76-12     Resolution on NAMIBIA

 

WHEREAS the LSM-USA wishes to express its solidarity with other fellow Christians in Namibia, who are now suffering persecution and denial of the most basic human rights due to the occupation of their country by South Africa; and

 

WHEREAS the LSM-USA is seeking to inform its membership about the Namibian situation and to call other Lutheran churches toward recognition of the tenuous nature of peace in that nation;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

 

1.                  That LSM-USA declare Sunday, October 31st Namibia Sunday and request that local groups focus attention on the Namibian situation through a special day of worship and prayer for those in Namibia.

 

2.                  That local groups participate in Namibia week, October 31 to November 6, by setting up special programs to educate their members on the Namibia situation.

 

3.                  That a task force be set up to coordinate these activities and to keep members informed about the Namibia situation through the newsletter and through resources made available through the national office.  This task force will consist of the following individuals: Carol Hack, Wright Williams, Lou Smith, David English.

 

 

 

 

ACTIONS TAKEN:

 

IN THE SPIRIT OF THE RESOLUTION THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS TOOK PLACE…..

 

..Interest groups at regional retreats to inform participants of the Namibian situation

 

..The films “Last Grace at Dimbaza” and “Namibia, A Trust Betrayed” were shown at several regional retreats, campus centers and will be shown at this national conference.

 

..Rev. Edward may from the Office of World Community – LCUSA/USA and well-versed on the Namibian situation was the keynote speaker at the North Central Regional retreat.

 

..Rev. Paul Isaak, Namibian student at Pacific Lutheran Seminary spoke on Namibia at the Pacific Southwest regional retreat.  A lengthy discussion followed.

 

..Our Namibian brother and sisters were remembered as students worshipped and prayed for them on Namibia Sunday, October 31, 1976.

 

..Individual students and campus ministry groups participated in the Namibia Week of Solidarity, October 31 – November 6, on campuses across the country.

 

..A law student from Harvard Law School showed slides and shared his experiences while in Namibia observing the trials of 11 people accused of violating the Acts of Terrorism Law at the New England Regional.

 

..The resource file on Namibia available from the LSM-USA office was added to and sent out upon request throughout the year to persons interested in finding out more about the Namibian situation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RELATED ARTICLES:

 

The following is an excerpt from an article that was originally given as a presentation by Reuben Hauwanga during Namibian Solidarity Week at Susquehanna University.  Reuben is from South Africa and is a pre-medical student.

 

Namibia is Our Country

 

It is always a source of great pleasure to us in our struggle for liberty when we see that our friends and people of good will all over the world have not forgotten us, but are morally with us in our struggle, imprisonment and suffering.  This event here at Susquehanna – the observation of the International Week of Solidarity with the Namibian people – is one of the many demonstrations of international realization and commitment to combining theory, practice and the active association of academic endeavors with the concrete realities of the struggles for liberty in Southern Africa.  This is a noble deed and as such is commendable.

 

America Has Not Fulfilled Our Expectations

 

I would like to use this opportunity to elaborate on what I feel is the answer to a question many people have asked me.  The question:  “What do you think we Americans should do to help you people there?”  A very good question – straight and simple – with, however, a very complicated answer.

 

We in Namibia look at the Western world, and especially America, with great admiration and respect, and yet with a feeling of disappointment for opportunities lost.  We also look at America with fear because of the way it has used its great power and the extent to which its principles have been flouted in the international exercise of her power.

 

The first point I want to make here is that Americans fought a war of independence.  They, secondly, fought a civil war to maintain their unity, despite diverse social and cultural origins of Americans.  Therefore, we, the poor and oppressed of the world, expect Americans to understand and support the struggles of other people to be free and united – even if freedom and unity cannot be won peacefully.  We expected that America should be the last nation, not the first, to try and thwart, pervert or destroy the real independence of other nations.

 

You will forgive me for my candor if I reaffirm on this occasion our dismay at the fact that America has not fulfilled our expectation.  Our dismay arises from a number of factors.  We are agreed that peace is central – that peace is central to all human endeavors.

 

The threat of escalation of violence is now a reality in Namibia.  I believe it is our duty as Christians to work for the avoidance of greater escalation.  We should build peace in the place of violence, racial harmony in place of disharmony, prosperity in the place of economic stagnation, security in place of insecurity now digging into home every day, in Namibia and elsewhere.

 

America’s Economic Wealth, or Moral and Political Principles?

 

Fellow Christians, to build genuine peach in Southern Africa in general, and Namibia in particular, we must recognize with honesty the root causes of the present conflict.

 

First and foremost of the causes is the colonization in Namibia and Zimbabwe; second is apartheid and legalized racial domination in South Africa.  Over the years, a number of catalytic factors have given strength to these forces of evil.  External economic and strategic interests have caused colonial and apartheid regimes to flourish.

 

The era of colonialism has ended.  Apartheid cannot endure the test of time.  Our Christian obligation is the peaceful end of these evil systems.  To achieve our aim, we need America’s total commitment – total commitment to action consistent with that aim.

 

So far, American policy, let alone action, has been low-keyed.  This has given psychological comfort to the forces of evil.  I am not nullifying the efforts of Dr. Kissinger during the past few weeks.  I do read the papers that America is trying to resolve the deadlock in Southern Africa and to work for majority rule in Zimbabwe.  This, in part, would be an important test for the sincerity and good faith of the American government.  But it is far from convincing, because only two weeks ago the United States joined Britain and France and vetoed a resolution of the Security Council that would have imposed an embargo on arms shipments to South Africa, in an effort to force that regime to relinquish control of Namibia and accede to free elections under United Nations supervision and control.

 

Can America be satisfied only with the declaration of support for the principles of freedom and racial justice?  This, I submit, fellow Christians, would not be enough.  The aspirations of the oppressed people have not changed at all.  In desperation, our anger has exploded our patience.  Our resolve to fight, since peaceful negotiations are impossible, is born out by history.  So far our struggle has not received the baptism of fire.  Victories in Mozambique and Angola have given us added inspiration.

 

If we fail to achieve our ends by peaceful means, we call upon America to desist from direct and indirect support to the South African regime, for this puts America in direct conflict with the true interests of the oppressed people in Namibia.

 

The racist South African troops in Namibia have committed some of the worst atrocities on the continent.  News from home is reaching us, telling of cases of rape, torture, detention, murder.  Some of it comes from members of the SA troops themselves – people who were first-witnesses.  Victory for the majority is a matter of time.  Will America then help to make it as painless as possible to those who have dominated their fellow men for years?  Rhodesia will probably be the beginning of a new era, an era with America in the lead for genuine global peace.

 

We, the poor and oppressed nations, fear America, even while we admire the great principles of America and her peoples’ achievements.  We watch with respect, sympathy and anxiety, and sometimes almost with despair, as Americans endeavor to cope with the political and moral results of their wealth-creating economic system, and give international meaning to the principles laid down by the founding fathers of their nation.

 

For it is this one thing above all that really gives hope to the world.  There are Americans of all colors and creed who continue to struggle for equality and justice within America for all its people.  There were Americans who used the time given by the dogged resistance of the Indo-Chinese people in order to reassert the principles of democracy and equality and to oppose American imperialism in Southeast Asia.  It was Americans who revealed and who opposed what was being done by their nation in Chile.  And Americans are now working to get American support ranged on the side of national freedom and human equality in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.  There is, therefore, still hope that America’s great power will be used for human beings everywhere, rather than simply for the preservation and creation of American national wealth.

 

Fellow students and friends, thank you so very much for allowing me to present the case of Namibia.  We only with America to understand out aims and objectives.  We do not recognize South Africa’s right to govern us, to make laws for us in which we have no say, to treat our country as if it were her property and us as if she were our master.  For us, it is no longer a case of being treated good or badly; no, Namibia is our country and we want to be our own masters.  We are not fighting whites.  We are fighting an evil and brutal system.  On this there must be no compromise.

 

                                                                              Reuben Hauwanga

 

 

 

RESOURCES AVAILABLE:

 

BOOKS

 

NAMIBIA   by Colin O’Brien Winter.  Eerdmanns, Grand Rapids, MI.  Cost: $4.95.  (The book is not a chronological history of Namibia’s struggle for freedom.  It is a penetrating analysis of the who and why in that struggle.  In numerous vignettes of encounters with living members of the freedom movement of Namibia, he sketches in living color the determination and hope of those who seek justice, liberation and reconciliation.  It will provide a foundation for judging how the illegal, racist, repressive regime works, and how might be trusted in building the new nation.  It is not only worth the price – it is worth the time to read it.  –Edward May–)

 

OTHER MATERIALS

 

NAMIBIA IS OUR COUNTRY  a Christian Mission in the Global Village insert to THE CIRCLE.  This article was originally a presentation given by Reuben Hauwanga, a South African student at Susquehanna University, during the Namibia Week of Solidarity.  Copies are available by writing Lutheran Council in the USA, Campus Ministry Communications, 35 East Wacker Drive, Suite 1847, Chicago, IL 60601.