#Nelson_Mandela and His legacy for #Yemen

Nelson Mandela was buried today at his family home in Qunu, South Africa. Over the last few days I have been reflecting on Mandela’s life, his achievements, and how – through the art of forgiveness, reconciliation and the power of dialogue – Mandela brought about visionary and historic change in South Africa. With the change happening all around us in Yemen, I wondered what we could learn from Mandela.

Last Tuesday, more than a hundred current and former heads of state or government attended Mandela’s memorial service to commemorate his life and times. The US’s President Obama and Cuba’s Raul Castro shook hands, showing that Mandela could help reconciliation from beyond the grave. As those who spoke at the service made clear, Mandela was an inspirational, visionary leader who became a legend in his own lifetime, and never forgot the values that were important to him.

Mandela’s dream was to see black and white South Africans living together as equals. So as part of the African National Congress Party, Mandela organised a resistance movement against the apartheid government. He was jailed for life in 1964 for his activities. The story could have ended there, but it didn’t.

Whilst in prison, Mandela overcame his own feelings of rage and bitterness towards the government for all the abuses and discrimination black South Africans had suffered under apartheid. But perhaps more importantly, Mandela learnt how to forgive, how to reconcile, and recognised the importance of looking forward, not back.

The lessons of forgiveness, reconciliation, looking forward, unity over a common dream, and the power of dialogue ring very true for Yemen today. They are the very issues that Yemen is grappling with in its transition.

As we saw in 2011, the glue that brought together the revolutionary youth, women and other proud Yemenis was their common dream to create a democratic, accountable and free society. One where there is a basic relationship between a government that listens to the needs of its people (water, security, electricity, health, education), and a people that mobilises civil society and the ballot box to put in power a government that will deliver those needs.

South Africa today still faces many challenges. Even with such a unique leader, Mandela could not change the country overnight – indeed, that was not his role. He was clear that each and every person had a responsibility to do their part. In his own words: “A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of.”

I sense fear in some Yemenis that whatever good they try and do, it will not make a difference. That the price of trying against entrenched interests will be too high. Mandela had some advice for you: “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

And in spite of the difficulty of the task, he advised: “it always seems impossible until it’s done.” Sometimes, a successful transition in Yemen seems impossible, but one day, with the efforts of all Yemenis, it will be done.

By jane marriott Ambassador of Great England in Yemen

#Ukraine Kiev's Maidan Square in surreal 'Before & After' images

The blackened ruins and gaping windows of Ukraine’s landmark Independence Square have left Kiev looking like a warzone for the first time since WWII. The square has always served as a main stage for Ukrainian politics – but not a literal battleground.

Featured on every postcard, the grandiose post-war complex of monuments has been the true – if slightly touristy – heart of Kiev.

But now, the square is divided by ad hoc barricades built from paving stones, wooden debris, and tires. The iconic Trade Union building, which has served as the protesters' headquarters, was set on fire earlier this week and is now just a shell, after its floors and walls collapsed one by one.

In contrast to the normal, everyday hustle and bustle, the square is currently filled with hastily-appointed leaders deciding who mans the entrances and who is responsible for food and barricade building. But regardless of security measures, people in the area are an easy target for snipers lurking in the buildings that surround the square from all sides.

Police dressed in riot gear are stationed several blocks away, taking turns between sitting in their vehicles and patrolling the perimeter. Journalists with the world 'PRESS' written on their jackets float between the two sides, but find themselves in the crossfire once skirmishes begin.

Once the conflict ends, the square will have to be rebuilt. It may be more difficult to do the same with the country that surrounds it.

#Egypt Erupts

With the military and Muslim Brotherhood locked in a dramatic power struggle, photos of the turmoil gripping Cairo. 

Fireworks burst over Tahrir Square on July 3. 

Hundreds of Egyptian protesters gather in Tahrir Square on July 3. 

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A fire burns following clashes between anti-Morsy crowds and members of the Muslim Brotherhood on July 5, in Cairo.

Morsy supporters hold makeshift weapons and take part in a drill during a demonstration at the Rabaa al Adawiya Mosque in the suburb of Nasr City on July 2 in Cairo.

Officers of the Egyptian Republican Guard celebrate at the gates of the Republican Guard headquarters in the suburb of Nasr City on July 3 in Cairo. 

On July 5, protesters remain in Tahrir Square as a military helicopter flies overhead. 

People celebrate in Tahrir Square. A woman holds up a portrait of Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. 

Soldiers of the Egyptian Republican Guard stand guard at the gates of Egypt's Presidential Palace in the suburb of Heliopolis on July 3 in Cairo, Egypt. 

A group tries to keep people away from the October 6 Bridge following clashes between anti-Morsy crowds and members of the Muslim Brotherhood on July 5, in Cairo. 

Thousands of Egyptian protesters gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square on July 3 as the military's deadline for Morsy to compromise with the opposition approaches.

Thousands continue to celebrate the ousting of President Mohamed Morsy in Tahrir Square on July 5.

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 Protesters opposed to ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy in Tahrir Square on July 6, carry posters representing those who were killed during the demonstrations. 

A day after supporters of former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy, who was ousted from office on July 3, rallied to protest his removal inciting nationwide violence, Egyptians dealt with the aftermath and spent Saturday tending to the wounded and burying the dead. Recent counts say that 36 people were reportedly killed and 1,400 others injured in the street fights that broke out on July 5 between pro- and anti-Morsy demonstrators.  

A group of Egyptian men carry the coffin of a victim killed in the fighting that broke out on Friday, during a funeral in the al-Manial neighborhood in Cairo on July 6.

A fire burns following clashes between anti-Morsy crowds and members of the Muslim Brotherhood on July 5, in Cairo.

Egyptian opposition protesters celebrate as night falls on Cairo. 

Egyptian protesters celebrate in Tahrir Square as the deadline given by the military to Morsy passes on July 3 in Cairo, Egypt. Tanks and soldiers moved toward the presidential palace and ringed the square where Morsy's supporters rallied.  

Egyptian protesters calling for the ouster of Morsy react as they watch his defiant speech on a screen in a street leading to the presidential palace early in Cairo on July 3. 

Egyptian opposition protesters continue to celebrate the ousting of President Mohamed Morsy in Tahrir Square on July 4. 

An Egyptian army helicopter flies over protesters calling for the ouster of Morsy in Tahrir Square on July 3.

Egyptian opposition in Cairo on July 3. 

A protester injured in clashes between supporters and opponents of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood outside Cairo University on July 3. 

An anti-Morsy protester is carried out of the fray after he was allegedly shot by Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Tahrir Square during fighting between the two camps on July 5, in Cairo. 

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A group tries to keep people away from the October 6 Bridge following clashes between anti-Morsy crowds and members of the Muslim Brotherhood on July 5, in Cairo. 

#Muslim_Brotherhood Killing the Egyptians #egypt #‘Update #MB

The fact of Morsi supporters,they tell all the world they are Peaceful  Protestersbut i fact they are Terrorists,Killers And Mercenaries.....

Today they did 17 dead and 450 injured and the numbers in growing ,,,,Publish ugly Real face 

of  Muslim Brotherhood

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crime:muslims brotherhood killing egyptian by pushing them above buildings
and Obama supports terrorism in Egypt , stop Obama

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  #MB members are using the same pellets shotgun shells/slugs killed Geka and many other protestors

  #Ikhwan #Muslim_Brotherhoodshoot destroyed police station in #Sinai #Egypt this morning

#Egypt protesters send message to Morsi #30June "Live Updated"

Protests calling for the resignation of Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi and early presidential elections are taking place in the capital, Cairo, and across the country.

Opponents of the Islamist president are demanding his resignation but President Morsi has remained defiant, telling The Guardian that if he stepped down, it would only undermine the legitimacy of his successors.