Folks, I know most of us are still reeling from what has happened yesterday. The anger has been pouring in from all corners. This is the eleventh hour, everyone has to be wary lest the thief comes and snatch away our conscience while we're asleep. Essentially, what I'm saying is that over the next few days some people will be trying hard to turn the facts around and demonize the victims, in this case the students. The tone of some remarks quoted in the Gambian press is beginning to lay the blame on the students, that they shouldn't have demonstrated in the way they did, that it is every parent's responsibility to caution his/her child not to be involved in such activities. There we go, typical Gambian attitude in such situations, "hey man bookuma deh", "ndaati jee" "mitawaa ka". Then when the walls come crumbling down over our heads we start looking at eachother. It is only dictatorial societies that ban demonstrations, that shoot and kill innocent unarmed civilians and then turn around and blame the victims! In Senegal student strikes are almost a rule and not the exception. In the countless hit and run battles with the feared "GMI", the "beret rouge", I have never witnessed a single gun shot. Yet here, we are talking about mature students, some with families, who wouldn't back off from the stare of a police officer. Never once, regardless of the stone throwing, tear gas, and beatings on both sides have I heard a single gun shot for five years. Again I believe that respect is mutual. A person only deserves respect if he respects you. The souls of the babies that died on the streets of Serekunda will haunt all of us if we sit back and look. Hamadi. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------