Israel Goldblatt Building Bridges, by Dag Henrichsen, Naomi Jocobsen and Karen Marshall

Israel Goldblatt Building Bridges, by Dag Henrichsen, Naomi Jocobsen and Karen Marshall.

This introduction by Dag Henrichsen, Naomi Jocobsen and Karen Marshall is tribute to Israel Goldblatt and the Namibian nationalists Clemens Kapuuo, Hosea Kutako, Samuel Witbooi, Brendan Simbwaye who attempted to build bridges where there was hatred and racism.

Dag Henrichsen  

An Introduction: All his life Israel Goldblatt wrote notes on subjects he was interested in at the time, or in relation to something he had just read or that he was thinking about. The notes might be made on the back of tissue boxes, or on scraps of paper. One file exists, entitled "Random Thoughts", which covers an amazing array of comments on or extracts about various subjects, including poems read, or verses he made up, written on "random" pieces of paper! At other times he would make notes in the margin of books he was reading or studying. This book publishes his notes and other related documents that he wrote in relation to his encounters and conversations during the 1960s with some prominent and some more humble black Namibians. When these documents were found some years ago, we realised that students of 20th-century Namibian history, and other interested readers, might value the content of these various texts written by a man who had the foresight to record his dealings with and observations of those Namibians he was fortunate to have met, and to have been able to help. Israel Goldblatt was one of the very few white men at the time to whom they regularly turned for advice, legal and otherwise, and with whom they enjoyed a unique relationship of mutual respect and trust. Who was our father? Here we introduce Israel Goldblatt in the context of his family and professional life, in order to provide the personal context and the motivation behind the notes and documents published here.

Content:

Who was Israel Goldblatt? An Introduction
Family History
Family Life
Legal Practice
Early Challenges
Studying the Mandate
Israel Goldblatt's Notes and this Book
"A lonely voice from Namibia":
Israel Goldblatt and the South West Africa dispute
The "Study Group"
Goldblatt's views on the role of the United Nations
II Israel Goldblatt's first encounters with Namibian nationalistsIII "They should understand the system under which they are living": Israel Goldblatt's classes and lectures
IV "Completely distrustful of the Government": providing legal advice and assistance - The case of Brendan Simbwaye
V "Growth of a Rumour": settler society and the Security Police
VI Visiting the Old Location, collecting information about African history
VII "I act on my own responsibility": Israel Goldblatt's critics
VIII Editing Israel Goldblatt's Notes
Acknowledgement
Annexes

I Letters
Letters between Brendan Simbwaye and Israel Goldblatt, 1966 -1969
Simbwaye to Goldblatt, 18 July 1966
Goldblatt to Simbwaye, 23 July 1966
Goldblatt to Simbwaye, 27 March 1968
Simbwaye to Goldblatt, 10 June 1969
Letter from Clemens Kapuuo to Israel Goldblatt, 1971
Israel Goldblatt to a Namibian newspaper
Letter from Israel Goldblatt to Randolph Vigne, 1961
II Political Parties
III Biography of Chief Hosea Kutako
IV Interview Notes
The history and demolition of the Old Location
Conversation with a Board Member from the Ovitoto Reset
Levy Nganjone
Chief Kefas Muzuma from the Kaokoveld Reset
V The Kasaona Case: Petition and Letter from Chiefs Hosea Kutako and Samuel Witbooi
Abbreviations
Map and Illustrations
Bibliography
Index

This is an excerpt from the book: Israel Goldblatt Building Bridges: Namibian Nationalists Clemens Kapuuo, Hosea Kutako, Samuel Witbooi, Brendan Simbwaye, by Dag Henrichsen, Naomi Jocobsen and Karen Marshall.

Book title: Israel Goldblatt Building Bridges
Subtitle: Namibian Nationalists Clemens Kapuuo, Hosea Kutako, Samuel Witbooi, Brendan Simbwaye
Editors: Dag Henrichsen; Naomi Jocobsen; Karen Marshall
Series: Lives Legacies Legends 07
Publisher: Basler Afrika Bibliographien
Basel, Switzerland 2010
ISBN 978-3-905758-16-0
Softcover, 20x28 cm, 160 pages, illustrations, maps, index