Africa Should Be More Worried About Palestine
July 18, 2014 Opinion & Analysis
Lovemore Ranga Mataire Senior Writer
AS the Palestine-Israel conflict escalates to unprecedented levels, many are shocked by the silence of the African Union given the historical connections that bind the continent with that volatile region.
First, many Africans would obviously remember that the former British territory in Eastern Africa in a region covering parts of Uganda and Kenya was initially proposed as the site of the Israeli state in what became known as the Uganda proposal.
Coincidently, the Palestinian and Israeli conflict was to manifest and conflagrate on Ugandan soil during “Operation Entebbe” in the 1970s when the then Ugandan president Idi Amin found himself at the centre of an international hostage rescue mission when an Air France plane was hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the German Revolutionary Cells and flown to Entebbe Airport.
The second reason that must jolt the attention of Africans is that Israel shares a border with Africa through Egypt, a powerhouse in the African Union, and as Africans we must be concerned about the conflict spilling across the border. It boggles the mind why Africa has been silent instead of supporting Egypt’s efforts as a visible agent of international peace given its historical involvement in the conflict.
Thirdly, almost 60 000 Africans from sub-Saharan Africa have entered Israel through Egypt since 2005 but due to lack of proper immigration policy, many of them remain on the fringes of the Israeli state on low wage labour. Most Africans live in Neve Shaanan, an area of south Tel Aviv, which is derogatively referred as “Soweto” in reference to South Africa’s largest black township famously known for the 1976 uprising that claimed the lives of schoolchildren protesting against the imposition of Afrikaans in the education system.
It is also a known fact that Israel is also home to an immigrant community of more than 500 Ethiopians who migrated to Israel under the programme dubbed the “Operation Dove’s Wings” meant to provide homeland for Ethiopian Jews. These Ethiopian Jews reside in transition centres near Gaza, the place most targeted by Israeli bombs.
Africans need to add their voice to the conflict especially when it becomes apparent that these groups of immigrants could be part of the nearly 200 casualties that have so far been reported killed.
Is it not in the interest of Africa to pay attention to developments in that region especially considering that South Africa and Kenya have a large contingent of Israelis and also that thousands of uprooted Palestinians reside in countries like Libya?
Is it not correct that Africa and Palestine share a historical connection of subjugation and the continent has generally been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause for statehood at the United Nations?
It is the assured support from Africa coupled with additional votes from the rest of the South that Palestinians are confident of achieving 115 “yes” votes needed to assume statehood. It seems as though in sub-Saharan Africa only South Africa is most vocal judging by the growing solidarity movement in that country.
Only the South African government has to date issued a statement calling for the peaceful resolution of the conflict. Although the statement was addressed to both parties, it does not need second guessing to know that the majority of South Africans are in solidarity with the Palestinians due to their own experience with apartheid.
Protest rallies in solidarity with the Palestinian people have become the order of the day in South Africa where the majority feel that they too benefited from international pressure to end apartheid. The protests have even accentuated to a level where the Palestinian Solidarity Alliance in South Africa and the Congress of South African Unions (Cosatu) have called on the Government to expel the Israeli ambassador.
The silence in the rest of Africa is very disturbing. Apartheid in South Africa was the continent’s last vestige of liberation and parallels between Israel and apartheid South Africa should make African nations concerned with the situation unfolding in Gaza.
The conflict is on Africa’s borders, Africans live in the region and even if African nations want to remain neutral, the presence of Africans in the region warrants the AU to look after the interests of Africans.
Africa must take a leaf from actions taken by Jews in the Diaspora like South Africa’s former Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils and Max Ozinsky, who wrote a petition condemning Israel. In their petition, signed by, among others the late Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer, Rivonia trialist Dennis Goldberg and Arthur Goldreich – an escapee from the Rivonia trial – called for action against continued Israeli occupation of Palestine territory and cruel suppression of the Palestinians’ struggle for national self-determination.
“What is most significant of this list of conscience is that virtually all our signatories have participated in the struggle against apartheid over the years leading to our country’s freedom in 1994. Then as now we represented a tiny minority of whites who as a matter of conscience broke ranks with our supposed blood ties and pigmentation to protest against the brutal violation of human rights in the name of our tribe and race.
“Then and now we could not lend our names to the oppression of other human beings on the grounds that survival of our kith and kin was at stake, and that our unquestioning support and unity was necessary regardless of the methods used,” read part of the Kasrils-led petition.
Africa must thus advocate and lend its support to the two-state solution in accordance with various United Nations resolutions. Africa must advocate for the accordance of full independence and sovereignty to Palestine. The existence of Israel and Palestine must be internationally recognised and guaranteed.
It is not helpful for Africa to remain on the fringes of international diplomacy and discourse years after the dismantling of colonialism and apartheid. The South-South co-operation must be concretised in pushing for the international recognition of Palestine as an autonomous state.
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| Palestine solidarity demonstration in Detroit on July 14, 2014. (Photo: Abayomi Azikiwe) |
Lovemore Ranga Mataire Senior Writer
AS the Palestine-Israel conflict escalates to unprecedented levels, many are shocked by the silence of the African Union given the historical connections that bind the continent with that volatile region.
First, many Africans would obviously remember that the former British territory in Eastern Africa in a region covering parts of Uganda and Kenya was initially proposed as the site of the Israeli state in what became known as the Uganda proposal.
Coincidently, the Palestinian and Israeli conflict was to manifest and conflagrate on Ugandan soil during “Operation Entebbe” in the 1970s when the then Ugandan president Idi Amin found himself at the centre of an international hostage rescue mission when an Air France plane was hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the German Revolutionary Cells and flown to Entebbe Airport.
The second reason that must jolt the attention of Africans is that Israel shares a border with Africa through Egypt, a powerhouse in the African Union, and as Africans we must be concerned about the conflict spilling across the border. It boggles the mind why Africa has been silent instead of supporting Egypt’s efforts as a visible agent of international peace given its historical involvement in the conflict.
Thirdly, almost 60 000 Africans from sub-Saharan Africa have entered Israel through Egypt since 2005 but due to lack of proper immigration policy, many of them remain on the fringes of the Israeli state on low wage labour. Most Africans live in Neve Shaanan, an area of south Tel Aviv, which is derogatively referred as “Soweto” in reference to South Africa’s largest black township famously known for the 1976 uprising that claimed the lives of schoolchildren protesting against the imposition of Afrikaans in the education system.
It is also a known fact that Israel is also home to an immigrant community of more than 500 Ethiopians who migrated to Israel under the programme dubbed the “Operation Dove’s Wings” meant to provide homeland for Ethiopian Jews. These Ethiopian Jews reside in transition centres near Gaza, the place most targeted by Israeli bombs.
Africans need to add their voice to the conflict especially when it becomes apparent that these groups of immigrants could be part of the nearly 200 casualties that have so far been reported killed.
Is it not in the interest of Africa to pay attention to developments in that region especially considering that South Africa and Kenya have a large contingent of Israelis and also that thousands of uprooted Palestinians reside in countries like Libya?
Is it not correct that Africa and Palestine share a historical connection of subjugation and the continent has generally been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause for statehood at the United Nations?
It is the assured support from Africa coupled with additional votes from the rest of the South that Palestinians are confident of achieving 115 “yes” votes needed to assume statehood. It seems as though in sub-Saharan Africa only South Africa is most vocal judging by the growing solidarity movement in that country.
Only the South African government has to date issued a statement calling for the peaceful resolution of the conflict. Although the statement was addressed to both parties, it does not need second guessing to know that the majority of South Africans are in solidarity with the Palestinians due to their own experience with apartheid.
Protest rallies in solidarity with the Palestinian people have become the order of the day in South Africa where the majority feel that they too benefited from international pressure to end apartheid. The protests have even accentuated to a level where the Palestinian Solidarity Alliance in South Africa and the Congress of South African Unions (Cosatu) have called on the Government to expel the Israeli ambassador.
The silence in the rest of Africa is very disturbing. Apartheid in South Africa was the continent’s last vestige of liberation and parallels between Israel and apartheid South Africa should make African nations concerned with the situation unfolding in Gaza.
The conflict is on Africa’s borders, Africans live in the region and even if African nations want to remain neutral, the presence of Africans in the region warrants the AU to look after the interests of Africans.
Africa must take a leaf from actions taken by Jews in the Diaspora like South Africa’s former Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils and Max Ozinsky, who wrote a petition condemning Israel. In their petition, signed by, among others the late Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer, Rivonia trialist Dennis Goldberg and Arthur Goldreich – an escapee from the Rivonia trial – called for action against continued Israeli occupation of Palestine territory and cruel suppression of the Palestinians’ struggle for national self-determination.
“What is most significant of this list of conscience is that virtually all our signatories have participated in the struggle against apartheid over the years leading to our country’s freedom in 1994. Then as now we represented a tiny minority of whites who as a matter of conscience broke ranks with our supposed blood ties and pigmentation to protest against the brutal violation of human rights in the name of our tribe and race.
“Then and now we could not lend our names to the oppression of other human beings on the grounds that survival of our kith and kin was at stake, and that our unquestioning support and unity was necessary regardless of the methods used,” read part of the Kasrils-led petition.
Africa must thus advocate and lend its support to the two-state solution in accordance with various United Nations resolutions. Africa must advocate for the accordance of full independence and sovereignty to Palestine. The existence of Israel and Palestine must be internationally recognised and guaranteed.
It is not helpful for Africa to remain on the fringes of international diplomacy and discourse years after the dismantling of colonialism and apartheid. The South-South co-operation must be concretised in pushing for the international recognition of Palestine as an autonomous state.
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