Today is Nelson Mandela's birthday, which reminded me that writer and fellow anti-apartheid activist Nadine Gordimer had died a few days ago. She wrote, along with other vital writings: "Time is change; we measure its passing by how much things alter." Mandela and Gordimer were survivors of a profound divide, an everyday milieu of isolation, fear, anxiety, and near annihilation. Apartheid is Afrikaans for "apart-ness". Is "apartness" a disease inflicted on society by the political form of colonialism? Israelis cheer as they watch a missile bursting bright in Gaza, as if enjoying fireworks. While Google honours Mandela with a pretty doodle that millions will see, friends remark on the silence or Zionist slant of mainstream media. Gordimer also wrote, "My answer is: Recognise yourself in others.""





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