While the ceasefire between Israel and Palestine holds for now Thembisa Fakude,

a senior Fellow at Africa Asia Dialogues says South Africa should be considering sanctions against Israel.

He is not to optimistic that the ceasefire will last.

Meanwhile, fresh violence erupted at the Al Aqsa mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem just hours into the ceasefire on Friday.

Israeli soldiers stormed the compound and attacked Palestinian worshippers with stun grenades and tear gas, shortly after Friday prayers.

More than 20 people were injured.

Link: https://www.etv.co.za/news/calls-sanctions-against-israel

We often talk about geopolitics loosely without really giving its meaning context and explaining how we are affected by it and why we should care about geopolitics. In this segment we try to unpack the concept of geopolitics, by uncovering what it means and who are the key players that influence the inner workings of geopolitics. Lukhona Mnguni is joined for this conversation by Thembisa Fakude, Senior Fellow at Africa Asia Dialogue.

LINK: https://omny.fm/shows/powertalk-archive/africa-centre-understanding-geopolitics

Other parts of the world have their own share of challenges two of which we will zoom into in this segment. Lukhona Mnguni is joined by Senior Fellow at Africa Asia Dialogues, Thembisa Fakude and looks into the SADC Extraordinary Double Troika Summit and what came of the summit particularly concerning recent attacks in Mozambique. They also look at Ukraine’s alliance with Turkey. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy met Turkey’s Erdogan at a time of heightened Russia-Ukraine tensions.

LINK: https://omny.fm/shows/powertalk-archive/looking-into-sadc-s-extraordinary-double-troika-su

DUBAI – The blessed month of Ramadan is once again upon us. This year – much like last year – it will be vastly different as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to Ashraf Garda on Salaamedia, Thembisa Ebrahim Fakude from the Al Jazeera Center for Studies explained the extent to which this holy month has been affected by the pandemic. The atmosphere is tense this year, he says. 

Several countries in the Gulf region have gone into strict lockdowns following the spread of the South African variant of COVID-19 and many are seeing a spike in infections. In many Gulf states, citizens are discouraged from attending congregational prayers at Mosques since social distancing is imperative, and many have taken to following prayers from their television sets.

People are advised to stay at home and, if they have to leave their houses, they must take precautions. According to Fakude, these stringent regulations ware likely to continue for the rest of the month and may even continue after Eid.

It seems that the acceptance of this new way of life has been unanimous in the Gulf, as opposed to a begrudging attitude when compared to other regions across the globe.

Those who break coronavirus regulations face legal punishment. This encourages citizens to adhere to laws meant to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. It is customary in the Middle East for individuals and families to break their fasts in a communal setting on the streets, but even this has been halted by the lockdown.