Freedom Fighter or Terrorist? Depends on which side...

It's not often that I feel sorry for a celeb,especially one that rants nearly as much as I do,but today I feel sorry for Jeremy Clarkson.

He's being hauled over the coals for being open about the fact that on a recent meeting with Nelson Mandela,Saint Nelson thought Jezza was in fact an Astronaut.
When asked what the moon was like,Clarkson replied "It's rocky and dusty and there's not much gravity"

Ok,Clarkson could have pointed out that he is in fact a motoring journalist,but wasn't he just stating a fact?

Well, Saint Nelsons people most definitely do not see the funny side of things.So much so in fact that there was talk of the Nelson Mandela foundation refusing to accept the substantial amount of money that Clarkson had raised.

Now hang on a minute.This smacks just a little bit of someone getting sniffy and cutting their nose of to spite their face.Why should people go without help just because the powers that be have fallen out with a benefactor?Thankfully they have now seen sense and are willing to accept the donation

I've always missed the whole thing about Nelson Mandela.After all,the man isn't quite the saint that his people (and many left wing supporters) make him out to be.Sure the man served a long while in prison but for what?

Well,in 1961, Mandela became leader of the ANC's armed wing,which he co-founded. He coordinated sabotage campaigns against military and government targets, making plans for a possible guerrilla war if the sabotage failed to end apartheid. Mandela also raised funds for MK abroad and arranged for paramilitary training of the group.He was known as the Black Pimpernel.Not exactly the name for a peace loving person is it?

He's even expressed support for a few unsavoury people such as Gadaffi,Fidel Castro and the Lockerbie bomber.

Fidel Castro and Cuba.Now there's a thing. Praising it for its human rights and liberty.What human rights, what liberty? Perhaps he should go to the various nightclubs and ask one of the 12-year-old prostitutes which way her parents voted.

Mandela has also said in the past that he supports anyone who was fighting for self- determination. The IRA, the Chechens, Shining Path? What if I started a movement to bring about independence for Inverness; what if I blew up council offices there and shot a few policemen,would Saint Nelson be phoning me to support me?

For someone who has spent most of their life incarcarated in the penal system of South Africa,he's not really done badly has he? Does he live in the style of the people he tried to save from apartheid? No. Does he live in a tin shack in a Soweto ghetto? No.

What of other people who fought for the overturning of such an unjust system that exsisted in South Africa? What of Steve Biko? They've been overlooked by the powers that be in promoting Nelson Mandela as the saviour of black South Africa.

Have you heard of someone called Ismail Ayob? No,I didn't think so.Ismail Ayob was a trusted friend and personal attorney of Mandela for over 30 years. In May 2005, Ayob was asked by Mandela to stop selling prints signed by Mandela and to account for the proceeds of their sale. This bitter dispute led to an extensive application to the High Court of South Africa by Mandela that year.

In 2005, and 2006 Ayob, his wife, and son were subject to an attack by Mandela's advisors. The dispute was widely reported in the media, with Ayob being portrayed in a negative light, culminating in the action by Mandela to the High Court. There were public meetings at which Mandela associates attacked Ayob and there were calls for Ayob and his family to be ostracised by society.The defence of Ismail and Zamila Ayob (his wife, and a fellow respondent)included documents signed by Mandela and witnessed by his secretaries, that, they claimed, refuted many of the allegations made by Nelson Mandela and his advisors.

The dispute again made headlines in February 2007 when, during a hearing in the Johannesburg High Court, Ayob promised to pay R700 000 to Mandela, which Ayob had transferred into trusts for Mandela's children, and apologised,although he later claimed that he was the victim of a "vendetta", by Mandela.

That's nearly £63000! I'd be interested to know where that money went to.........