THE AFRICAN UNION IS SELF-DESTRUCTING BY LETTING ISRAEL HAVE OBSERVER STATUS

Sat 24 July 2021:

The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that it has regained its observer status at the African Union. Until 2002, the colonial state was an observer member of the Organisation of African Unity, until the latter was dissolved and replaced by the African Union.

Who has decided to readmit Israel to the AU as an observer state? We know those responsible very well, because ever since they came to power in the continental body they have made some very unpopular decisions of no benefit to Africa and its people. Instead, they have sold us all to the highest bidder.

One day they will be exposed as traitors because Africa and its states have been born out of the struggles against slavery and colonialism; we don’t need to associate ourselves with colonial states such as the Zionist entity. In days gone by our kings and chiefs sold us for a teaspoon of sugar and a shiny mirror. Today our leaders are selling us again to the descendants of the same imperialists wearing democratic cloaks to hide their colonialist intentions.

Is there any difference between these modern African leaders and those who sold us into colonial slavery? Quite simply, none at all. They are the people who allow imperialists and Zionists to have access to our continent’s natural resources in exchange for spyware technology and weapons to enable their continuing grip on power.

When former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi spearheaded the formation of the African Union in 2002, he made sure that Zionist Israel was sidelined. Little did he know that his African brothers would go on to betray him and his anti-colonialist legacy.

Israel is a racist, apartheid state, so why should it have observer status at the AU? Before any such readmission was even considered, the union should have demanded that the Zionist state complies with the many UN resolutions hanging over it. It was a perfect opportunity to put pressure on Israel to withdraw from all Arab land that it occupies — Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian alike — and facilitate the independence of the State of Palestine.

A view from opening session of the 33rd African Union Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 9 February 2020 [Mınasse Wondımu Haılu/Anadolu Agency]

A view from opening session of the 33rd African Union Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 9 February 2020 [Mınasse Wondımu Haılu/Anadolu Agency]

The AU needs to wake up to what Israel is capable of doing. Just this week, Britain’s Guardian newspaper has reported that an Israeli company has developed and sold Pegasus spyware to a number of governments, including some in Africa, and that at least fourteen world leaders (among many activists, journalists and human rights campaigners), including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, have been targeted by the technology.

This is just one example of what befriending Israel means. One of the African leaders said to be implicated in such use of the Pegasus technology is Paul Kagame of Rwanda. He is a well-known friend of Israel and his relations with many of his neighbours in Africa are strained. Such relations are going to be tested even further after the Pegasus leak.

Kagame is known for pursuing his political opponents wherever they might be, and assassinating them. His relationship with the South African government is tense for that very reason. He also has problems with President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, who accuses him of espionage using the very same Pegasus spyware. The government of Burundi is also complaining about Kagame for doing the same thing.

Rwanda recently deployed its troops to northern Mozambique and a fierce war of words has since erupted within the ruling FRELIMO party in Maputo. Given the Pegasus situation, how can the Southern African Development Community, of which Mozambique is part, trust the Rwandan military working alongside its forces? This arrangement could go very wrong. It is impossible to fight alongside those who are spying on you.

It’s a fact that wherever Israel goes and is welcomed, problems of this nature tend to arise. Countries are destabilised and turn on each other. It’s the old colonial tactic of divide and rule, playing one side off against another while pretending to be friends of both.

The Israel observer status move is the second serious blunder made by the AU recently. The first was to allow Morocco to return to the fold before withdrawing its forces from occupied Western Sahara.

With the Zionist entity involved in the AU, we can expect the continent to be destabilised even further. Africa simply cannot afford or allow that to happen. The AU must, as a matter of urgency, rescind the decision about Israel’s status unless and until it complies with all UN resolutions concerning its withdrawal from all occupied territories and facilitate Palestinian independence. If the colonial-occupation state refuses to do so, then formal relations between Tel Aviv and the African Union should be off the agenda.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Independent Press.