Stefan Simanowitz, Author at Toward Freedom

Refugee Film Festival Joins Western Sahara Independence Struggle

Stefan Simanowitz June 3, 2010 Stefan Simanowitz

Audience member at festival

During the 1960s, when decolonization movements were sweeping the world, it was joked that after achieving independence a country had to do three things: design a flag, launch an airline and found a film festival. Western Sahara has a flag but no airline and despite a 35 year struggle has yet to achieve independence. The closest it comes to its own film festival is the Festival Internacional de Cine del Sahara (known as FiSahara), the world's most remote film festival, which had its seventh annual gathering this week in a refugee camp deep in the Algerian desert.

A Hunger for Justice in Western Sahara

Stefan Simanowitz April 19, 2010 Stefan Simanowitz

Anyone who saw the episode of the BBC documentary Tropic of Cancer last month in which journalist Simon Reeve traveled across Western Sahara would have seen Rachid Sghair. He was the human rights campaigner who bravely appeared before the camera to denounce the 35 year Moroccan occupation of his country and the resulting human rights abuses suffered by Saharawi people.

Obama’s Test on Iran

Stefan Simanowitz April 13, 2010 Stefan Simanowitz

The signing of the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty signals a further shift in the focus of America's nuclear strategy from her former Cold War foes to so-called rogue states, notably Iran. While President Obama's instincts will ensure he does everything in his power to avoid military conflict with Iran he is up against hawkish elements not just within Congress but within his own party.

Nelson Mandela’s Walk to Freedom Remembered

Stefan Simanowitz February 23, 2010 Stefan Simanowitz

Nelson Mandela, 1937

Twenty years ago, Janey Halim was part of the ANC welcome committee gathered outside Victor Verster Prison, waiting to greet Nelson Mandela as he emerged after 27 years of confinement. “It was a beautiful morning and we all just stood there with our eyes focused on the metal gate,” she recalls. “Then the gates opened and Nelson and Winnie walked towards us. Other people were cheering but I just cried and cried.” Two decades later, Ms Halim, known to most people as Auntie Janey, decided not to attend the commemorative event at the prison marking the anniversary of Mandela’s release because she feels let down by the African National Congress (ANC). read more

Tony Blair: The Middle East Peace Envoy’s Thirst for War

Stefan Simanowitz February 2, 2010 Stefan Simanowitz

In a speech in May 1997 newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair stated: "Mine is the first generation able to contemplate the possibility that we may live our entire lives without going to war or sending our children to war." Last week, two disastrous wars and countless deaths later, Tony Blair appeared in front of the Iraq Inquiry. He was supposed to be there to answer questions on the war in Iraq but used the opportunity to also make clear that he favored military action against Iran. In the course of his testimony he mentioned Iran no less that 58 times, the Middle East peace envoy once again showing his thirst for war.

Iraq Inquiry Panel: Britain’s Pride and Shame

Stefan Simanowitz January 27, 2010 Stefan Simanowitz

By the end of his six hour cross examination by the Iraq Inquiry panel in London, Tony Blair's former director of communications and strategy, Alastair Campbell, must have felt as if he had been, in the immortal phrase of a veteran British politician, "savaged by a dead sheep." Arriving at the Chilcot Inquiry, the bags under his eyes suggested that Tony Blair's former communications and strategy director might have suffered a few sleepless nights.