Check out  http://www.sokwanele.com/. An excellent rescourse for Zim

.... that his father and grendfather weren't thieves and murderers?

If he doesn't understand colonialism and apartheid, what is he doing representing Zimbabweans in palriament?

What evidence do you have Roy's father and grandfather were murders ? To the best of my knowledge they were farmers who never hurt anyone. Could it be "ftp" your own ideas about Zimbabwe are based on ignorance ?

I thought apartheid and colonialism were both aspects of Zimbabwe's history.

Please excuse my ignorance..........

If you don't think that farms should be taken away by force Peter, where do you think Roy got his farm from?

For some reason politicaly motivated and active people in Britain are unhappy about confronting the Racism and barbarity of the Mugabe regime. If the plight of hundreds of thousand of Africans is not of interest perhaps the following will be...

The Star (SA) : Lynne Altenroxel - 7 April 2003
Nearly three dozen cattle have been hacked with axes in a wave of new politically motivated horrors being perpetrated against animals and their owners in Zimbabwe. At least 16 of the cattle were "axed to death", animal-rights activists said yesterday, while others were shot to put them out of their misery. "If anything, it's getting worse," Zimbabwe National SPCA chief inspector Meryl Harrison said yesterday of the animal abuse in the country. A few days ago, she rescued a dog that had been beaten by eight men with batons and sjamboks after it tried to protect its owners during a raid on their home. The owners, both members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), were discharged from hospital at the weekend after being beaten up with an assortment of weapons, including chains and sticks covered in barbed wire. The dog's beating came just days after 15 cattle were hacked with axes on a farm at Chimanimani, about 400km south-east of Harare, owned by MDC MP Roy Bennett. Most of the animals were hit on the legs. One cow could not stand up after being beaten, another had its tail chopped off, and one calf had a 15cm-deep wound on its back. "You could have put a teacup in it," said Harrison, describing the gash. Yesterday, Harrison received news of another herd of 16 cattle in Norton, 60km outside Harare, that had been hacked to death with axes. After tending to animals on farms invaded by ruling-party militants for the past three years, Harrison believes that Zimbabwe's animal welfare crisis is getting worse. The "axing" of the cattle, she said, was not always aimed at killing the animals, but at wounding them "to get back at the farmers".

There is no nice way to say this "ftp" so I will just say it. Your views and opinions of Zimbabwe are indeed influenced by ignorance of the country and its history.

The Zanu PF has done an excellent job in protraying white farmers as some sort of land grabbers who have stolen the land their farms were on and it is a shame you have chosen to believe this line. Roy's family were farmers in an area near to mine so perhaps I can give you a better outline. When my Grandfather came to what was then Rhodesia the land had no occupants, nobody farmed it, nobody hunted on it, nobody used it. The indiginous people walked through the area but that was about it. My Grandfather with help from his brother and my Grandmother cleared the Bush, dug out a water bore hole and planted crops. During his time he employed local people, built a school and cared for his workers after they retired. There is a Doctor practising in London today (the son of my Father's cattleman) who owes its education to my Father. Three of the daughters of our workers have gone on to be nurses in Harare.

Today that same farm is in the hands of the Zanu PF Minister for Health, he uses it as a weekend country house. The former workers have been turned out of their houses, the land is returning to Bush. No food is growing.

As a final paragraph I wondered how you are doing with the evidence against Roy's Father and Grandfather on the "Thieves and Murderers" allegation as you seem to have forgotten to inlcude in your last post.

Sawabona !

Are you now trying to alienate people?

What is needed is a strategy that people can invest time and energy in.

Protesting outside the embassy of a shit regime is symbolic at the most. Ditto writing letters to that same shit regime. Talk of military action is problematic, if you wanna think about what is happening in Iraq right now.

Personally I think a strategy that would unite people is to take direct actions against the deportations of zimbabweans back to zim from this country - and done effectively, it could highlivbght all the horrific stuff that is taking place.

But it still needs to go beyond that - Tsvangiri doesn't have a lot of credibility, and there are no pointers as to what vision people should be working towards.

You might have noticed that not everyone here is too upset about white farmers having their lands expropriated - even if there is distrust of Mugabe's motivations for doing so. Don't expect a mass campaign to give the land back.......

What strategy do you think people should be following?

I am not the slightest bit interested your paternalistic account of how the 'benevolent' white farmers got to own all of Rhodesias productive land.

Your grandfather, along with Roy's took it from the local people, backed up by the military might of the imperial army, which most certainly did kill and steal.

I think you're going to have a lot of difficulties getting politically active and motivated people to work with a racist revisionist.

For you this may be an intellectual debate where talk of stopping deportations, letter writing, protests outside embassys and other actions are all part of your day.

If it means your conscience is assuaged through justification of the farm issue because the farmers are white I don’t want a dialogue with you.

To me Zimbabwe is about my family, my friends and those around me dying.

You continue with your intellectual debate, I will be trying to change things

To the posters who have made (valuable) contributions on the problems in Zimbabwe it may be that you are not regular contributors to the Indymedia and perhaps are not aware that we suffer from what are known as 'Trolls'. These people delight in trying to move the debate away from the original post subject and turn it into an argument. FTP is one of these so we would advise you don't reply to his inflameatory posts as it will divert attention from the important issues you have raised.

Thanks

OK thanks "IMC Troll Watcher" I did rather fall into his trap so I suppose I only have myslelf blame !

The issues in Zimbabwe do deserve wider reporting. I will ensure my future reports stick to the facts and I will not reply to his baiting

Thanks a lot

Peter

I searched for your whole post for a meaninflu suggestion on how activists might be deawn into an effective campaign, and didn't find one.

You want to watch yourself mate.

;)

Just in case it got lost in all the unhelpfull comments above the website that provides further details and information is

 http://www.freeroybennett.com.

Thanks

That you decided that what we should know about is the plight of a white farmer and politician who physically assaulted the ZanuPF Minister of Justice in parliament, because he didn't like the idea that colonialists were reffered to as thieves and murderers.

And in your racist little numbskull woorld, this is the zimbabwean who needs singling out as an example of the incredible oppression that Zimbabweans face.

You then regaled us with fairy tales about how your grandfather enclosed common land, as an act of charity to the indigenous people, whom he provided jobs, health care and a happy old age to.

No doubt he paid them all handsomely, built play facilities for the kids and built several hopsitals on the farm as well!!!!

The reality is more likely to be that his workers were paid a pittance, worked long hours under nasty conditions - and that he grew tobacco or flowers for export. Almost certainly he would not have been growing the food that local people needed to subsist on. And in his venture he would have been assisted by the likes of Ian Smith and his Apartheid regime, in the spirit of the racist British colonisers.

I'm not surprised you'd like to ignore me - its because I call a racist revisionist when I see one - and you sir are one.

Piers - unsurprisingly you give no effective suggestions of how an effective AND inclusive campaign might be built - you're not even that keen on saving the lives of those who face deportation by the looks of it.

There are probably better sites to go if you are hoping to start a campaign for the return of the Bwana to power.

"THE most recent events in Zimbabwe are of grave concern. Zimbabweans are deprived of their democratic and human rights, facing the consequences of chronic economic misrule, and grappling with severe food shortages. Over the last three weeks the Mugabe regime has launched a brutal crackdown on some of the most vulnerable Zimbabweans, including inhabitants of urban shanty settlements and informal traders.
Over 30,000 have been arrested, with over 40,000 households (approximately 200,000 people) affected with their homes and businesses callously destroyed. People suffering from AIDS are amongst the worst affected. Many chronically ill people have been driven from their homes. HIV prevention and home-based care programmes have been severely disrupted. We are also very concerned about the welfare of children. Infants have been forced to sleep outside in the middle of winter. There are also reports of children being detained in prison and separated from their parents. The crackdown continues to spread across the country to many urban and some rural areas. Armed police have swiftly crushed any resistance with teargas. This action has received widespread international condemnation. The UN's Special Representative on the Right to Adequate Housing called this "a new form of apartheid.

In response, we have joined our EU partners in demanding that the Government of Zimbabwe end this crackdown, in a statement on 7 June. Our Ambassador in Harare has raised our strong concerns, directly to the Government of Zimbabwe, in meetings with the Vice President and the Minister of State for National Security.

My Honourable Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Lord Triesman) summoned the Zimbabwean Charge d'Affaires on 13 June to protest at the continuing human rights abuses under the ongoing crackdown.

We remain in close contact with our EU partners, with whom I raised Zimbabwe at the 13 June General Affairs and External Relations Council. We also continue to work with other international partners to maximise the pressure on Zimbabwe to end this brutality and are discussing these and other human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, with neighbouring African states and regional African bodies.

DFID are already responding to this man-made disaster, providing US$ 400,000 so far towards humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable mainly through the UN and International Organisation for Migration. A further contribution is imminent. To date, over 5,000 families have been reached with food, blankets, soap and other forms of assistance. Where appropriate transport and emergency water and sanitation has been provided.

Since 2002 the European Union has imposed targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe; an arms embargo on the country and a travel ban and asset freeze on President Mugabe and leading regime figures. The EU's Common Position is kept under regular review. Together with our EU partners we have recently reassessed the situation in Zimbabwe following the March parliamentary elections. We agreed yesterday in the light of that assessment to extend the list of those regime figures caught by the travel ban and asset freeze, from 95 to 120 names. The new list includes all the senior members of the new government and politburo, and senior figures involved in manipulating the election.

This decision emphasises the EU's continued concerns about the lack of democracy and respect for human rights and the rule of law that exists in Zimbabwe, and the failure of Mugabe and his regime to respond to international calls for reform.

Her Majesty's Government will continue to work with the European Union and our other international partners to restore democratic governance, human rights and the rule of law to Zimbabwe."

The case of Roy Bennet is one that we have raised with the Zimbabwean government on a number of occasions. A petition was sent in early 2004 but with little result. In July we are hoping to organise a large demonstration outside the embassy and I will post further details when they are decided.

In the meantime some messages to Roy do get through and I will try and let him know that his case is being discussed here.

If you do get a message to Roy please let him know there are people here working to get him released and that he is not forgotten.

Bird Flu and Rhodesian anthrax could mutate into white fascist dream!
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, December 09 2005 @ 04:48 PM GMT
Talking of cowardly Rhodesian SS officers there is something
about that ugly chicken in the above photo that reminds me of
that British passport holder and failed politician/convicted
political-thug, Roy Bennett. It has to be the combination of flabby
pink neck and bird-brain that dose it.
The Zimbabwean electorate rejected a Roy and Heather Bennett
political dynasty has the future of Zimbabwe. All this sad old
Rhodesian primitive has to flyaway with is his cherished memories
of ruling the nest and racially hen-pecking Black Zimbabweans .
These days the c'unt spends his leisure time binge-eating at
biltong-banquets and spending MDC funds to jet-set around the
white commonwealth doing guest appearances at Rhodesian
reunions enthralling his co-racist audiences with tales of the 'good
old days' of pissing in the mouths of Black farm workers.

Rhodesian SS officer+Pink flabby neck+bird brain=Roy Bennett