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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
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href="http://www.palestinechronicle.com/israels-scramble-for-africa-selling-water-weapons-and-lies/">http://www.palestinechronicle.com/israels-scramble-for-africa-selling-water-weapons-and-lies/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Israel's Scramble for Africa: Selling
Water, Weapons and Lies</h1>
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<div class="reader-estimated-time">August 30, 2019<br>
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<p><strong>By <a
href="http://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/ramzy-baroud"
title="Display all articles for Ramzy Baroud">Ramzy
Baroud</a></strong></p>
<p><span>For years, <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/topics/country/kenya.html"><span>Kenya</span></a> has
served as Israel’s gateway to Africa. <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/topics/country/israel.html"><span>Israel</span></a> has
been using the strong political, economic and security
relations between the two states as a way to expand
its influence on the continent and turn other African
nations against <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/topics/country/palestine.html"><span>Palestine</span></a>.
Unfortunately, Israel’s strategy seems, at least on
the surface, to be succeeding – Africa’s historically
vocal support for the Palestinian struggle on the
international arena is dwindling.</span></p>
<p><span>The continent’s rapprochement with Israel is
unfortunate, because, for decades, <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/topics/regions/africa.html"><span>Africa</span></a> has
stood as a <a
href="https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/761C1063530766A7052566A2005B74D1"><span>vanguard</span></a> against
all racist ideologies, including Zionism – the
ideology behind Israel’s establishment on the ruins of
Palestine. If Africa succumbs to Israeli enticement
and pressure to fully embrace the Zionist state, the
Palestinian people would lose a treasured partner in
their struggle for freedom and human rights.</span></p>
<p><span>But all is not lost.</span></p>
<p><span>Recently, I <a
href="https://www.africannewsagency.com/africa-news/Palestinian-author-Ramzy-Baroud-heads-to-Kenya-12294049"><span>visited</span></a> Kenya’s
capital city Nairobi to partake in discussions with
the country’s journalists, intellectuals, human rights
activists and ordinary citizens in an effort to
counter some of the propaganda inflicted by Israel’s <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/06/counter-israel-hasbara-campaign-150628081420249.html"><span>hasbara
machine</span></a> in recent years. Keeping
Israel’s success in <a
href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-to-attend-inauguration-of-kenyan-president/"><span>penetrating</span></a> various
layers of the Kenyan society in mind, I also wanted to
explore whether there is still some potential for
solidarity.</span></p>
<p><span>I was pleasantly surprised at the end of my
visit, as I discovered that Israel’s “success story”
in Kenya and the rest of Africa is a superficial one
and the affinity between Africa and Palestine is far
too deep for any “charm offensive” by Israel to easily
eradicate. </span></p>
<p><span><b>The Long History of African Solidarity with
Palestine</b></span></p>
<p><span><a
href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/israel-eyeing-ties-with-africa-in-exchange-for-know-how/1322963">According</a></span><span> to
Israeli political analyst Pinhas Anbari, Israel’s
“charm offensive in Africa” started after Israel
failed to convince European states to support its
policies vis-a-vis the Palestinians.</span></p>
<p><span>“When Europe openly expressed its support for the
establishment of a Palestinian state,” Anbara said,
“Israel made a strategic decision to focus on Africa.”</span></p>
<p><span>But the EU’s <a
href="https://gerusalemme.aics.gov.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/European-Joint-Strategy-Palestine-2017-2020.pdf"><span>support</span></a> for
a Palestinian state and <a
href="https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1750476/eu-rejects-israel%E2%80%99s-settlement-policy"><span>occasional
criticism</span></a> of the illegal Jewish
settlements in the Occupied Territories was not the
only reason behind Israel’s decision to turn its face
towards Africa.</span></p>
<p><span>Most African countries, – like most countries in
the global south – have <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/jerusalem-resolution-country-voted-171221180116873.html"><span>long
been voting </span></a>in favor of
pro-Palestinian resolutions at the United Nations
General Assembly (UNGA), further contributing to
Israel’s sense of isolation on the international
stage. As a result, winning back Africa became a modus
operandi in Israeli international affairs – “winning
back” because Africa has not always been hostile to
Israel and Zionism.</span></p>
<p><span>Ghana officially <a
href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/israel-eyeing-ties-with-africa-in-exchange-for-know-how/1322963"><span>recognized</span></a> Israel
in 1956, just eight years after its inception, and
started a trend that continued amongst African
countries for years to come. By the early 1970s,
Israel had established a strong position for itself on
the continent. On the eve of the 1973 Israeli-Arab
war, Israel had full diplomatic ties with 33 African
countries. </span></p>
<p><span>“The October War”, however, changed all of that.
Back then, Arab countries, under Egyptian leadership,
functioned, to some extent, with a unified political
strategy. And when African countries had to choose
between Israel, a country born out of Western colonial
intrigues, and the Arabs, who suffered at the hands of
Western colonialism as much as Africa did, they
naturally chose the Arab side. One after the other,
African countries began severing their ties with
Israel. Soon enough, no African state other than
Malawi, Lesotho and Swaziland had official diplomatic
relations with Israel.</span></p>
<p><span>Then the continent’s solidarity with Palestine
went even further. The Organization of African Unity –
the precursor to the African Union – in its 12th
ordinary session held in Kampala in 1975, became the
first international body to recognize on a large scale
the inherent racism in Israel’s Zionist ideology by
adopting <a
href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/9522-assembly_en_july_28_01_august_1975_assembly_heads_state_government_thirteenth_ordinary_session.pdf"><span>Resolution
77 (XII)</span></a>. That very resolution was
cited in <a
href="https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/1320"><span>UNGA
Resolution 3379</span></a>, adopted in November of
that same year, which determined that “Zionism is a
form of racism and racial discrimination”. Resolution
3379 remained in effect until it was <a
href="http://jcpa.org/article/the-1975-zionism-is-racism-resolution-the-rise-fall-and-resurgence-of-a-libel/"><span>revoked</span></a> by
the Assembly under intense American pressure in 1991.</span></p>
<p><span>Regrettably, Africa’s solidarity with Palestine
started to erode in the 1990s. It was in those years
that the US-sponsored peace process gained serious
momentum, becoming the <a
href="https://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/03/world/meast/oslo-accords-fast-facts/index.html"><span>Oslo
Accords</span></a> and other agreements that
normalized the Israeli occupation without giving
Palestinians their basic human rights. With many
meetings and handshakes between beaming Israeli and
Palestinian officials featuring regularly in news
media, many African nations bought into the illusion
that a lasting peace was finally at hand. By the late
1990s, Israel had <a
href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/israel-eyeing-ties-with-africa-in-exchange-for-know-how/1322963"><span>reactivated</span></a> its
ties with a whopping 39 African countries. As
Palestinians lost more land under Oslo, Israel gained
many new vital allies in Africa and all over the
world. </span></p>
<p><span>Yet Israel’s full-fledged “<a
href="https://www.economist.com/international/1999/12/23/the-scramble-for-africa"><span>scramble
for Africa</span></a>” – as a political ally,
economic partner and a client for its “security” and
weapons technologies – didn’t fully manifest until
recently.</span></p>
<p><span><b>The Israeli Scramble for Africa</b></span></p>
<p><span>On July 5, 2016, Benjamin Netanyahu kick-started
Israel’s scramble for Africa with a historic visit to
Kenya, which made him the first Israeli prime minister
to <a
href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-to-visit-africa-first-israeli-pm-to-do-so-in-50-years/"><span>visit</span></a> Africa
in the last 50 years. After spending some time in
Nairobi, where he <a
href="https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2016/Pages/PM-Netanyahu-attends-Israel-Kenya-economic-forum-in-Nairobi-5-July-2016.aspx"><span>attended</span></a> the
Israel-Kenya Economic Forum alongside hundreds of
Israeli and Kenyan business leaders, he moved on to
Uganda, where he met leaders from other African
countries including South Sudan, Rwanda, Ethiopia and
Tanzania. Within the same month, Israel announced the <a
href="https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2016/Pages/Israel-and-Republic-of-Guinea-sign-agreement-renewing-diplomatic-ties-20-July-2016.aspx"><span>renewal</span></a> of
diplomatic ties between Israel and Guinea. </span></p>
<p><span>The new Israeli strategy flowed from there. More
high-level visits to Africa and triumphant
announcements about new joint economic ventures and
investments followed.</span></p>
<p><span>However, diplomatic and economic efforts to win
over Africa soon proved insufficient for Israel’s
prime minister. So, he succumbed to rewriting history
to improve Israel’s standing on the continent.</span></p>
<p><span>In June 2017, Netanyahu <a
href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/netanyahu-arrives-in-liberia-ahead-of-west-africa-summit-1.5479969"><span>took
part</span></a> in the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS), held in the Liberian capital,
Monrovia. </span></p>
<p><span>“Africa and Israel share a natural affinity,”
Netanyahu <a
href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-prime-minister-of-israel/prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahus-speech-at-the-ecowas-africa-israel-summit-in-/1493918427346409/"><span>claimed</span></a> in
his speech. “We have, in many ways, similar histories.
Your nations toiled under foreign rule. You
experienced horrific wars and slaughters. This is very
much our history.”</span></p>
<p><span>With these words, Netanyahu attempted not only to
cover the ugly face of Zionist colonialism and deceive
Africans but also rob Palestinians of their history.</span></p>
<p><span>Despite Netanyahu’s blatant lies about “similar
histories”, Israel’s charm offensive in Africa went
from success to success. In January this year, for
example, Chad, a Muslim-majority nation and central
Africa’s <a
href="https://www.yenisafak.com/en/columns/i%CC%87brahimtigli/israels-dirty-new-game-in-africa-2046797"><span>geo-strategically
most important country</span></a>, established
economic ties with Israel.</span></p>
<p><span>As it tried to establish itself as a partner to
African nations, Israel did make some contributions
that benefited Africans, <a
href="http://innoafrica.org/israel.html"><span>such
as</span></a> delivering solar, water and
agricultural technologies to regions in need. However,
these contributions came at a significant cost.</span></p>
<p><span>When, for example, in December 2016, Senegal
co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 2334,
which condemned the construction of illegal Jewish
settlements in the occupied West Bank and East
Jerusalem, Netanyahu recalled Israel’s ambassador to
Dakar and swiftly canceled the Mashav drip-irrigation
projects – The projects had previously been “widely <a
href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/919556/ras-mubarak-writes-is-the-price-tag-attached-to-israeli-inv.html"><span>promoted</span></a> as
a major part of Israel’s contribution to the ‘fight
against poverty in Africa’.</span></p>
<p><span>Israel not only used projects like these to
punish African nations when they failed to give blind
support to Israel in international forums, it also
used this new relationship to turn Africa into a new
market for its arms sales.</span></p>
<p><span>African countries such as Chad, Niger, Mali,
Nigeria, and Cameroon, among others, became clients of
Israel’s “<a
href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/israeli-cooperation-with-africa"><span>counterterrorism</span></a>”
technologies, the same deadly tools that are actively
used to suppress Palestinians in their ongoing
struggle for freedom. </span></p>
<p><span>And all this as Israel continues to champion the
same racist, colonial mindset that enslaved and
subjugated Africa for hundreds of years. This fact
seems to have escaped African leaders who are lining
up to receive Israeli handouts and support in their
precarious “war on terror”. Moreover, barefaced <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/black-lives-matter-israel-180329061234932.html"><span>anti-African
racism</span></a> that defines mainstream Israeli
politics and society also seems of no consequence to
the growing Israel fan club in Africa. </span></p>
<p><span>Many African governments, including those of
Muslim-majority nations, are now giving Israel exactly
what it wants – a way to break out of its isolation
and legitimize its Apartheid.</span></p>
<p><span>“Israel is making inroads into the Islamic
world,” <a
href="https://citizen.co.za/news/news-africa/2067660/israel-making-inroads-into-the-islamic-world-says-prime-minister/"><span>said</span></a> Netanyahu
during the first visit by an Israeli leader to Chad’s
capital, Ndjamena, on January 20, 2019. “We are making
history and we are turning Israel into a rising global
power.”</span></p>
<p><span>Palestinians and Arabs, of course, share some of
the blame in all of this for abandoning their African
allies in a fruitless chase after US-Western promises
of a peace that never actualized. Arab politics have
massively shifted since the mid-1970s. Not only are
Arab countries no longer speaking in one voice and,
thus, have no unified strategy regarding Africa or
anywhere else, but some Arab governments are actively <a
href="https://www.thejerusalemfund.org/24425/arab-normalization-with-israel"><span>plotting</span></a> with
Tel Aviv and Washington against Palestinians. The <a
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/led-bahrain-workshop-palestine-latest-updates-190624092422392.html"><span>Bahrain
economic conference</span></a>, held in Manama on
June 25-26, was the latest case in point. </span></p>
<p><span>The Palestinian leadership has itself shifted its
political focus away from the global south, especially
since the signing of the Oslo Accords. For decades,
Africa mattered little in the limited and self-serving
calculations of the Palestinian Authority. For the PA,
only Washington, London, Madrid, Oslo and Paris
carried any geopolitical importance – a deplorable
political blunder on all accounts. But this historical
mistake must be remedied before Israel’s success story
denies Palestinians any leverage in Africa and
throughout the rest of the global south.</span></p>
<p><span>Yet, despite its many successes in luring African
governments to its web of allies, Israel has failed to
tap into the hearts of ordinary Africans who still
view the Palestinian fight for justice and freedom as
an extension of their own struggle for democracy,
equality and human rights.</span></p>
<p><span>True, Israel has won the support of some of
Africa’s ruling classes, but it has failed to win the
African people, who remain on the side of
Palestinians. Throughout my 10-day visit to their
country, Kenyans from all walks of life showed me
their support for Palestine in the most uplifting,
authentic and natural ways. </span></p>
<p><span>In Nairobi, students, academics and human rights
activists relate to the Palestinian people not as
sympathetic outside observers of their struggle, but
as their partners in a collective battle for justice,
freedom and rights. Kenya’s bloody fight against
British colonialism, its proud liberation war and its
numerous sacrifices to win its freedom are almost a
mirror image of the ongoing Palestinian struggle
against another colonial and racist enemy. </span></p>
<p><span>Palestine will always be close to the heart of
all Africans because of the painful, proud history of
colonialism and resistance that we share. With that in
mind, Palestinians should wake up to the fact that
Israel is actively trying to rewrite their history and
deprive them of the solidarity of peoples that perhaps
understand their plight much better than most. </span></p>
<p><span>This would be a moral injustice that must not be
allowed to prevail. </span></p>
<p><i><span>– Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and
editor of The Palestine Chronicle. His last book is
‘The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story’ (Pluto Press,
London) and his forthcoming book is ‘These Chains
Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and
Defiance in Israeli Prisons’ (Clarity Press,
Atlanta). Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies
from the University of Exeter. His website is</span></i><a
href="http://www.ramzybaroud.net/"><i><span>
www.ramzybaroud.net</span></i></a></p>
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