(Tafari: Do you know her name or how she died? Do you care?)
Ok Folks… you KNOW what we think of Ikael Tafari
Here is his latest piece of Ikael Tafari trash published at The Nation News…
“On the other hand, even in the field of politics, history unmistakably attests to the human ability to rise to the highest heights of civilisation. Great political leaders of varied ethnic origins, gender and ideological backgrounds, like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, Mahatma Gandhi, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Golda Meir, and, in our region, Errol Barrow, Michael Manley and Fidel Castro – all dedicated their lives, albeit in starkly contrasting styles, to the liberation of their fellow humanity from oppression of one kind or another. Their deeds are written in history.”
“Their Deeds Are Written In History”
Castro’s deeds sure are written in history… and photographed too. Ikael Tafari has obviously been smoking more of that wacky weed.
Don’t click on the articles or the small photos unless you have eaten breakfast and have a strong stomach.
VIVA LA REVOLUCION! VIVA CASTRO!
– 
– 
BARLOVENTO: The Massacre of Cuban-Chinese
BFP – Cliverton: A VCR Travels From Barbados To Cuba – In Vain
… I could go on for the next few hours and post hundreds of photographs and first-person accounts, but any educated person knows the truth of the Castro dictatorship so I’ll take a walk and try to think of something else.
Tafari should move to Cuba immediately and establish himself in one of the paupers’ barrios outside of Holguin where children play in open sewers while their mother’s entertain tourists and old men from the city in hope of making enough to purchase shoes for the children. No Shoes…No School!
Tafari comforts himself with government trips to Cuba where his hosts show him only what they want to be seen…. and Tafari is happy to see only that.
Fool.
A very angry Cliverton
Barbados Free Press 
Tafari is an embarrassment to Barbados. Is the new government going to continue paying him for this?
Dissent is not tolerated in Cuba
We will soon see Jason..
BFP -what is the girl’s story?
Couldn’t agree more. This was an even more than usually feeble-minded and offensive Tafari article.
So the fact that the BBC and CNN didn’t consider a peaceful election in tiny Barbados as particularly newsworthy is a sign of white hegemony again, is it? What a fool
This, as well as including Castro in his pantheon of great libertarians, isn’t Tafari’s only folly, incidentally.
While Churchill was undoubtedly an effective war-time leader, many here may not realize that he was also an extraordinarily nasty piece of work, both an elitist and a racist.
He loathed the trade union movement (on his orders, for example, striking Welsh miners were shot and killed by troops), and he spent much of his pre and post-war political life arguing AGAINST Independence movements in British colonies. (For his attitude to Black Africa, for example, see this link from the London Times):
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article2343767.ece
The point is, Tafari has a PhD in social history. He either knows the truth about Castro and Churchill and is lying, or doesn’t know and is a fool.
Clearly, I share Cliverton’s anger about this Tafari piece. I’m sick and tired of this ignorant, useless buffoon. I sincerely hope he gets the Government boot in the very near future.
Just Say No
I don’t know the man but I hear that he
Keeps smoking the stuff and appearing publicly
Ambassador for Barbados in Pan African talks
Even though he insults us with this path he walks
Local and international campaign
Tells us how we must refrain
And millions are spent each year
Rehabilitating those polluting our safe air
A guy questioned this envoy’s genealogy
For me it’s irrelevant, a man’s pedigree
I don’t advocate for this marginalization
This can only serve to segregate a nation
Racism in reverse can be an ugly sight
And great men died for blacks, though they were white
So if you will take a stand today
His actions should tell you where you must sway
Tafari is one of the “useful idiots” that brutal regimes use to prop up, and promote propaganda for their corrupt and brutal reigns. The man may have a degree, but they are not hard to get and he is clearly an imbecile of the first water. Trouble is we are even bigger ones for allowing taxpayer dollars to be lavished on this anti-democratic cretin who is the worst possible ambassador for this Island
Come on David Thompson – giving this fool Tafari the bum’s rush is the first saving you can make, and the queue of people complaining will be only contain one.
Apparently, I am also feeble-minded because I don’t disagree with the main theme of the article, even though I may differ on the choice of one or two of the names he listed. I think that too many Barbadians and, Caribbean people by extension, are brainwashed by North American media in particular.
If it isn’t sanctioned by the CNN etc, it is not newsworthy. And I agree with him entirely that CNN and company rush in with indecent haste to highlight anything negative arising in the Caribbean and Africa but when its something positive it doesn’t see the light of day.
On the other hand, when their own country is perpetrating negative stuff, (and I am not speaking about OJ Simpson’s/Britney Spears’ soap operas etc), much of it is hidden from public consumption; and example of this is the Iraq war where the american soldiers and military contractors are deeply involved in the atrocities being committed there.
BFP talks about equating Martin Luther King and Mahatma Ghandi with Fidel Castro but what about Golda Meir? She doesn’t deserve to be on that list either. There is no comparison between the sufferings of the Palestinian people starting from the forced occupation of the israelis in 1948 until hitherto and the so-called Cuban political crisis.In the Cuban experience, that began somewhere in 1959 or thereabout.
As a media house, you ought to be obligated to publish all sides, or as many sides to an issue as is possible. Otherwise you cannot claim to be publishing the truth. What many people don’t seem to realize is: truth is relative; that is to say there are different degrees of truth. And if you don’t believe what I have said, you can research it in your Webster or Oxford and you shall find for yourself the words ‘truer’ and ‘truest’.
If something can be truer than another, it stands to reason that the same news ought to be given from differing viewpoints and angles. It is very reminiscent of the three blind Hindus who were asked to describe an elephant. And each one gave a different description of the same elephant; a wall, a trunk and a rope.
We need to cast the beam out of our own individual eyes in order that we can clearly see the beam in our brother’s eye. It would do us all the world of good to remove these stigmas and taboos from our own psyches and then we would be in a better position to make comments, even if critically, in a more constructive way.
eureka
“but when its something positive it doesn’t see the light of day”.
In all seriousness, please explain to me what is globally newsworthy about a trouble-free election in Barbados?
“CNN and company rush in with indecent haste to highlight anything negative arising in the Caribbean and Africa ”
Indecent haste? The current horrors in Kenya, Chad, Dafur, etc. are real and urgent – they HAVE to be reported. It has nothing to do with them being African stories. CNN and BBC did the same during the Serb-Croat conflict.
This is blinkered thinking on your part.
“On the other hand, when their own country is perpetrating negative stuff, (and I am not speaking about OJ Simpson’s/Britney Spears’ soap operas etc), much of it is hidden from public consumption”
Not true. CNN (though not the far-right Fox News) regularly airs reports that are critical of US foreign policy. I suggest you watch (for example) the ‘Keeping Them Honest” segment on Anderson Cooper 360.
And was CNN silent on the Abu Ghraib outrages? No. Christiana Amanpour (sp?) devoted an hour-long programme to it.
I’m not suggesting either CNN or the BBC are totally unbiased: no news organization in the world is. But to suggest that there is a deliberate (even if unconscious) conspiracy to denigrate the politics and people of other (ie non-white) parts of the world strikes me as being wrong-headed, somewhat paranoid and not backed up by the facts.
Eureka
We suffer from a peculiar disease in the Caribbean where we ‘do as we are told’ as opposed to doing whats in our interests. Our ancestors were brought here by the Europeans to follow orders furthering Europe’s economic and political interests.
Over 100 plus years after we were liberated (i.e absence of physical contraints) not much has changed.
We have inherited and accepted without question our names, customs, system of govt, religions, God(s) societal institutions, moral compass from Europe and by media influences, the USA.
We are still being told not only what to do which is bad but worse what to think. Thus the western media and academic institutions has informed us that Fidel is bad, cannabis bad, Ghandi good tobacco/alcohol : socially acceptable. We accept those premises like the children we are, without question.
It saddening to see Rastafarians who evolved from pariahs to culture bearers in the Cbean, who had the audacity to choose their own names, Gods, religion, herbs and general philosophy of life being riduculed for their personal choices.
We would never dare question the use of ‘wine’ used in the Christian churches communions, and the havoc wreaked on our society by tobacco or alchohol abuse is considered a given. The holy sacrament of the Rastafari however is not only questioned but ridiculed.
On the question of Fidel and Ghandi at least we know Fidel was/is a friend of the Caribbean proven by the free scholarhips (free I might add) eyecare programs, nurses and doctors all free of charge road building programs. When last has Britain given free scholarships or funded an eyecare program in their former ‘colonies’.
In the face of this we stick blindly to some good guys /bad guys ideology which has lost relevance in our time and our reality in the Caribbean. Coming from an ‘alternative’ media forum like BFP where independant thought should be trumpeted, this is even more alarming.
Although I may not agree with Fidel’s means of maintaining order and stablity in Cuba, he is no different from other leaders with responsiblity from the US (native americans) or Britain (Ireland) who we worship without question.
Ghandi on the other hand was a racist who was horrified of having to share a SA prison cell with blacks whom he compared to animals.
See link below to see what the black South Africans think of him.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/southafrica/story/0,13262,1065018,00.html
Well said Jodiperry and Eureka.
When I read these post on BFP by BPF.I have to say that a hypocritical point of view comes across to me.
Personally I see them as fakes,yes…some of the articles are thought provoking and inspiring but some are just downright biased.
BFP claims to be a champion of free speech,yet if you think outside of their box ,you are asked to start your own blog.They give the pretense of Christians …yet show their alcoholic tendencies so often.
One of their own hates Cuba and Castro so much he has to take a walk to cool off…my question is this…What the hell were you doing there for so long??I hope not studying at Castro’s’ expense.
*****************
BFP says,
Cliverton was originally studying at the expense of the people of Cuba – not at Castro’s expense.
On his later visits though, Cliverton became a small part of the “GPS Project”, the results of which will be known when Cuba is free again.
As to Christians not drinking alcohol… some do and some don’t. Some even drink to excess.
Nobody here claimed to be either perfect or unbiased.
Have to do it. Have to show the truth.
??????????????????????????????????????
Eureka
“but what about Golda Meir? She doesn’t deserve to be on that list either. There is no comparison between the sufferings of the Palestinian people starting from the forced occupation of the israelis in 1948”
?????????????????????????????????????
Is Israel, a country with a seat at the UN, a so-called “forced occupation”? Is this writer questioning the right of Israel to exist after its formation and acceptance by the same UN in 1948? Yes I do believe we can comfortably point this out as true.
Unmasked. If it had said 1967 one could have negotiated a 2 state solution together, but it slipped and let its true feelings out.
BFP and readers please understand what this person is saying: “No right to exist”. An Israeli would therefore have very little peace-wise to talk about with such a person. Neither does this Bajan Jew.
And by the way Eureka, it is not “israelis”- it is a capital I, for ISRAELIS.
BFP,
What exactly is GPS stand for..Global Positioning System?
I noticed that when it comes to massacres, Castro as head of state is responsible.
However when the subject of scholarships and Cuban largesse is broached it’s the Cuban people (who are not free in your opinion) who gets the credit.
Am I missing something here?
**************
BFP Says
Cliverton is not here right now so I (Robert) will answer as best as I can.
The GPS project is indeed Global Positioning System. For the last ten years or more a group of “subversives” have been documenting and mapping out the graves of the disappeared in Cuba before the knowledge is lost. Many families know where their relatives were executed and/or where the bodies were disposed of. Similar to Russia and China there are areas and fields where children and grandchildren are told “don’t play there” but have never been told why.
People live in fear and the old folks who might remember the locations of where the shots came from during the night or where the trucks with prisoners went to and then came back empty – are getting old and the knowledge is being lost.
Cliverton was part of the project to document those locations.
You don’t sound as if you have ever visited Cuba other than perhaps staying at a resort.
To Bentevyah:
You totally misinterpreted the post or you are so ignorant and biased that you cannot see pass your nose.
Show anyone here on this blog where Eureka said anything about the right for israel to exist.
I am waiting………….
BFB,
You ignored the second part of my question and no I have never been to Cuba.
However I did hear Nelson Mandela say in his speech as President of South Africa in 1991 that it is due to Cuban army’s victory over the South African army in Angola and Namibia in 1987 which was the beginning of the end of apartheid and white minority rule in South Africa.
I quote: “The defeat of the racist army at Cuito Cuanavale has made it possible for me to be here today! Cuito Cuanavale was a milestone in the history of the struggle for southern African liberation!”
That for me cements Castro’s positive role in world history.
Cliverton is absolutely right in stating that Fidel should never be compared to Gandhi.
‘Their deeds are indeed written in history.’
One fought to liberate the South Africans, Angolans and Namibians from the oppressive white minority rule. (Where were our role models Britain and the US? )
The other abhorred africans as evident in his editorials in the ‘Indian Opinion’, a newspaper he founded in 1904
Quote: “Many of the native prisoners are only one degree removed from the animal and often created rows and fought among themselves.”
Again in 1896 in addressing a public meeting in Bombay he stated,
Quote: “Ours is one continued struggle against degradation sought to be inflicted upon us by the European, who desire to degrade us to the level of the raw Kaffir, whose occupation is hunting and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with, and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness.”
I recommend that BFP take a closer look at Hinduism as it relates to the caste system in India along with an objective study of Gandhi’s life and works.
With the advent of the internet, there is no excuse for us blindly accepting the heros/role models fostered upon us by our owners.
****************
BFP Says,
While I was unaware of Ghandi’s writings and will do some research, I see that you are willing to give Castro and his gang a pass for murdering thousands or tens of thousands of Cuban men, women and children and the continuing oppression in that country.
Cliverton
Not a question of him being given a pass or not.
My point is that we should view all leaders and statesmen through the same lenses, but more importantly from how their actions relate to us here in the Caribbean and the diaspora. We have picked up ‘cudgels’ for our ex owners for too long now.
That Castro was instrumental in bringing down the last institutionally racist government in the world puts him unquestionningly in the black in my opinion.
That Castro despite lack of financial resources funds eyecare programs, scholarships and health care around the Caribbean, South America and Africa proves to me beyond doubt where his interests lies. With the Caribbean people.
When last has Britian (who is responsible for us being in the Cbean in the first instance) sent us a list of full scholarships for our citizens?
How Castro deals with enemies foreign or domestic is no different from other world leaders or countries who claim moral high ground in world affairs.
British prime ministers from Baldwin to Thatcher have blood on their hands in Nothern Ireland, India, Africa and the Caribbean. Yet their ‘hit man’ Admiral Nelson is immortalised in Barbados with a statue in the center of town. Why? We were told whats good for the empire is good for us.
While you’re doing research on Gandhi try looking into how/from whom the South Africa regime purchased weapons despite being under ‘international sanctions’. Hint: Countries like Britain, Israel and Antigua Barbuda should play a starring role.
BFP does a great job in providing alternate news sources and news to the mainstream media in Barbados.
However on an international scale, it appears to mirror the agenda driven mainstream media in representing the western powers view points which in my view is totally irrelevant and counter productive to our interests in the Caribbean.
*****************
BFP Says
Hey Jodiperry,
We still think your approach about Castro is reminiscent of the “Yeah, Hitler committed genocide – but he did make the trains run on time” argument.
We’re not buying into a statement that says Castro is “in the black” because his army helped to bring down the apartheid government of South Africa.
I am not selling Castro or any other statesmen to you.
I pointed out why he is in the black in MY opinion and asked that all statesmen and women be given the same scrutiny.
In other words why is he being singled out for demonization when all we in the wider caribbean know of him is through his largesse.
You completely ignored the part where I pointed out that all leaders kill/murder/massacre/bomb/imprison without trial and ‘disappear’ those whom are deemed threats to their national security. Bush in Iraq comes to mind. Sucessive British prime ministers in N. Ireland also.
My question is why single out the only one who is engaging the region in a positive way in ways we need most. Health, Education and Infrastructure.
Why?
Does Barbados return the scholarhips sent by Cuba in protest?
****************
BFP replies…
“Does Barbados return the scholarhips sent by Cuba in protest?”
Nope… God forbid that we ever refuse free money from Castro, the communist Chinese or any despot no matter how brutal they are with their own people!
BFP why is it that ,as a group of educated people who created a very good blog cannot (or would not ) answer Jodiperry’s questions in their entirety ?
Every time she or he poses valid questions, you pick up on one liners and answer.
I just wish you could at least engage her in some form of discussion and let us see how you all really match up to the questions she or he puts forward.
Isn’t this the reason for starting this blog ?
Isn’t discussion of views important to you ….or only when they are on your terms?
************
BFP says,
1/ This may come as a surprise to you, but we are under no obligation to answer or reply to everything that everybody says in a way that makes them feel we have fully considered all their ideas.
2/ When a person is willing to put mass murder on some kind of scale and add up the good vs the evil and come up with Castro as “in the black”…
Well… let’s just say that we disagree.
Anonymous,
Jodiperry is a he.
You may have noticed that I gave up on invoking responses from BFP. They appear to thrive on ‘easypickings’ but avoid topics that go beyond western media talking points
As an ‘alternate’ information source, it surprises me how easily they are stumped, but then I guess their terms of reference is limited to the Barbadian political scene.
BFP
My reference to Castro being in the black means that as far as Africans and Caribbeans are concerned he has been always been a friend.
Nothing to do with a scale of good vs evil.
Like they say ‘Ingratitude is worse than witchcraft’
My other point to which I dont expect a response is why single out Fidel (and now China) for special treatment? Is the hatred proportionate to the aid we receive from these countries.
Or is it a innate longing for a return to the abusive relationship we had with Britain?
Perhaps Cuba and China should withdraw their aid immediately and start blacklisting our offshore banks and insurance companies that compete with their colonies in the Cbean (Cayman and Bermuda) and then we would probably view them in a better light.
BFP says,
1/ This may come as a surprise to you, but we are under no obligation to answer or reply to everything that everybody says in a way that makes them feel we have fully considered all their ideas.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Trust me …….it doesnt.It just proves a point!!
BFP says,
2/ When a person is willing to put mass murder on some kind of scale and add up the good vs the evil and come up with Castro as “in the black”…
Well… let’s just say that we disagree.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Obviously you would.Seeing that to ask you why would be so hard to get an answer…..lets just say ,you are stumped.
Have a great night!
When can we see the photos of the executions under Batista and also will the GPS also disclose their graves. One must be fair, right.
*******
BFP says,
If we had ’em, we’d be the first to say so.
Cliverton,
What was the date of your last visit to Trinidad or Baragua, Cuba?
What was the date of your last visit to Tijuana, Mejico?
What was the date of your last visit to New Orleans, LA, USA?
When last have you visited the bario of Bridgetown, Barbados?
I think it is a little disingenuous to suggest that the incidences of abject poverty you cite in Cuab and 1. representative of all Cuban reality ; and 2. solely the result of the political “leadership” of the Cuban government.
Poverty exists everywhere and in varying degrees.
This response is not intended to be an endorsement of Mr Wilkinson’s article, but I also believe that use this blog to skew attention away from the point he was trying to make about leadership, and to unfairly suggest that the economic plight of Cuba’s people is directly related to a regime that is easily blackballed, is to ignore the fact that abject poverty existed under Batista.
To follow your logic is also to indict the governments of Mexico, the US and Barbados for the existence of the coverred-up instances of poverty within their borders since poverty is a scourge that should not exist anywhere!
But since you prefer to focus on issues of suffering, what are you going to do to help those poor souls in Cats Castle?
or even Holguin?
just a thought
Samizat,
Trading petty personal insults now are we? Like they say insults are the first refuge of the ignorants or ignorance. And there is more than enough to go around on this blog without me adding to it.
I am most def not Ikael. BFP has the ability to trace source ISPs and would be on me like white on rice if my posts originated in BIM.