Zimbabwe national airline grounded by fuel shortage
Tue Nov 22, 2005 7:48 AM GMT
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By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's state-owned national airline has grounded its entire fleet after running out of fuel as the southern African country's economy continues to crumble, company officials said on Tuesday.
Critics blame President Robert Mugabe's controversial policies and government mismanagement for a long-running crisis that has left a once vibrant economy struggling with shortages of food, fuel, foreign currency and a decaying infrastructure.
A senior Air Zimbabwe official said on Tuesday the national passenger carrier was forced to ground all seven of its planes on Monday, and to cancel all its domestic and international flights "until further notice" due to fuel shortages.
Air Zimbabwe officials say people were caught unaware at Harare airport on Monday, leaving passengers milling at check-in counters. But on Tuesday the airline ran radio advertisements advising passengers to check for new developments.
Air Zimbabwe's board of directors has responded to the grounding by suspending the airline's chief executive officer Tendai Mahachi and two other top managers, with transport officials saying Mugabe's government felt embarrassed by the halting of flights.
"All planes have been grounded because there is no adequate foreign currency to buy fuel and flights have been suspended until further notice," said one Air Zimbabwe official.
Air Zimbabwe's official spokesman, David Mwenga, and board vice-chairman Jonathan Kadzura, who issued a statement to state media announcing the suspension of the airline's top managers, were both unavailable for immediate comment on Tuesday.
In his statement, Kadzura said the board of directors had been forced to suspend the three "pending investigations into the serious disruptions of the national airline's operations and services to customers".
He said the board was working to restore services but gave no indication of when Air Zimbabwe might resume flights.
The airline has long-haul flights to London, China, Singapore and Dubai, and management was embroiled in a controversy earlier this year for allowing a plane to carry just one passenger to Harare from Dubai.
Critics say the airline is a victim of gross mismanagement and almost daily government interference in its operations, including by Mugabe who has sometimes commandeered planes for his business trips abroad.
Air Zimbabwe had 15 airplanes when Mugabe assumed power at independence from Britain in 1980, but the fleet has dwindled to seven, including two small planes bought this year from China.
Mugabe's critics say he has wrecked one of Africa's most promising economies through his policies, including seizures and redistribution of white-owned farms to his black supporters.
But the 81-year-old Mugabe says Zimbabwe's steep six-year economic recession, which has left the country with inflation above 400 percent, is due to sabotage by domestic and Western opponents trying to oust him over his nationalistic policies.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Friday, November 18, 2005
South Africa, Zimbabwe strengthen defense, intelligence ties
South Africa, Zimbabwe strengthen defense, intelligence ties
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- South Africa and Zimbabwe signed an agreement to strengthen defense and intelligence ties at a ceremony Thursday emphasizing the solidarity between the two neighbors in the face of growing international condemnation of Zimbabwe.
South African Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils praised Zimbabwe's "advances and successes" in the 25 years since its independence from Britain. He said the two countries shared a "common world view" and would "march forward shoulder to shoulder."
The comments contrasted with the criticism heaped on Zimbabwe by most Western governments, which accuse Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe of bringing his country to the brink of economic and social collapse and trampling on human rights.
In brief remarks at the signing ceremony, Zimbabwean Minister for National Security Dydimus Matasa, one of the most powerful and feared figures in Zimbabwe, said the greatest threat to the southern African region's security came from outside "influences whose aim is to effect regime change especially with regard to countries led by former liberation movements."
Zimbabwe has repeatedly accused its Western critics, the United States and Britain in particular, of plotting against Mugabe's regime. Mugabe has found allies among movements in the region such as South Africa's ruling African National Congress that fought colonialism and white rule. Mugabe supported the ANC in the fight against apartheid.
Regional heavyweight South Africa is the most important ally of an increasingly isolated Zimbabwe. President Thabo Mbeki maintains that his policy of quiet diplomacy is the only way to bring about economic and political reform.
Kasrils bristled at a press conference following the signing ceremony when asked about Zimbabwe's civil liberties record.
"We have very strong ties with our neighbor, and we are indebted to our neighbor for achieving freedom and liberty," he said. "This will never ever be forgotten by the people of South Africa."
Zimbabwe Minister of Defense Sydney Sekeremayi accused the West of feigning concern about human rights and civil liberties when it was only really interested in the seizure of land from white Zimbabweans for redistribution to blacks.
"The position that we have taken as a country to repossess our land is irreversible," Sekeremayi said.
The agreement signed Thursday provides for a Joint Permanent Commission on Defense and Security to boost military, police and intelligence cooperation, and to tackle specific areas of concern such as cross-border crime and illegal immigration.
There are an estimated 3 million Zimbabweans living in South Africa, many of them without papers, seeking refuge from political repression and economic collapse at home.
Under a separate agreement, Zimbabwe also promised to send flying instructors to train South African air force pilots and technicians.
Zimbabwe used to be one of Africa's most advanced countries with a highly educated and trained work force. It is now suffering from inflation of more than 400 percent, mass unemployment and shortages of most staples.
Analysts blame the meltdown in the agriculture-based economy on the chaotic and often violent seizures of more than 5,000 white-owned commercial farms since 2000.
The United Nations estimates that at least 4 million of the country's 12.5 million people are suffering severe food shortages.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- South Africa and Zimbabwe signed an agreement to strengthen defense and intelligence ties at a ceremony Thursday emphasizing the solidarity between the two neighbors in the face of growing international condemnation of Zimbabwe.
South African Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils praised Zimbabwe's "advances and successes" in the 25 years since its independence from Britain. He said the two countries shared a "common world view" and would "march forward shoulder to shoulder."
The comments contrasted with the criticism heaped on Zimbabwe by most Western governments, which accuse Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe of bringing his country to the brink of economic and social collapse and trampling on human rights.
In brief remarks at the signing ceremony, Zimbabwean Minister for National Security Dydimus Matasa, one of the most powerful and feared figures in Zimbabwe, said the greatest threat to the southern African region's security came from outside "influences whose aim is to effect regime change especially with regard to countries led by former liberation movements."
Zimbabwe has repeatedly accused its Western critics, the United States and Britain in particular, of plotting against Mugabe's regime. Mugabe has found allies among movements in the region such as South Africa's ruling African National Congress that fought colonialism and white rule. Mugabe supported the ANC in the fight against apartheid.
Regional heavyweight South Africa is the most important ally of an increasingly isolated Zimbabwe. President Thabo Mbeki maintains that his policy of quiet diplomacy is the only way to bring about economic and political reform.
Kasrils bristled at a press conference following the signing ceremony when asked about Zimbabwe's civil liberties record.
"We have very strong ties with our neighbor, and we are indebted to our neighbor for achieving freedom and liberty," he said. "This will never ever be forgotten by the people of South Africa."
Zimbabwe Minister of Defense Sydney Sekeremayi accused the West of feigning concern about human rights and civil liberties when it was only really interested in the seizure of land from white Zimbabweans for redistribution to blacks.
"The position that we have taken as a country to repossess our land is irreversible," Sekeremayi said.
The agreement signed Thursday provides for a Joint Permanent Commission on Defense and Security to boost military, police and intelligence cooperation, and to tackle specific areas of concern such as cross-border crime and illegal immigration.
There are an estimated 3 million Zimbabweans living in South Africa, many of them without papers, seeking refuge from political repression and economic collapse at home.
Under a separate agreement, Zimbabwe also promised to send flying instructors to train South African air force pilots and technicians.
Zimbabwe used to be one of Africa's most advanced countries with a highly educated and trained work force. It is now suffering from inflation of more than 400 percent, mass unemployment and shortages of most staples.
Analysts blame the meltdown in the agriculture-based economy on the chaotic and often violent seizures of more than 5,000 white-owned commercial farms since 2000.
The United Nations estimates that at least 4 million of the country's 12.5 million people are suffering severe food shortages.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Machal - A special breed
A special breed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DAVID E. KAPLAN, THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 13, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They left jobs, interrupted their studies, and some even postponed weddings. Literally rescheduling their lives, they dropped everything to come and fight for the fledgling Jewish state. In cockpits and on board ships, in tanks and armored vehicles, treating the wounded in hospitals and on the front lines, these young idealistic men and woman - Jews and non-Jews - helped change the tide in Israel's War of Independence.
Most of them veterans of World War II, they brought their experience and expertise to the makeshift armed forces of the new state: Machal - Mitnadvei Chutz La'aretz - 3,500 overseas volunteers from 43 countries across the globe.
Among this special breed were some 810 South Africans, representing 23% of the total complement of overseas volunteers.
The South African Zionist Federation in Israel (Telfed) recently paid tribute to these veterans at Beth Protea, a South African retirement home in Herzliya.
"We are an endangered species; and while many of us are still around, we need to tell our story, particularly to Israeli youths who know very little about this chapter in our history," Smoky Simon, chairman of World Machal, told Metro.
In firm agreement was former Tel Aviv mayor Shlomo Lahat, who served with the South Africans. Addressing the gathering of veterans in Israel, he called for more education about Machal, "starting by including it in the school syllabus."
Asked about the contribution of women Machalniks, Simon smiles. "The first that comes to mind is my wife, Myra. We got married in South Africa so that we could come to Israel together, and spent our honeymoon fighting for the country. She was the first meteorological instructor in the Israeli Air Force. Many of her graduates became squadron and base commanders."
An exhibition of photographs and memorabilia was put together by David "Migdal" Tepperson who, at age 79, is still doing reserve duty. Tepperson is the longest serving soldier in IDF history and enjoys the rare distinction of having served in all of Israel's wars. On the day that David Ben-Gurion solemnly declared the establishment of the Jewish state, Tepperson was arriving by ship off the coast of Tel Aviv.
"Standing on deck, I watched as if it were a movie. Egyptian spitfires came over, strafing and bombing the city. Fortunately they didn't attack our ship, but it was my induction - this was my first day in Israel on Israel's first day and, clearly, we were at war."
Tepperson served in the Negev brigade that captured Beersheba, and participated in raids in jeeps often lasting two to five days. "On one occasion," he relates, "we passed a heavily outnumbered group of Egyptian soldiers who thought we were fellow Egyptians. They never believed we would move at night, and we shouted 'Salaam' as we passed them."
As people mingled among the exhibits, stories were recalled that became part of the war's folklore. One person related that on May 30, 1948, "A Messerschmitt flown by an American pilot, Milton Rubenstein, was hit by enemy fire and was downed in the Mediterranean off Michmoret. The pilot swam to shore, but as he could not speak a word of Hebrew and was afraid that he would accidentally be shot by friendly fire, he proclaimed his identity by screaming, 'Gefilte fish, gefilte fish!'"
Another related how the late Boris Senior, the South African commander of the base at Sde Dov, received orders to bomb Amman. The target selected was King Abdullah's palace, where Arab leaders were to meet. Fellow South African Dov Judah was Senior's navigator. He records that as Amman was "pretty well lit up and my navigational experience was not needed, I deposited the bombs. We made two runs on the palace, trying to hit it with 50-kilo bombs pushed out with the help of special handles affixed to the bombs. I never saw them explode - only the lights of Amman going out. We later learned that the bombs that had failed to explode drew curiosity among the enemy - bombs with handles? Some of these bombs were collected and transported to laboratories in England in an attempt to explain 'What the Jews were up to.' Clearly in the RAF, they had never come across the position of bomb chucker-outer!"
Stanley Medicks, chairman of Machal in Britain, Europe, and Scandinavia and instigator of the Machal memorial at Sha'ar Hagai, recalled an incident during the battle of Tamra, which opened the campaign to the north.
"I was a platoon commander of No. 1 platoon scaling a hill. Suddenly I hear shouting, 'Medicks, Medicks!' I immediately handed over command and said, 'Something has happened and they need me.' And through a hail of bullets from the Jordanians, I dashed to the top of the hill and was met by 'Where the bloody hell are the stretcher-bearers?'"
The guest of honor was Reuma Weizman, wife of late president Ezer Weizman, who had been one of the few Israelis in the fledgling air force comprising 95% Machalnikim. Simon recounted an incident when Weizman and four Machalnik fighter pilots, including Boris Senior, shot down four British planes piloted by members of the RAF. A fifth plane was shot down by Machalnik ground fire. This incident, which received major publicity in the British press at the time, involved South Africans both in the air and on the ground.
Concerned about possible political flack resulting from this incident, Air Force commander Aaron Remez called an emergency meeting of staff officers. Coming out of the meeting looking very somber was a Machalnik from the US, Danny Cravitt. He immediately reported to British Machalnik Morrie Mann waiting in the anteroom.
"What is going to happen?" asked a worried Mann.
Kravitz replied, "This is top secret and please, not a word to anyone."
"Of course," said Mann.
"We have just taken an operational decision to bomb London," revealed Kravitz.
Unfazed, Mann replied, "Danny, I couldn't care less. I come from Manchester."
While stories and anecdotes were amusingly and proudly recalled, on a more somber note Telfed paid honor to all Southern Africans who fell in the defense of Israel. Two young soldiers of South African parents laid a wreath for the 75 men and women who died in uniform.
Of concern to Maurice Ostroff, who commandeered a radar mobile station during the war, was "to set the record straight." He believes that the job of the Machalniks is far from over. There is one more battle to fight, in the arena of public relations. Alluding to Simon's statement that the Machalnikim are an 'endangered species,' Ostroff asserts that "We, who were there and know the facts, have one final mission - to correct the damaging distortions of our 1948 history by Israel's new historians."
He cited examples of Ilan Pappe of the University of Haifa, "who accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing in 1948"; Noam Chomsky of MIT, "who portrays Israel as a terrorist state"; and Norman Finkelstein, "described by the Washington Post as a writer celebrated by neo-Nazi groups for comparing Israel to Nazi Germany."
"We ignore the new historians at our peril," Ostroff warns. "We Jews are often accused of being paranoid, but there is much truth in the maxim 'Just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't after you.'"
Churchill's apt depiction after the Battle of Britain that "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" could equally apply to the debt the state owes to the overseas volunteers who came to fight in Israel's War of Independence.
The Machalniks' contribution represents one of the proudest chapters in modern Jewish history, when ordinary people behaved quite extraordinarily. As Ben-Gurion said, "This was a war not won by heroes. It was won by ordinary men and women rising above themselves."
In the Jewish spirit
Telfed also paid tribute to NACHAL, the South African volunteers who came in 1956 during the Suez campaign. In 1955, the Jews of South Africa were the first to react to the possibility that war was looming, and in early 1955 the South African Zionist Federation set in motion a program to dispatch volunteers to relieve kibbutzniks should they be called up for active service.
Les Amdur was one the more than 150 South Africans who volunteered their services. Like many of the other Nachalniks, he would later immigrate to Israel.
Addressing Telfed's tribute, Amdur said, "The people who volunteered were not all Zionists, some knowing very little about Israel or Judaism, but they all had one thing in common - a Jewish spirit to contribute to their fellow Jews in their hour of need."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DAVID E. KAPLAN, THE JERUSALEM POST Nov. 13, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They left jobs, interrupted their studies, and some even postponed weddings. Literally rescheduling their lives, they dropped everything to come and fight for the fledgling Jewish state. In cockpits and on board ships, in tanks and armored vehicles, treating the wounded in hospitals and on the front lines, these young idealistic men and woman - Jews and non-Jews - helped change the tide in Israel's War of Independence.
Most of them veterans of World War II, they brought their experience and expertise to the makeshift armed forces of the new state: Machal - Mitnadvei Chutz La'aretz - 3,500 overseas volunteers from 43 countries across the globe.
Among this special breed were some 810 South Africans, representing 23% of the total complement of overseas volunteers.
The South African Zionist Federation in Israel (Telfed) recently paid tribute to these veterans at Beth Protea, a South African retirement home in Herzliya.
"We are an endangered species; and while many of us are still around, we need to tell our story, particularly to Israeli youths who know very little about this chapter in our history," Smoky Simon, chairman of World Machal, told Metro.
In firm agreement was former Tel Aviv mayor Shlomo Lahat, who served with the South Africans. Addressing the gathering of veterans in Israel, he called for more education about Machal, "starting by including it in the school syllabus."
Asked about the contribution of women Machalniks, Simon smiles. "The first that comes to mind is my wife, Myra. We got married in South Africa so that we could come to Israel together, and spent our honeymoon fighting for the country. She was the first meteorological instructor in the Israeli Air Force. Many of her graduates became squadron and base commanders."
An exhibition of photographs and memorabilia was put together by David "Migdal" Tepperson who, at age 79, is still doing reserve duty. Tepperson is the longest serving soldier in IDF history and enjoys the rare distinction of having served in all of Israel's wars. On the day that David Ben-Gurion solemnly declared the establishment of the Jewish state, Tepperson was arriving by ship off the coast of Tel Aviv.
"Standing on deck, I watched as if it were a movie. Egyptian spitfires came over, strafing and bombing the city. Fortunately they didn't attack our ship, but it was my induction - this was my first day in Israel on Israel's first day and, clearly, we were at war."
Tepperson served in the Negev brigade that captured Beersheba, and participated in raids in jeeps often lasting two to five days. "On one occasion," he relates, "we passed a heavily outnumbered group of Egyptian soldiers who thought we were fellow Egyptians. They never believed we would move at night, and we shouted 'Salaam' as we passed them."
As people mingled among the exhibits, stories were recalled that became part of the war's folklore. One person related that on May 30, 1948, "A Messerschmitt flown by an American pilot, Milton Rubenstein, was hit by enemy fire and was downed in the Mediterranean off Michmoret. The pilot swam to shore, but as he could not speak a word of Hebrew and was afraid that he would accidentally be shot by friendly fire, he proclaimed his identity by screaming, 'Gefilte fish, gefilte fish!'"
Another related how the late Boris Senior, the South African commander of the base at Sde Dov, received orders to bomb Amman. The target selected was King Abdullah's palace, where Arab leaders were to meet. Fellow South African Dov Judah was Senior's navigator. He records that as Amman was "pretty well lit up and my navigational experience was not needed, I deposited the bombs. We made two runs on the palace, trying to hit it with 50-kilo bombs pushed out with the help of special handles affixed to the bombs. I never saw them explode - only the lights of Amman going out. We later learned that the bombs that had failed to explode drew curiosity among the enemy - bombs with handles? Some of these bombs were collected and transported to laboratories in England in an attempt to explain 'What the Jews were up to.' Clearly in the RAF, they had never come across the position of bomb chucker-outer!"
Stanley Medicks, chairman of Machal in Britain, Europe, and Scandinavia and instigator of the Machal memorial at Sha'ar Hagai, recalled an incident during the battle of Tamra, which opened the campaign to the north.
"I was a platoon commander of No. 1 platoon scaling a hill. Suddenly I hear shouting, 'Medicks, Medicks!' I immediately handed over command and said, 'Something has happened and they need me.' And through a hail of bullets from the Jordanians, I dashed to the top of the hill and was met by 'Where the bloody hell are the stretcher-bearers?'"
The guest of honor was Reuma Weizman, wife of late president Ezer Weizman, who had been one of the few Israelis in the fledgling air force comprising 95% Machalnikim. Simon recounted an incident when Weizman and four Machalnik fighter pilots, including Boris Senior, shot down four British planes piloted by members of the RAF. A fifth plane was shot down by Machalnik ground fire. This incident, which received major publicity in the British press at the time, involved South Africans both in the air and on the ground.
Concerned about possible political flack resulting from this incident, Air Force commander Aaron Remez called an emergency meeting of staff officers. Coming out of the meeting looking very somber was a Machalnik from the US, Danny Cravitt. He immediately reported to British Machalnik Morrie Mann waiting in the anteroom.
"What is going to happen?" asked a worried Mann.
Kravitz replied, "This is top secret and please, not a word to anyone."
"Of course," said Mann.
"We have just taken an operational decision to bomb London," revealed Kravitz.
Unfazed, Mann replied, "Danny, I couldn't care less. I come from Manchester."
While stories and anecdotes were amusingly and proudly recalled, on a more somber note Telfed paid honor to all Southern Africans who fell in the defense of Israel. Two young soldiers of South African parents laid a wreath for the 75 men and women who died in uniform.
Of concern to Maurice Ostroff, who commandeered a radar mobile station during the war, was "to set the record straight." He believes that the job of the Machalniks is far from over. There is one more battle to fight, in the arena of public relations. Alluding to Simon's statement that the Machalnikim are an 'endangered species,' Ostroff asserts that "We, who were there and know the facts, have one final mission - to correct the damaging distortions of our 1948 history by Israel's new historians."
He cited examples of Ilan Pappe of the University of Haifa, "who accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing in 1948"; Noam Chomsky of MIT, "who portrays Israel as a terrorist state"; and Norman Finkelstein, "described by the Washington Post as a writer celebrated by neo-Nazi groups for comparing Israel to Nazi Germany."
"We ignore the new historians at our peril," Ostroff warns. "We Jews are often accused of being paranoid, but there is much truth in the maxim 'Just because you are paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't after you.'"
Churchill's apt depiction after the Battle of Britain that "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" could equally apply to the debt the state owes to the overseas volunteers who came to fight in Israel's War of Independence.
The Machalniks' contribution represents one of the proudest chapters in modern Jewish history, when ordinary people behaved quite extraordinarily. As Ben-Gurion said, "This was a war not won by heroes. It was won by ordinary men and women rising above themselves."
In the Jewish spirit
Telfed also paid tribute to NACHAL, the South African volunteers who came in 1956 during the Suez campaign. In 1955, the Jews of South Africa were the first to react to the possibility that war was looming, and in early 1955 the South African Zionist Federation set in motion a program to dispatch volunteers to relieve kibbutzniks should they be called up for active service.
Les Amdur was one the more than 150 South Africans who volunteered their services. Like many of the other Nachalniks, he would later immigrate to Israel.
Addressing Telfed's tribute, Amdur said, "The people who volunteered were not all Zionists, some knowing very little about Israel or Judaism, but they all had one thing in common - a Jewish spirit to contribute to their fellow Jews in their hour of need."
Monday, November 14, 2005
Zimbabwe migrant: Rejoice Mkwananzi in Israel
From BBC News, 3 November
Zimbabwe migrant: Rejoice Mkwananzi
The BBC News website has been speaking to Zimbabweans who have left the country in recent years about their reasons and the risks they took. Rejoice Mkwananzi (not her real name), 49, gave up her position as deputy head teacher of an infant school in Zimbabwe and moved to Israel to be a maid so that she could support her extended family.
When I left Zimbabwe in 1999 I was the acting head teacher at a very respected junior school. I was in charge of 45 other teachers and would have soon been promoted to head teacher. Basically at that time wages were too low - and then it was so much better than it is now. Almost half of my salary would go to the taxman. I then had my mortgage to pay for, my car, my various policies and at the end of it all I was left with almost nothing. It was so hard to make ends meet. It felt as though the moment I received my salary, it was all gone. My life was hand-to-mouth. My sister had recently died tragically and her two children were left all alone. The way our society works is that the family steps in and takes over caring and providing as needed. And so instead of supporting myself and my poor-in-health mother, I now had to provide for my sister's two little girls too. If I had stayed at home I wouldn't have managed.
At that time the situation in Zimbabwe was really desperate. Now though, when I look back it was not all that bad! I met a cousin of mine who had a job in Israel and she told me that the family that she had been working for were looking for someone to help them. I was just lucky. The family paid for all my relocation expenses to where they live near Tel Aviv and sorted out a work permit for me. My initial intentions were just to stay a year. But things, back home, went from bad to worse and now I don't see myself going back. Well not soon anyway. I don't see how that would be possible. The work is so depressing. I never thought I would find myself doing these jobs. I clean the house, look after the children when they come home from school, sometimes I cook, I do everything. I leave my apartment at half-seven in the morning and get home at nine in the evening, and between those hours I am constantly on my feet. I only start work at the family's home in the afte! rnoon but to make more money I spend my mornings going about cleaning in different places. Some of the people are welcoming and good to me but the woman that I mainly work for, I couldn't call her exactly warm.
When I first arrived I used to share a three-bedroom apartment with a Ghanaian and a Kenyan. It was really difficult though and I had to be so accommodating. People are different - our cultures, the food we eat and how it smells, manners and all that. I couldn't get used to it. I am an independent woman and had always lived on my own, apart from when I was married. And so as soon as I could I found myself a one-bedroom apartment to rent. It is better to have my own space but I am lonely. One does not have a social life living here. There are several Zimbabweans and South Africans that I am friends with - we all stick together. They normally visit over our weekends - from Friday afternoons till Saturday. But few of them have the correct papers and so are too frightened to go out in case the police stop them. Instead we meet in people's houses. When I go around town I am sometimes nervous of a bomb going off. There was a time two, three years ago when we would h! ave to carry gas masks. And you feel frightened taking buses, because of the bombing. You can feel tensions amongst crowds of people. Nothing bad has happened to me. God has really protected me.
I miss home, so much. I applied and was given political asylum and so I cannot go home, not even for a holiday. If I went, I would not be allowed back. I wish I could do a proper job - doing this is killing me mentally and I have developed a low self-esteem. I love children and would give anything to be able to teach once more. My mother is physically very ill but is so strong mentally. I phone home once a week and she tells me to think of what I have achieved. I have achieved a lot and it makes me happy that I can support my mother and nieces but I am living for my family. I don't even have a boyfriend! My family depend on me for everything. I send them money to pay all their bills, pay for the school fees. I make sure my mother can pay to see a private doctor, and that she has all her medications. They depend on me left, right and centre. I hope all the things happening in Zimbabwe end soon. I want to go home and live the kind of life that I used to have.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zimbabwe migrant: Rejoice Mkwananzi
The BBC News website has been speaking to Zimbabweans who have left the country in recent years about their reasons and the risks they took. Rejoice Mkwananzi (not her real name), 49, gave up her position as deputy head teacher of an infant school in Zimbabwe and moved to Israel to be a maid so that she could support her extended family.
When I left Zimbabwe in 1999 I was the acting head teacher at a very respected junior school. I was in charge of 45 other teachers and would have soon been promoted to head teacher. Basically at that time wages were too low - and then it was so much better than it is now. Almost half of my salary would go to the taxman. I then had my mortgage to pay for, my car, my various policies and at the end of it all I was left with almost nothing. It was so hard to make ends meet. It felt as though the moment I received my salary, it was all gone. My life was hand-to-mouth. My sister had recently died tragically and her two children were left all alone. The way our society works is that the family steps in and takes over caring and providing as needed. And so instead of supporting myself and my poor-in-health mother, I now had to provide for my sister's two little girls too. If I had stayed at home I wouldn't have managed.
At that time the situation in Zimbabwe was really desperate. Now though, when I look back it was not all that bad! I met a cousin of mine who had a job in Israel and she told me that the family that she had been working for were looking for someone to help them. I was just lucky. The family paid for all my relocation expenses to where they live near Tel Aviv and sorted out a work permit for me. My initial intentions were just to stay a year. But things, back home, went from bad to worse and now I don't see myself going back. Well not soon anyway. I don't see how that would be possible. The work is so depressing. I never thought I would find myself doing these jobs. I clean the house, look after the children when they come home from school, sometimes I cook, I do everything. I leave my apartment at half-seven in the morning and get home at nine in the evening, and between those hours I am constantly on my feet. I only start work at the family's home in the afte! rnoon but to make more money I spend my mornings going about cleaning in different places. Some of the people are welcoming and good to me but the woman that I mainly work for, I couldn't call her exactly warm.
When I first arrived I used to share a three-bedroom apartment with a Ghanaian and a Kenyan. It was really difficult though and I had to be so accommodating. People are different - our cultures, the food we eat and how it smells, manners and all that. I couldn't get used to it. I am an independent woman and had always lived on my own, apart from when I was married. And so as soon as I could I found myself a one-bedroom apartment to rent. It is better to have my own space but I am lonely. One does not have a social life living here. There are several Zimbabweans and South Africans that I am friends with - we all stick together. They normally visit over our weekends - from Friday afternoons till Saturday. But few of them have the correct papers and so are too frightened to go out in case the police stop them. Instead we meet in people's houses. When I go around town I am sometimes nervous of a bomb going off. There was a time two, three years ago when we would h! ave to carry gas masks. And you feel frightened taking buses, because of the bombing. You can feel tensions amongst crowds of people. Nothing bad has happened to me. God has really protected me.
I miss home, so much. I applied and was given political asylum and so I cannot go home, not even for a holiday. If I went, I would not be allowed back. I wish I could do a proper job - doing this is killing me mentally and I have developed a low self-esteem. I love children and would give anything to be able to teach once more. My mother is physically very ill but is so strong mentally. I phone home once a week and she tells me to think of what I have achieved. I have achieved a lot and it makes me happy that I can support my mother and nieces but I am living for my family. I don't even have a boyfriend! My family depend on me for everything. I send them money to pay all their bills, pay for the school fees. I make sure my mother can pay to see a private doctor, and that she has all her medications. They depend on me left, right and centre. I hope all the things happening in Zimbabwe end soon. I want to go home and live the kind of life that I used to have.
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Friday, November 04, 2005
Haaretz - Israel News - They came, they fought - and some of them stayed
has gathered over 4,500 Machal-related photos and runs the Machal museum in Latrun. "The world must not forget what world Jewry did in 1948," he said.
As veterans and their families wandered among the boards of photographs, seeking out black-and-white images of their former selves, many of them were keen to reminisce about their experiences coming to Israel in 1948.
"It took us three days to get here [Israel] from South Africa," said Elhanan Rosenblum, who is originally from Boxburg, South Africa. He, like many of the Machalniks, never returned there after the 1948 war and now lives in Ra'anana. "We had to leave under the cover that we were students on a trip to Europe, as it wasn't allowed to come and fight. We landed in Italy, where we trained for 10 days before coming to Israel.
"I thought they ate herring and danced the hora all night in Israel; it wasn't quite like that but I have no regrets about coming here," added Rosenblum, who served in an anti-tank unit in 1948.
Like many of his fellow veterans, Rosenblum spoke about the rampant anti-Semitism in South Africa at that time, which was a key factor in his motivation to come and fight in Israel. "I felt I couldn't take it [the anti-Semitism] anymore," he said. "I had always dreamed about a place where all the Jews could go and be safe, and coming to Israel to fight was my chance to achieve that."
Other veterans at the event spoke about the sense of duty that pulled them toward risking their lives for the nascent Jewish state, even though some of them had already fought in World War II.
"Smoky" Simon, a Machalnik who was one of the first members of the Israel Air Force, had already served five years in the South African Air Force before volunteering to fight in Israel. "After reading about the horrors of the Holocaust, the deportation of refugees from Palestine by the British and the threat of extermination by the Arab nations, I felt it my duty to come [to Israel] and fight, " he said, adding, "during a crisis, the Jews must unify."
And unity remains important to the Machalniks, even 57 years on. The group holds reunions every year at a memorial site on the "Burma Road," the alternative route built to reach besieged Jerusalem in 1948. Throughout the evening, the veterans were slapping each other on the back, teasing, heckling, calling each other by nicknames and comparing Machal ties, like a group of fresh recruits.
"It's important the connection be maintained," said Stanley Medicks, chairman of Machal, London who came to Israel especially for the event. Medicks, who served as an infantry officer, said, "Coming to Israel to help build the homeland of the Jewish people is the most important and significant thing I have done in my life. Without Machal, Israel, with no tanks, no fighter planes and very little expertise, would not have survived in its present form."
From further afield was Barney Meyerson, chairman of Machal Australia, and his wife Bertha. Barney, who fought in the Palmach in `48, agreed such evenings were important, and also "very enjoyable." "It's nice to see so many of the old faces, " he said, "the very old faces."
In the more formal part of the evening's events, the guest speakers included Telfed chairman Itz Kalmanowitz and the former mayor of Tel Aviv, Shlomo Lahat, who denounced the "sin" of Israeli society in not sufficiently expressing its gratitude to the Machalniks. He called for more education about Machal in schools, in the army and in society in general.
Re'uma Weizman also attended the event. Her late husband, former president Ezer Weizman, was one of the few Israelis who flew fighter planes in the War of Independence, in an air force that was made up of 95 percent Machalnikim. Sid Cohen, who was also at this week's event and actually commanded Weizman in Squadron 101, was one of Israel's first fighter pilots and the father of the IAF fighter squadron - and does he have some stories to tell.
`When we needed you most'
Some 3,500 volunteers from overseas - men and women, Jews and non-Jews from 44 countries - came to fight in Israel in 1948 after the state's declaration of independence, bringing their much-needed experience and expertise to the fledgling Israel Defense Forces. Some 800 of these came from South Africa.
The Machal volunteers made a significant contribution toward winning the war and laying the foundation on which the IDF was built. Over 120 Machalniks were killed, many were wounded and taken prisoner.
In 1993, the Machal memorial was dedicated in Sha'ar Hagai by prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who said, "You came to us when we needed you most, during those dark and uncertain days in our War of Independence."
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