deliver a death sentence on someone who was in their country, voluntarily, to provide a better education for their children, simply because a teddy bear was named “Muhammad” in one of her classes?

Sudan demo over jailed UK teacher

Crowds of people have marched in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to call for a tougher sentence for a UK teacher jailed for insulting religion.

I’m not entirely sure what aspect of this situation I find more disturbing. That people would march in favour of somebody being put to death? That people can become so enraged over something as insignificant as the name given to a Teddy Bear in a children’s classroom? That a UK based group could describe the 15 day sentence she was handed as a “Gravely disproportionate” punishment:

The Federation of Student Islamic Societies (Fosis), which represents more than 90,000 Muslim students in the UK and Ireland, said it was “deeply concerned” at what was a “gravely disproportionate” verdict.

Does this suggest that a punishment was actually warranted, but that jail was simply going too far? Let me help you guys, how about something like we are “Deeply concerned that this incident has been treated as a criminal matter by the Sudanese authorities”.

Of course these Sudanese Authorities are the same people supporting the Janjaweed, and who the west, and more broadly the UN, has handled with kid gloves for years, while genocide occurs in plain site.

Sometimes the world leaves me speechless.

P.S. Have been meaning to write about Australia, just this really got me going today…