Terrorist or compassionate humanist, wild-eyed revolutionary or a deep-thinking philosopher? Which description fits James Kilgore, alias Dr John Pape, the University of Cape Town academic arrested on Friday on charges of being a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army?
By all accounts, it is the compassionate humanist tag that fits best, a "champion of the poor", an intellectual devoted to the struggle for workers' rights.
James Kilgore was an unlikely recruit to the Symbionese Liberation Army. The group, which was active in California during the heyday of the Sixties and early Seventies - from 1967 to 1975 - had as their slogan "death to the fascist insect that preys upon the life of the poor".
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Their symbol, a seven-headed cobra, represented "unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, co-operative production, purpose, creativity and faith". The SLA's manifesto said "the name Symbionese is taken from the word symbiosis and we define its meaning as a body of dissimilar bodies and organisms living in deep and loving harmony and partnership in the best interests of all within the body".
The SLA was 'so over the edge...' The SLA's goals were simple: "To unite all oppressed people into a fighting force and to destroy the system of the capitalist state and its value systems." The organisation crudely combined Marxist slogans, muddle-headed liberalism and a radical and, in the end, totally ineffective and woolly military strategy.
But we have to remember this was the Sixties, and times, as Bob Dylan said, were a-changin'. The youth of America were in full rebellion against the war in Vietnam and sex, drugs and rock 'n roll became in themselves symbols of protest against the conservative US state.
But at the core of the SLA's programme of action was a simple statement of intention that is no different from revolutionary guerrilla movements worldwide, from the African National Congress to the Zanla guerrillas in Zimbabwe.
If he is extradited, he will be sorely missed
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