Andrew
Gibson Nyikadzino
SINCE 2014, a global survey by WIN/Gallup International has consistently placed the USA on the fore of countries that are a greatest threat to world peace in this era. This world opinion is framed around the question “which country in the world would you consider the biggest threat to world peace?”
The chaos and instability around the Russia-Ukraine incident, the conclusions to the US-Afghanistan exit disaster, the Iraqi mismanagement, the Yemeni conflict and the falter of Libya after Col. Muammar Gaddafi’s assassination are examples of the USA’s denunciation of global peace.
In 2021, a video of one Israeli colonial settler, one Yaqub, went viral as he told a Palestinian home owner: “If I do not steal your house, somebody is going to steal it.” The behaviour of the government of Israel is reflective of the support it has from the USA. A disregard of human rights and international law is brazen.
The issue of human rights is key as it is a part of international law under the United Nations (UN) Charter. Even when the case is Myanmar and the Rohingya, or Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, human rights have to be defended by all.
Of concern is the continuance of egregious acts of US support in aiding the Israeli Zionist, xenophobe and settler government’s ill-treatment, murder and mass detention of Palestinians. While the USA has been clear about its commitment to defend Israel, some Latin American and African countries whose independence were midwifed by Palestinians have become fence sitters when it comes to Palestinian liberation.
US former President Barack Obama’s advisor Martin Indyk, a negotiator of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2015 said: “The US is pro-Israel and that is what gives it influence in the peace process. We are not neutral and never claim to be neutral.”
The pro-Israel position of the USA obliges it to fund the Israeli military to a total US$3 billion a year. Some of this military aid has been converted to combat force against the innocent Palestinians. At the United Nations, Israel has no stronger advocate than the USA.
When it comes to ending the Israel-Palestine conflict, Israel has a favourable mediator. The USA has acted as Israel’s lawyer at the expense of the peace process and rationality for the Palestinians. During her tenure, former USA Secretary of State Hillary Clinton affirmed that America can never be neutral when it comes to Israel’s security and that the USA stands unapologetically with the Zionist Israel.
A sense of betrayal had creeped in the African Union (AU) when the Israeli government had been accorded a non-observer status, a move that was meant to counter Palestinian relations and how Palestinians are received in Africa.
The greater part of sub-Saharan African states got their political independence after getting military training, weapons and financial support from Palestine. Palestinians were unequivocal in their support for Africa. They channelled resources from their scattered population the world over and they, too, sacrificed for the independence that Africa enjoys today.
Saying the Palestinian case is ‘complex’ is rhetoric that has been going on for a long time without the sacrifices needed to normalise the issue.
Colonial divisions along the Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone tracts have kept Africa apart from the common goal to defend the humanity of Palestinians against the warmongering nature of Israel. The disrespect of humanity in the way Israel deals with African migrants and Palestinians should in the first place have not warranted it to get a non-observer status in the AU. That the non-observer status has been suspended, Palestinian relations with Africa need to be accelerated as they are yearning for freedom from a militarised and racist government.
As noted by the late Nelson Mandela, “justice for the Palestinians is the greatest moral issue of the age.”
Palestinians have exactly the same human rights as Israeli’s. Saying the Palestinian issue is ‘complex’ is no excuse by Africans for not speaking and acting up against the war crimes being committed by Israel as documented by Amnesty International. Effort has to be put by those with jurisdiction over the crimes committed to maintain the system should investigate them.
As always in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, two narratives are vying for dominance. Africa should however vie for the view that has truth, which is the oppression of the Palestinians.
In Zimbabwe, the Embassy of Palestine in Harare led by Ambassador Tamer Almassri, has embraced the solidarity and cementing of relations with the Government and people of Zimbabwe more than any other.
New approaches are being put in place by Palestinians to forge relations with Zimbabwe and Africa. A clear organisation of Africa’s commitment to protect the interests of Palestinians has to emerge to counter the influence of Israel in the continent.
There can never be an African country that says it truly stands for Palestinians while it is neutral. By being neutral in the oppression of one race, Africans will be aiding the victory of the oppressor. We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.
Online Reporter