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/ 19 September 2006

Drinking, thinking

If you’re in search of good company, a relaxed ambience, and intelligent discussion on the state of the world you’d be forgiven – for searching, that is. Sometimes it seems like Jo’burg’s hip, worldly, "in the know" crowd has vanished. Khadija Magardie investigates.

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/ 25 July 2006

Falling through the cracks

Fire and brimstone rained down on northern Israel throughout most of this week. And as air-raid sirens sounded and rockets slammed into the country from Hizbullah positions in Lebanon, the state unfurled its extensive safety net. The Israeli Defence Force Home Front Command issued a list of safety recommendations via television and newspapers — including step-by-step instructions on what to do when the sirens sound.

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/ 22 June 2006

A tiny collateral damage

The location of Alyn Hospital on the outskirts of Jerusalem is so idyllic it could be out of the famous tale, Heidi. Nestled on a hilltop enclosed in pine-groves and wild daffodils, the sound of birdsong and children’s giggles allow one momentarily to forget the reality inside the hospital’s walls — the damaged and deformed children who are its patients.

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/ 7 March 2006

Fiddling as the ummah burns

A lot happened during the time the so-called Muslim faithful set about their holy task of riot, pillage and arson over the notoriously unfunny caricatures of Islam’s last prophet. The shackled, manacled and hooded Muslim detainees on hunger strike against their indefinite detention at Camp X-Ray were being nourished with tubes shoved down their throats.

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/ 6 February 2006

Where are all the clever chicks?

No one can say African birds don’t know how to put on a show. Every year end, like clockwork, they’re at their best during the continent’s two greatest ornithological spectacles. In Kenya, the pink flamingos mass on Lake Nakuru. In South Africa, everyone who owns a tie-dye top and a husband who cooks leads us in the 16 Days of Non-Violence against Women.

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/ 29 December 2004

Praising the halal heavens

Virgins? A fresh 72, or your wife with HHR (Heavenly Hymen Reconstruction)? If you look, it’s all on the menu, sir. Brocade couches? Seating this way, sir. Silver goblets; fruit? Follow me to the dining area, madam. This is Jannah, the paradise promised by the Qur’an to the Righteous. And frankly, one can’t understand all the fuss.

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/ 10 November 2004

Shoving dollars down thongs

It’s all in the body-language: During the entire United States election campaign, Mister President’s body language and TV presence just screamed out: "I’m the man and I’ve arrived." And though we’re unlikely to be shoving dollar bills down his thong anytime soon, Dubya’s bonhomie leaves that of the lantern-jawed Mister Kerry in the shade.

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/ 4 September 2003

Freda dearest

Astick of R2 "Rose Garden of India" incense from a Soweto spaza couldn’t beat the stench of fakeness ("I love my beautiful wife, I wouldn’t look at her") at this trial. At its heart, a charge of sexual harassment. Only politicians could pull off such brilliant insincerity.

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/ 14 February 2003

Against his will(y)?

Sigh. It’s no use. Just when we women thought we alone had the right to scurry to Mister Officer if anyone flashed their flaccid tools at us as we lay sunbathing in the park — along come the PC police to rain on our parade.

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/ 31 July 2000

Iranian film festival

The offerings at the Iranian Film Festival open a window into Iranian society, and Iranians. It is, however, a shame that much of the minutest details will inevitably be lost on film-goers who will not understand their relationship with the wider plot. From the ritual of buying a goldfish for Nowruz or new year, in […]