Above photo: The New Arab.
Some Aspects Of A Racist Imperialist Ideology In Africa And The Americas.
Colonized people must be in solidarity with the oppressed and by definition, that means being anti-zionist.
Political Zionism is a racist ethno-nationalist imperialist ideology and movement founded in the late 19th century that mis-uses Judaism to justify the settler colonial occupation of Palestinian land as a state reserved only for Jews.[1] Christian Zionism, which actually preceded political zionism, is the belief that the biblical land of Israel should be controlled by Jews thereby ensuring the second return of Jesus which will bring salvation to Christians.[2]
Zionism in Africa long preceded the founding of Israel, and the relationship goes back to at least the South African Zionist federation founded in 1898[3]. The Zionist movement considered east African countries for resettling Jews before agreeing on Palestine.
The founding of the settler State of Israel in 1948 was a joint imperialist project facilitated by Britain (Palestine’s former colonizer) and British Zionist jews. The Balfour Declaration of 1917, was a letter named after Lord Balfour who was part of the British ruling class and a Christian Zionist himself[4] written to Lord Rothchild, the acknowledged leader of British Jewry, provided the basis for the British mandate over Palestine, for greater and freer Zionist immigration, and the UN resolution establishing a separate ‘Jewish’ State.[5] Until at least the late 1950’s the Zionist movement and Israel received greater financial, material and political support on a per capita basis from the South African Zionist Jewish community than any country in the world.[6]
A special familial relationship has long existed between Ethiopia and Israel due to Ethiopia’s emperor Haile Selassie who called himself “the lion of Judah” because of the mythology that he was a descendant of Biblical King Solomon of Israel and the Ethiopian queen Sheba. The Christian fundamentalist interpretation of the Biblical prophecy has allowed for a moral affinity for Israel among many African Christians. Additionally, Haile Selassie saw Israel as a pro-western ally during the cold war as beneficial. This relationship resulted in Israel providing technical assistance as well as military aid to Ethiopia in exchange for a strategic partnership against their enemies in the region. After the fall of Haile Selassie in 1974 the relationship continued but became more pragmatic rather than special. After South Africa, Ethiopia has the second largest Jewish population on the continent.[7]
When Israel was founded in 1948 almost all African countries were still colonized and therefore their colonial governments had economic relations with and were supportive of Israel. The Israel – Arab conflict was for the most part viewed as a problem of the Middle East not an Africa one. Therefore, the relations with Israel were slow to change even after independence.[8]
The great Arab-African leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser was an exception because he understood the Israeli threat to both the Middle East and Africa. He led the Casablanca group of African countries to agree to a resolution in 1961 in support of the rights of Palestinians and condemning Israel.[9]
After the Anglo- French, Israeli Suez attack in 1956 Israel developed a conscious policy to cultivate relationships with non-Arab – African countries that would become a large voting bloc in the UN upon their independence through a soft power offensive that included containment of Arab influence in Africa and the extension of economic relations with non-Arab league member states, thereby gaining diplomatic support among non-Arab – African states for Israel.
Despite the Casablanca resolution most African governments did not break ties with Israel until the 1967 Arab – Israeli war. The 1967 war was a turning point because, at this point, Israel was occupying Egyptian territory, an OAU member state. Except for Sékou Touré’s Guinea, who broke relations after the 1967 war, no other Black African state followed suit. The 1968 OAU summit denounced Israeli aggression and called for the immediate withdrawal from Arab territories including Egypt. When Israel’s ties to apartheid South Africa became more commonly known, African countries gradually came to understand Nasser’s warning that Israel was not only a threat to the security of the Middle East but all of Africa.[10]
Overall, Israel has been a partner to colonialism, Neo-colonialism, economic exploitation, militarization, war and balkanization in Africa. The US, being Israel’s closest imperialist partner, has often coerced countries, through the threat of sanctions, into relations with Israel.
Long before the years of Apartheid, South Africa’s relationship with Zionism and then Israel was extremely close, as evidenced in the settler class collaboration between Chaim Weizmann, Israels’ first president, and the infamous general Jan Smuts, former prime minister and one of the racist founding fathers and military leaders of South Africa. The common ideological roots of this relationship were white settler supremacy supposedly sanctioned by God. It extended from weapons sales including cooperation towards enabling South Africa to build a nuclear bomb, to the lucrative trade in diamonds controlled by the infamous De Beers diamond cartel which controls 90% of the world’s rough diamonds. Israel was long the largest diamond cutting country. [11]
While today Israel is a small country about the size of New Jersey with only 9 million people, it is however, among the top 10 arms dealers [12] in the world particularly to Africa and Latin America. In the past, Israel provided military and security training to many forces of colonialism and neo-colonialism from the South African apartheid regime to Mobutu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Israel now has a cozy relationship with Paul Kagame in Rwanda [13] also called “the Israel of Africa” by DRC expert Kambale Musavuli,[14] to neo colonial governments in Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria – just to name a few. Musavuli explains that Kagame in Rwanda and Museveni in Uganda have been responsible for the deaths of millions in DRC.
Today, almost all U.S. assistance [15] to Israel is in the form of weapons grants. Israel receives $3.3 billion annually in foreign military financing (FMF). Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of US foreign assistance since WWII.
As of 2020 the U. S. has provided Israel with $146 billion in bilateral assistance and defense funding. Israel in turn shares its expertise in terror tactics and racial profiling when training US police forces in the notorious deadly exchange [16] programs when US police routinely go to Israel for training.
Over the years African Liberation movements [17] have expressed solidarity with Palestine symbolized also by the comradely relationship between Nelson Mandela of the ANC and Yassir Arafat of the PLO, but at this time there are only a few African governments that don’t have relations with Israel. Although there are indications [18] this is beginning to change since the recent genocidal assault on Gaza of October 2023.
Israel/ Zionism and Blacks in the US
The awareness and impact of Israel & Zionism among Black people in the US goes back at least as far back as Edward Blyden, Garvey and Du Bois – all of whom were sympathetic to Jewish persecution and supportive of the Zionist cause. Black opposition to Israel and Zionism started in 1956 when the Nation of Islam (NOI) consistently took anti-Israeli positions in its Muhammad Speaks newspaper; it was the only Black organization before the 1960’s to show concern for the Middle East conflict. [19]
Malcolm X was key in promoting the position and when he left the Nation and attended the 1964 OAU meeting where he met the leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and published his article called “Zionist Logic”[20] in the Egyptian Gazette which exposed Israel as a colonial imperialist project.
Shortly after the 1967 Israeli war against Arab states SNCC produced a statement[21] in its newsletter condemning Israeli Zionism and expressing solidarity with Palestine. This newsletter drew immediate attacks from Zionist Jews supportive of Israel and non-Jews including moderate Blacks from the NAACP and the Urban League. Kwame Ture says in his autobiography Ready for Revolution that shortly after SNCC took the position in support of Palestine the funding from Jewish Zionist forces came to a halt. Dr. King, representing SCLC, endorsed the US security pact with Israel.
Like SNCC, the Black Panther Party published condemnations of Israel and expressed solidarity with Palestine in their newspaper; they also had regular contact with the PLO after establishing their foreign office in Algeria [22]
In (1975) the Blacks in Support of Israel committee[23] (BASIC) included various prominent personalities. This organization openly supported Israeli Zionism.
Black Christian Zionism also continues to have a significant impact on the way Blacks view the Israel/Palestine colonial question. Exemplified by Dumisani Washington, a Black minister who serves as the Diversity Outreach Coordinator for the largest Christian Zionist organization in the country, Christians United for Israel (CUFI) [24], an evangelical pro-Israel group led by Pastor John Hagee. Dumisani Washington is also the founder of The Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI) [25] IBSI also has a student wing [26] on college campuses.
Since the mid 1970’s The All-African Peoples’ Revolutionary Party under the leadership of Kwame Ture played a leading role in ongoing anti-zionist education and in the founding of THE WORLD-WIDE AFRICAN ANTI-ZIONIST FRONT (WWAA-ZF)[27] on June 12 -15,1991 in Tripoli, Libya.
In more recent years young Black organizations [28] have continued the proud tradition of Black – Palestinian solidarity [29], such as Black Lives Matter, the Dream Defenders, Black Youth Project 100 (BYP100), the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) [30] and others have included Palestinian liberation as part of their programs.
Zionism continues to have a big influence and control of US bi-partisan politicians including Blacks via The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Christians Unified for Israel (CUFI) which is reportedly by far the largest Zionist organization [31] in the USA. This indicates that most American Zionist are not Jewish. On the other hand, it is good news that the number of Anti-Zionist American Jews [32] is increasing.
Some examples of Zionist influence and control include the case of Senator Raphael Warnock who was pressured to renounce his support [33] for Palestinian rights and Black Lives Matter to get elected. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar – was vilified by Democrats and Republicans [34] and received death threats over her suggestion, that U.S. politicians back the state of Israel because of financial pressure from AIPAC when she said, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” Professor Marc Lamont Hill’s statement [35] at the UN in support of Palestine resulted in his firing from CNN. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama, under pressure from local pro-Israeli groups, rescinded a human rights award [36] that they were giving to Angela Davis, because of her support for BDS.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) one of the country’s most powerful pro-Israel lobby is also targeting HBCU’s [37] offering all expenses paid trips to Washington, D.C. and Israel. They claim Israel is under growing attack from Palestinian and international activists who call the country a racist apartheid state. In response, they are recruiting black students as moral shields to make the case for Israeli impunity. Their goal is to develop a core of black allies to declare that Israel is not racist. This is also done to counter any prospect of BDS or Palestine solidarity groups forming on campus.
Israel continues to promote its expertise in terror tactics, racial profiling and extra-judicial executions when training US police[38] forces in the notorious “deadly exchange” [39] programs which include routine travel on the part of US police to Israel extensive for training. The Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) is a prime example, located on the campus of Georgia State University [40]. The image of the white police officer with his knee on George Floyds’ neck resulting in his murder is said to be right out of the IDF playbook. [41]
A major facilitator of the deadly US police exchanges with Israel is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) which portrays itself as a civil rights organization but in reality, has been a major supporter of Israel. The ADL, functioning as an American extension of the Israeli government, supported and collaborated with the settler apartheid regime in South Africa. The ADL branded Nelson Mandela a terrorist and in 1991 reportedly spied on South African freedom fighter Chris Hani while he was on tour in California, and shortly after he returned to South Africa he was assassinated. According to a report from The Mapping Project [42] by 2016 the ADL boasted in an annual report that 100% of major US metropolitan police departments had sent participants to the ADL’s National Counterterrorism Seminar and the ADL’s advanced training school in extremist and terrorist threats in Israel.
Israel relations in Latin America and the Caribbean
Israel’s impact on Central and South America and the Caribbean is equally significant and has for the most part, with few exceptions like Cuba and Venezuela since Chavez, has been close, spanning from political support coming from Latin American countries voting in support of Israel in the UN, to large military arm sales, military training of South American armies and death squads. [43] Even when five Latin American countries voted in favor of the 1975 UN resolution equating Zionism with racism it never interfered with the flow of arms sales to these countries.[44]
It is reported that in 1986 Israel was the largest per capita arms exporter in the world, and arms exports constitute about 16% of its total exports compared with 4.5 % for the US. Forty percent of Israel’s industrial labor force at the time were employed by its arms industries. About 62% of all the arms produced are for export. During the 1970’s and 1980’s Latin America was Israel’s largest (approximately 50 -60% of Israeli weapons exports) customer for arms sales.[45]
Research shows that Israel is still today by far the most militarized country in the world[46] in that its gross domestic product (GDP) is most dependent on military sales per capita than any in the world. Israel is also the largest purchaser of weapons in the world. Israel also has one of the most technologically sophisticated militaries in the world[47] as a result not only because of domestic production of its own small and large weaponry but also because of US material support.
Since most of Latin America consists of Neo-colonial governments it follows that in most cases, they are subordinate puppets of US imperialism it follows therefore that the military and their weapons are mostly used in suppressing internal dissent and mass resistance by the working poor.
Although in the 1970’s and 80’s much of Israel’s’ arm sales went to Argentina and Chile each spending $1 billion on new weapons, in more recent decades Colombia has been called the Israel of Latin America[48] by the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez for good reason. Colombia is the United States biggest proxy in this hemisphere just as Israel is the biggest one in the Middle East. . Though this relationship has recently been strained since the newly elected president, Gustavo Petro recently appropriately called Israel’s actions genocidal,[49] refused to condemn Hamas and announced the recall of their ambassador to Israel.
Both Israel and Colombia have become highly militarized countries with the help of the US. Colombia in the past has ruthlessly oppressed their indigenous and Black populations. (Colombia has the third largest Black population in the hemisphere after Brazil and the US). Israel and Colombia signed a free trade agreement in 2013 and the Colombian military was frequently trained by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and private Israeli security contractors of which the Colombian government was quite proud. It has even been uncovered that Israel’s infamous secret service (MOSSAD) has advised the Colombian government[50] on assassinations and strategies on how to defeat the revolutionary Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC).
Brazil being the largest country in Latin America with the largest Black population in the hemisphere has had mostly good relations[51] with Israel. Although under the leadership of President Lula da Silva relations were strained politically since he recognized Palestine[52] as an independent state within the 1967 borders. This position irritated Israel but it did not prevent uninterrupted bilateral commercial and economic relations. During the Bolsonaro presidency Israel was Brazil’s best friend.
Since the October 2023 assault on Gaza several Latin American countries[53], Chile, Bolivia, and Colombia have recalled their ambassadors to Israel in protest of Israels’ genocidal actions.
Israel’s relations with the Caribbean
Historically Israel has had strong relations with Caribbean countries since most of them were colonies of European countries. Since independence, Israel continued to aid in agriculture and security to many Caribbean countries in exchange for supportive votes in the UN. As the struggle for votes in the UN in support of Palestinian statehood have intensified in the last decade more Caribbean countries have supported[54] a two-state solution. In 2012 almost all CARICOM countries supported the UN motion to recognize Palestine (only Barbados and Bahamas abstained). Guyana was the first Caribbean country (outside of Cuba) to recognize Palestine which it did in 1975. Suriname, Belize, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda all followed, recognizing Palestine before the 2012 vote. The Caribbean community via CARICOM[55] recently issued a statement condemning the attacks and counter attacks in Israel and Gaza, called for a cease fire and continues to support UN security council resolution 242 and efforts towards a two state solution.
In conclusion, as the Black Alliance for Peace [56] has stated that it reaffirms its solidarity with the anti-Zionist, anti-Imperialist, anti-settler colonial struggle of the Palestinians for self-determination and freedom.
Just like the world boycotted Apartheid in South Africa, so also must the justice loving people of the world comply with the call by Palestinians for the boycott, divestment and sanction (BDS) [57] of the apartheid settler Zionist entity. We also know that imperialism always relies on its ideological offensive through the media and other forms of propaganda to distort the truth. Accordingly, this is a contribution to unmasking the ideological assault perpetrated by the racist Zionist settler state as a pernicious wing of US/NATO imperialism on the world particularly in Africa and in and the diaspora.
Malcolm X reminded us of this when he said, “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” [58]
[1] International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Zionism & Racism (Tripoli & London Billing & Sons Ltd. 1977)
[2] https://truthout.org/articles/progressives-cant-ignore-role-of-christian-zionism-in-colonization-of-palestine/
[3] Richard P Stevens & Abdelwahab M. Elmessiri, Israel and South Africa the Progression of a Relationship (New Brunswick, NJ. North American, Inc 1977 revised edition)
[4] https://truthout.org/articles/progressives-cant-ignore-role-of-christian-zionism-in-colonization-of-palestine/
[5]Richard P Stevens, Weizmann & Smuts A study in Zionist-South African Cooperation (Beirut, Institute for Palestine Studies 1975)
[6] Richard P Stevens & Abdelwahab M. Elmessiri, Israel and South Africa the Progression of a Relationship (New Brunswick, NJ. North American, Inc 1977 revised edition)
[7] Israel and Ethiopia: from a special to a pragmatic relationship MB Bishku – Journal of Conflict Studies, 1994
[8] Nzongola-Ntalaja, Africa and the question of Palestine (Arusha, The First United Nations Seminar on The Question of Palestine 1980) https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/4305EF25EF45128485256DC20068F875
[9] Ibid
[10] Ibid
[11] Richard P Stevens & Abdelwahab M. Elmessiri, Israel and South Africa the Progression of a Relationship (New Brunswick, NJ. North American, Inc 1977 revised edition)
[12] https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-arms-fuel-atrocities-africa/14844
[13] https://africasacountry.com/2018/02/paul-kagame-and-benjamin-netanyahu-are-enablers-of-each-others-worst-behavior
[14] http://www.kambale.com/crisis-in-the-congo-uncovering-the-truth-musavuli-spoke-at-answer-sf-office/
[15] https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL33222/40
[16] https://deadlyexchange.org
[17] https://www.pambazuka.org/pan-africanism/pan-africanism-and-palestine-solidarity-history-anti-imperialist-struggle
[18] https://africa4palestine.com/2023/11/06/south-africa-recalls-all-remaining-diplomats-from-israel/
[19] Lenni Brenner, The Black Civil Rights Movement and Zionism in Black Liberation and Palestine Solidarity, Lenni Brenner & Mathew Quest (Atlanta, Our own authority publishing, 2013)
[20] https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/socialist-viewpoint-us/mayjun_05/mayjun_05_21.htm
[21] https://snccdigital.org/inside-sncc/policy-statements/palestine/
[22] Michael R. Fischbach, Black Power and Palestine, Transnational Countries of Color (Stanford, California Stanford University Press 2019)
[23] https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/12/archives/blacks-organize-proisrael-group-committee-seeks-to-counter-un.html
[24] https://cufi.org/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwoip1bW3ggMVKlVHAR0ybgOKEAAYASAAEgJSqvD_BwE
[25] https://ibsi.org
[26] https://www.timesofisrael.com/chloe-valdary-christian-black-rising-star-of-pro-israel-campus-activism/
[27] https://twitter.com/aaprp/status/1260961136477900800?lang=bg
[28] https://www.vox.com/world/2021/5/26/22452967/palestine-gaza-protests-black-lives-matter-blm-solidarity-israel
[29] http://www.blackforpalestine.com/read-the-statement.html
[30] https://blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/bapstandswithpalestine
[31] https://truthout.org/articles/progressives-cant-ignore-role-of-christian-zionism-in-colonization-of-palestine/
[32] https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2023/10/19/thousands-of-jews-and-allies-shut-down-capitol-hill/#:~:text=This%20was%20the%20largest%20Jewish,middle%20of%20a%20Wednesday%20workday.
[33] https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/michael-f-brown/raphael-warnock-drops-palestinian-rights-bid-us-senate?fbclid=IwAR1B_cOym6rRV2vcZlOHF83KzTKyOFKUHFdGKFmwrUvWikQNZJY1t5H1oyY
[34] https://jacobinmag.com/2019/02/ilhan-omar-israel-tweet-antisemitism-bds
[35] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/30/cnn-fires-contributor-marc-lamont-hill-for-criticising-israel
[36] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/07/birmingham-civil-rights-institute-rescinds-honor-angela-davis
[37] https://www.colorlines.com/articles/israel-lobby-finds-new-face-black-college-students
[38] https://peoplesworld.org/article/israeli-forces-trained-cops-in-restraint-techniques-at-minneapolis-conference/
[39] https://deadlyexchange.org
[40] https://www.11alive.com/article/news/world/atlanta-law-enforcement-israel-georgia-international-law-enforcement-exchange-gilee/85-f99341d7-3eaf-418e-9704-f2ad498cc949
[41] https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/the-knee-on-neck-long-a-staple-of-israel-s-occupation-of-palestine-36787
[42] https://mapliberation.org/articles/dismantle_the_adl.html
[43] Bishara Bahbah, Israel and Latin America: The Military Connection, (New York, St. Martin’s Press & Institute for Palestine Studies 1986)
[44] Ibid
[45] Ibid
[46] https://www.stopthewall.org/sites/default/files/Israeli-Militarism-in-Latin-America.pdf
[47] https://nypost.com/2017/01/29/why-israel-has-the-most-technologically-advanced-military-on-earth/
[48] https://www.mintpressnews.com/birds-fascist-feather-why-israel-aiding-colombia-crackdown-protesters/277406/
[49]https://apnews.com/article/israel-bolivia-colombia-chile-argentina-brazil-4cc038c0dbe1de9b5e4118e2ceac2181
[50] https://www.mintpressnews.com/investigation-israel-mossad-colombia-genocide-rafael-eitan/277499/
[51] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200720-brazils-armed-forces-should-reduce-their-dependence-on-israel-says-ex-minister/
[52] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2010/12/5/brazil-recognises-palestine
[53] https://apnews.com/article/israel-bolivia-colombia-chile-argentina-brazil-4cc038c0dbe1de9b5e4118e2ceac2181
[54] https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170901-palestine-and-the-caribbean/
[55] https://caricom.org/caricom-statement-on-the-developments-in-israel/
[56] https://blackallianceforpeace.com/bapstatements/bapstandswithpalestine
[57] https://bdsmovement.net/get-involved/what-to-boycott
[58] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/74430-the-media-s-the-most-powerful-entity-on-earth-they-have
Djibo Sobukwe is on the Research and Political Education Team of the Black Alliance for Peace. He is also a former Central Committee member of the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party who worked with Kwame Ture on the political Education Committee. He can be contacted at djibo1(at)gmail.com.