Bill Keller
Former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller wrote his paper’s obituary for Nelson Mandela (12/6/13). As you might have guessed, it glosses over the CIA’s role in helping the apartheid government catch Mandela (Extra!, 3-4/90): “Upon his capture he was charged with inciting a strike and leaving the country without a passport” is all the depth he goes into, although the Times (6/10/90) has in fact covered this little-known story in the past. You have to ask yourself: If the secret police of an ostensibly democratic society helped put someone viewed as one of the great heroes of the past century in prison, isn’t that something the public ought to know about?
Keller did go into more detail about Mandela’s armed efforts to overthrow the apartheid state, seemingly in an effort to belittle them:
Mr. Mandela’s exploits in the “armed struggle” have been somewhat mythologized. During his months as a cloak-and-dagger outlaw, the press christened him “the Black Pimpernel.” But while he trained for guerrilla fighting and sought weapons for Spear of the Nation, he saw no combat. The ANC’s armed activities were mostly confined to planting land mines, blowing up electrical stations and committing occasional acts of terrorism against civilians.
Mandela, as it happens, went into great detail at his 1964 trial—where he was convicted of sabotage, not “acts of terrorism against civilians”—about the African National Congress’ decision to abandon its commitment to nonviolent resistance and turn to armed struggle, a phrase that does not actually require scare quotes. This decision was made, Mandela explained, in order to prevent the opposition to white-minority rule from devolving into random acts of terrorism:
Nelson Mandela, 1961
Firstly, we believed that as a result of government policy, violence by the African people had become inevitable, and that unless responsible leadership was given to canalize and control the feelings of our people, there would be outbreaks of terrorism which would produce an intensity of bitterness and hostility between the various races of this country which is not produced even by war. Secondly, we felt that without violence, there would be no way open to the African people to succeed in their struggle against the principle of white supremacy. All lawful modes of expressing opposition to this principle had been closed by legislation, and we were placed in a position in which we had either to accept a permanent state of inferiority, or to defy the government. We chose to defy the law.
Mandela went on to recount that the ANC first turned to sabotage as the form of opposition least likely to result in lost lives, and then, after the apartheid regime made sabotage punishable by the death penalty, decided to begin preparation for a turn toward guerrilla warfare. Shortly after his return from leaving the country to get military training, Mandela was caught (with the help of the CIA)—too soon for him to have taken an active part in military activities. Aside from the part about the participation of the CIA, this was all laid out very clearly by Mandela at his trial 49 years ago. But including it in his obituary would have spoiled the chance to mock the pretensions of “the Black Pimpernel.”
UPDATE: I should have noted that Keller’s obituary, discussing Mandela’s post-release relationship with the United States, includes this line: “There have been allegations, neither substantiated nor dispelled, that a CIA agent had tipped the police officers who arrested Mr. Mandela.”
I suggest this post as a followup – A Life Well Lived? http://eyesopeninginsearchofbeauty.wordpress.com/
I read that Mr. Mandela was on the US terrorist list until 2008. Wow, and he was President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. Didn’t the Presidents and State Dept. know this?
I also read that Cuba gave great and much welcomed help to Mr. Mandela, and that he spent his time in prison realiizing that it was by representing all people and working with all others that the world could be changed. He had a lot of fans among many of the white prison guards too. He really did represent all.
Perhaps it was his comment about Palestine that gained him a negative response from the NY Times. He said ” …our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
Wow, a freedom fighter and a freedom speaker. He will be missed.
NYT is not saying anything different than the Zionist Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan said; “Nelson Mandela hated Jews”.
http://rehmat1.com/2013/07/09/rabbi-kaplan-nelson-mandela-hated-jews/
Despite this example, the corpress coverage I’ve seen in general has sought to iconize a “safe” Mandela, just as has been done with Martin Luther King, while “alternative” reporting and commentary has largely overlooked the profound failures that marked his presidency in favor of a sort of reverse mirror of the MSM’s glorification of him.
What we need is an honest assessment of the man and his actions.
Neither hagiography from any angle, nor dismissal that overlooks the very real accomplishments of his life, serves us well.
I think the following items put Mandela’s impact in better perspective:
Mandela Led Fight Against Apartheid, But Not Against Extreme Inequality
Patrick Bond: Mandela deserves great credit for ending racial apartheid in South Africa, but his legacy includes the continuation of mass poverty
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10362
Mandela Embodied the Victories and Failures of the South African Liberation Struggle
Glen Ford: Were the compromises made to avoid bloodshed responsible for the poverty and suffering that continues today?
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=1038
See if you agree.
While the nations of the world –even America eventually — joined in boycotting weapons sales to apartheid South Africa, Israel continued
these condemned sales; the Israeli government defended its policy by
claiming it had the right to do anything that was beneficial to the interests of Israel, & further, declaring that the World had no right to ‘dictate morality’ to Israel. Andrew Young, President Jimmy Carter’s appointed UN ambassador, was forced to leave that post under American & Israeli Zionist pressure, & in 1978 Israel’s President Menachem Begin launched a project to defeat Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election by supporting, encouraging & funding the US fundamentalist Christian agendas as a quid pro quo for their unquestioning support of Israel. This was a major strategy in bringing Ronald Reagan into power via the discrediting of Jimmy Carter, who was up til then leading in the polls. The point is: the NewYorkTimes didn’t talk about this stuff either. We
now continue to live & struggle within the terrific backwash of these events occuring more than 35 years ago, & American media including the NYTimes, have done practically ZILCH to inform American citizens adequately about these issues, machinations & gambits…with the observable bloody & bankrupt results.
All the news that fits they print.
Oh my dear sweet lord some posts here(Rehmat the jew baiter, and Barbara) have actually turned this dime on the jews.Is there anything that the jews are NOT faulted for?Well usually it s the CIA AND the jews.FAIRs question that if the cia helped put this notable person behind bars….shouldn’t we know about it.Well yes….but do you really want to go there?He (Mendela)often said that “I am no saint”.He meant it.His life was not without mistakes.And in those mistakes people did die.He WAS a threat to the lawful South African government at that time .Wether or not the threat was deserved means little.No one knew he would in the end espouse a non violent change.It appeared o be going the other way.He himself acknowledged many mistakes.Do we really want to dig those mistakes up to sully his name?Because digging up the mistakes the CI made and the world in opposing what eventually happened will lift all the rocks.Remember when Martin L Kings tape intercepts where released that the FBI did?It showed the FBI was out of control.It also showed Dr King was having a few ..shall we say flings with the fairer sex.He also could of been charged with tax evasion as witnessed those tapes.Hell the Israelis acted as terrorists against the Brits prior to Israels founding.And so it goes.Let sleepings dogs lie.There are no mother Tereses here.
Well, he IS awfully white and he may be a bit too brit besides. They do not easily forget losing that which they try to colonize.
@ Michael e
Only if this calms down your Zionist nerves.
Rob Eshman, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal went further, in June 26, 2013, editorial called Nelson Mandela, modern-day Moses. “Mandela was as close to the biblical Moses as we’ll see in our lifetime,” he said, and adds,”From Moses to Mandela, there has been only one Mandela“.
Know, I’m not sure if Eshman was trying to prove that Mandela, like Moses, was Jewish!!
http://rehmat1.com/2013/12/06/jewish-editor-mandela-was-moses/
Despite this example, the corpress coverage I’ve seen in general has sought to iconize a “safe” Mandela, just as has been done with Martin Luther King, while “alternative” reporting and commentary has largely overlooked the profound failures that marked his presidency in favor of a sort of reverse mirror of the MSM’s glorification of him.
What we need is an honest assessment of the man and his actions.
Neither hagiography from any angle, nor dismissal that overlooks the very real accomplishments of his life, serves us well.
I think these Real News segments put Mandela’s impact in better perspective:
Mandela Led Fight Against Apartheid, But Not Against Extreme Inequality
Patrick Bond: Mandela deserves great credit for ending racial apartheid in South Africa, but his legacy includes the continuation of mass poverty
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10362
Mandela Embodied the Victories and Failures of the South African Liberation Struggle
Glen Ford: Were the compromises made to avoid bloodshed responsible for the poverty and suffering that continues today?
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=10380
See if you agree.
(Looks like the link inclusions are blocking my post, so I’ll just list the titles of the Real News segments, and I’m sure you can easily find them.)
Despite this example, the corpress coverage I’ve seen in general has sought to iconize a “safe” Mandela, just as has been done with Martin Luther King, while “alternative” reporting and commentary has largely overlooked the profound failures that marked his presidency in favor of a sort of reverse mirror of the MSM’s glorification of him.
What we need is an honest assessment of the man and his actions.
Neither hagiography from any angle, nor dismissal that overlooks the very real accomplishments of his life, serves us well.
I think these Real News segments put Mandela’s impact in better perspective:
Mandela Led Fight Against Apartheid, But Not Against Extreme Inequality
Patrick Bond: Mandela deserves great credit for ending racial apartheid in South Africa, but his legacy includes the continuation of mass poverty
Mandela Embodied the Victories and Failures of the South African Liberation Struggle
Glen Ford: Were the compromises made to avoid bloodshed responsible for the poverty and suffering that continues today?
See if you agree.
Bill Keller is not a paid agent of the CIA, of the kind that Carl Bernstein described in his famous 1977 article in Rolling Stone, then he might as well be. He shills for power every single time and is invariably on the wrong side of any important public question.
Rehmat are you calling me a zionist?Ha ha ha.Pretty good for a boy who spent twelve years in strict catholic schools.So now Im a zionist.Sister Margaret Mary would be amazed.Ok I answered your charge.How aout mine?Are you an anti semite?
I read through some of Nelsons claims against Jewish sovereignty to Israel.Same old canards and really not that enlightened.For instance he…like so many today always miss the point that 87% of so called historical Palistinian lands are in the hands of their ARAB neighbors.Who have no thought to returning any of it.And no body cares.Yet Israel gets all the grief.Kind of hysterical if you want to laugh about it.As I always say to them……YOU FIRST!
So he did not understand world geopolitics.Fine thats a given.And Israel used to get pissed over his dumb pronouncements.Water under the bridge.He was a flawed man who through happenstance,design,and circumstance used as his main tool peace to bring about change for his people.That is his lasting legacy.Not sainthood.He would of scoffed at the notion.
Mandela’s legacy is so great that small insignificant people like Keller cannot tarnish it though they may try… The world is full of losers who try to knock down people who have actually accomplished something no matter how small.