Chronicle: Charles Dickens in Maputo

Charles Dickens was born 200 years ago. He truly belongs to the world literature and his books are read everywhere. His stories also exist as movies, TV series and theatre shows. Everyone is familiar with Oliver Twist and David Copperfield.

But Charles Dickens’ books are not historical remnants that have stayed alive due to some strange accidence. His books are alive because they still have something to tell us, about the world we live in. Recently I asked a friend in … Read more

Chronicle: A decision that changed the world

If I were to ask the following question to somebody on the street today I doubt that anyone would know the answer: Do you know who Thomas Clarkson was? I doubt that even the more avid newspaper readers would be sure. Thomas Clarkson could have been an English soccer player or perhaps a gangster in Chicago.

Please let me tell you about this fascinating and yet entirely forgotten man. A warm day in June 1787 a young man by the name … Read more

Chronicle: To read and write – a question of dignity

Some years ago I met, almost on a daily basis, a group of street children – boys only – who were living in the centre of Maputo. They made their living by helping cars finding somewhere to park and then they watched the cars. I imagine that this is a universal way to make a living for street children.

These boys, who were between seven and twelve years old, had no reason what so ever to trust grown-ups. They had been … Read more

Chronicle: Why doesn’t Africa help its own people?

Swedish newspapers were recently full of images of politicians holding empty plates in front of themselves saying that they had donated their lunches to those plagued by starvation in the Horn of Africa. The NGO Diakonia initiated this campaign, and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Who does not want to help?

What does it mean to starve? No one has said it better than the former head of SIDA (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) Bo Göransson, when he described … Read more

Chronicle: “No writer, dead or alive, has filled my brain with so many quotations”

It hardly comes as a surprise that Tomas Tranströmer now receives the Nobel Prize for literature. He has been a candidate for many years. And those who have suggested that he should receive the prize have come from all over the world.

Now he gets his prize. But obviously that does not alter the scandalous fact that he has never been elected a member of the Swedish Academy. That is a faith he shares with August Strindberg, who, by the way, … Read more

Chronicle: Anders Behring Breivik will join history’s human monsters

The 32-year-old Norwegian who has confessed to killing 76 people requested two things for his court appearance: he wanted to wear a uniform, and he wanted the hearing to be open.

This makes our impression of what has happened more complicated. It seems that the man who committed this hideous crime developed a political agenda to defend of his actions. He is not just a “madman”, he is something more. He regards himself as a soldier and he thinks that he … Read more

Chronicle: Israelis cannot make the Gaza reality disappear

I admit I overestimated the strength of Greece’s democracy. Or let me put it this way: I didn’t see how thin the varnish of what we call Israeli democracy really is.

I will try to summarize this year’s Gaza flotilla. Everyone knows that the goal this time was to return with more unarmed ships and a more representative selection of people and organizations. Last but not least, we would return with more MPs. We succeeded in organizing this.

But suddenly this … Read more

Chronicle: Will the real Henning Mankell speak up?

In a chronicle in the Israel newspaper Haaretz, Henning Mankell ponders why someone has seized his identity online.

I am fascinated by all the new technology that creates places for us to meet in what is called cyberspace. I understand what it must have meant for the rebellions in the 19th century, especially in 1830 and 1848, when the mass circulated newspaper became so important for the spreading of information. I realize that Facebook today is a global success with more … Read more