Israel and the new (now Palestinian) apartheid.
Roger Waters, former leader of Pink Floyd, started a tour of Europe this year, 2023, but his concerts in Israel were canceled and he was banned from entering the country. In addition, many of the venues he was going to perform in Europe boycotted the concerts, canceling them.
All this happened due to Waters' position in supporting the boycott of Israel due to the massacre that has been practiced against the Palestinian people. Due to defending this position, Waters has been accused of anti-Semitism.
The truth is that many times, due to the holocaust that occurred in World War II and the sensitivity surrounding the Jewish question, “teverything has been forgiven to Israel”, by the international community.
However, if we look at Israel's current position towards the Palestinians, it is not very different from the position the Nazis had towards the Jewish people. If we substitute the name Israel for Nazi Germany and Palestinians for Jews, we see the same attitudes and positions.
The truth no one wants to see
And the truth is there for anyone who wants to see it. Even considering the low standards, in a country used to being regularly condemned for human rights abuses, violations of international law and war crimes, February was a very bad month for Israel and its position in the world.
From revelations about companies that subverted democratic elections around the world, to what happened recently with its illegal settlers, protected by the army, carrying out an ethno-religious attack against Palestinians in the city of Huwara, in west bank occupied, the country had its true face exposed to the world in a cruel and meticulous way.
And what does the rest of the world do about it? Well, he accuses anyone who opposes and tells the truth of being anti-Semitic, a technique well known in Africa, as it was practiced during apartheid.
The question is whether Africa and the African Union will be able to push Israel into international isolation, fearlessly exposing this truth that the West insists on not wanting to see. African states have led the charge against apartheid before, they can also lead the boycott of Israel today.
The events that took place this February in Addis Ababa, during the African Union Summit, are an indicator that this could indeed happen.
The African Union summit
At the opening ceremony of the African Union's annual summit, held at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, two weeks ago, there was another unpleasant surprise and further humiliation for the Jewish state.
Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li, deputy director of the African Division of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was expelled after appearing with a non-transferable invitation that had allegedly been issued to Israel's ambassador to the African Union, Aleli Admasu.
A video posted on social media showed security personnel, in uniform, escorting her out of the auditorium, and AU President Moussa Faki issued an explanation that Israel's controversial accreditation as an observer state in 2021 that he had pursued for two decades, had actually been suspended, as such:
"We do not invite Israeli officials to our summit."
But the worst was yet to come. According to a Preliminary Statement on the Situation in Palestine and the Middle East distributed to journalists at the end of the summit, the AU criticized Israel's "incessant" illegal occupations and intransigence, but also urged member states to:
"End all direct and indirect trade, scientific and cultural exchange with the State of Israel."
"Expressing full support to the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle against the Israeli occupation."
This last recommendation, which echoes the demands of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, if implemented, could be the beginning of a change in Israel's fortunes, not just on the continent but across the world.
After all, Africa is no stranger to leading a global movement seeking to isolate and pressure oppressive and ethno-supremacist regimes, having spearheaded one that targeted the apartheid regime in South Africa in the 1980s.
And, in fact, the preliminary statement asks that:
"The international community...must dismantle and outlaw the Israeli system of colonialism and apartheid."
What changed with Israel
Initially, Israel cultivated close relations with newly independent African countries as a way of counteracting the isolation and hostility imposed by its Arab neighbors.
By the 1960s, over 1.800 Israeli specialists were directing development programs on the continent, and by 1972, Israel was home to more African embassies than the United Kingdom.
Israel has established diplomatic relations with 32 of the 41 independent African states that were also members of the Organization of African Unity, the precursor of the AU, which was founded in 1963.
During much of this period, attempts by North African nations, led by Egypt, to gain support for the Arab cause from the rest of Africa were largely unsuccessful, as the relatively young nations did not want to become involved in the conflict.
But attitudes began to change after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. African reactions to the conflict were mixed, with some countries, such as apartheid South Africa and Ethiopia, initially critical, voicing support for Israel, while others sided with the Arab states.
On the whole, however, many African leaders, with memories of forced land acquisition by colonialism still fresh, viewed Israel's actions with suspicion, and on 8 June, while the fighting was still ongoing, the OAU condemned the "unprovoked aggression” of Israel and called for an immediate ceasefire.
However, the real rupture came in the 1970s and, especially, after the October 1973 War. Until then, despite the resistance of many countries, the problems in the Middle East had been little addressed in the agenda of the continent and generated fissures in a continent that valued consensus and solidarity.
At its 1971 summit, the OAU made a half-hearted and ultimately ineffective attempt to mediate between Arabs and Israelis, calling for negotiations and appointing a committee led by Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere to oversee its efforts.
Between March 1972 and the outbreak of war in October 1973, eight African countries severed relations with Israel. At the tenth anniversary meeting, tensions over the issue exploded. OAU Secretary General Nzo Ekangaki stated that:
"As long as Israel continues to occupy parts of the territory of one of the founding members of the OAU, Egypt, it will continue to bear the condemnation of the OAU."
However, many other African states refused to sacrifice their relations with Israel for the sake of this matter, despite the OAU's pleas. The October War and the oil embargo, resulting from Arab states raising global oil prices, changed this scenario.
By November, all but four African countries – Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mauritius – had abandoned Israel, which from then on only made matters worse by cultivating a close relationship with the apartheid regime in South Africa, a movement that continues to poison its relations with the continent to this day.
Despite the restoration of relations in the 1980s and 1990s, Israel never regained the stature it had enjoyed two decades earlier. Although it now has diplomatic relations with more than 40 countries on the continent, it is still excluded from the AU and the vast majority of the 54 African votes in the UN General Assembly continue to be in favor of the Palestinians.
The effort of recent years to improve Israel's relations with Africa has borne some fruit, but it has also weathered the tide of history.
The truth is that today's situation is similar to that of 1973, with the continent divided over how to respond to Israel's oppression, with countries balancing early opposition to apartheid with pragmatic economic and security cooperation.
However, a major crisis could shift the balance in favor of the principled opposition. This was the result of an internal assessment by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs completed in July 1973 and still valid today:
“Israel's image as an occupier, its refusal to withdraw from all territories, is not acceptable in Africa, and the entreaties of Arab countries receive emotional and instinctual support even among our friends…”
"There is a danger that these trends will continue to intensify."
Conclusion
Israel, because of what happened to the Jewish people during World War II, granted Israel a certain status of impunity in the western world that, fortunately, was not followed in Africa.
While in Europe and its followers those who speak ill of Israel, rightly or wrongly, are “branded” as anti-Semites, in Africa, Israeli emissaries are “kicked out” and there is no problem severely criticizing their attitudes.
Once again we see that the world is increasingly divided and that the supposed “saviors of the nation” have finally become the “bogeyman” that everyone should fear.
Charles Baudelaire once said:
"The greatest trick ever performed by the Devil was to convince the world that he does not exist."
What do you think of this situation? Shouldn't Israel have learned from history by now? We want to know your opinion, do not hesitate to comment and if you liked the article, share and give a “like/like”.
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Picture: © 2023 DR
