An opinion piece written by Craig Moffat and E.M. Hoza titled “What’s the Fuss about Israel’s Observer Status at the AU?” appeared in the current issue of the “Mail & Guardian Newspaper” of South Africa dated 2021/08/17. They argue that “non-governmental organizations applying for observer status at the African Union (AU) are subjected to intense scrutiny, but a non-African state merely needs the approval of the AU Commission’s chairperson”.
The writers start their article by pouring scorn on Africa’s highest institution referring to it as “club”. Indeed, it has become a club simply because of the behaviour of one person, the AU Commission chair Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat’s behaviour in the way he has handled the issue of the re-admittance of apartheid colonialist State of Israel.
Israel was sidelined by the AU at its inception led by the assassinated Libyan leader Colonel Muammer Gaddafi simply because of its apartheid, racist, and colonial attitude towards the Palestinian people. It is now well known that since the now infamous “Oslo Accords”, Israel has continued to throw spanners along the way that is supposed to bring about a Palestinian state.
The move by the AU Commission chair to accord Israel the observer status flies in the face of what Israel is currently doing. This move is better summarized by what the South African government said when they condemned the decision, “It was a “shocking” decision taken in a year of heightened conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, which the AU had condemned at the time”.
However, AU Commissioner Moussa Faki Mahamat defended the decision earlier this month, saying it reflected the position of the majority of member states. The observer status allows non-members like Israel to participate in certain activities of the AU.
The AU Commission chair contradicted himself when he said that accepting Israel’s formal accreditation at the AU did not dilute the “unflinching commitment of the Pan-African Organisation to the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to establish an independent National State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, within the framework of a global, fair and definitive peace between the State of Israel and the State of Palestine”.
The question that needs to be asked is, does Israel agree with what the AU Commission chair has just said above? The answer is a definite “no”. They don’t agree with the chair’s statement above, what they want is all the Palestinians in Palestine gone and in turn, they want to build a homeland for Jews only. This is what the Zionist entity want period!
Has there been any form of compliance by the apartheid-colonialist state of Israel to warrant their readmission to the observer status at the AU? The answer again is a simple “no”. If so, why do Mr. Moffat & Hoza want us to believe that opposing the decision by Mr. Mahamat is fuss?
By trying to make an argument that the Africans don’t understand the legal implications of their own statutes renders this whole argument of theirs irrelevant and smells of racism seeking to entrench their superiority complex that says African’s are incapable of thinking like Caucasians.
The argument advanced by Mr. Mahamat that, already there are many African countries that have bilateral relations with Israel, and therefore, he made his decision based on that, does not hold water either. The issue was supposed to be debated thoroughly and agreed upon by all members of the commission.
Let it be known to these two authors of the article that no one shares their opinion here, the majority of the people on the continent just want Israel out of Africa and Palestine. Israel must dismantle its apartheid-colonialist ideology to demonstrate commitment to international conventions.
What strategic friendship are these authors talking about? We all know that friendship with Israel is a bad omen for many countries on the continent. Immediately you set up that friendship, it signals the beginning of instability in many of these countries.
However, I agree with these authors on one thing, which is, that Israel is seeking to alter the voting patterns at the UN and many other multilateral organization platforms where it constantly faces condemnations because of its barbaric behaviour against the people of Palestine. They are wooing African countries by selling them arms and spyware technology a development that in itself leads to instability among nations.
Lastly, comparing the struggle against colonialism that Africans waged to that of what is going on in Israel at the moment, is utter madness. Israel is the oppressor, and the Palestinians are the oppressed here. It is within Israel’s power to end that today if they want it. And let it be known to the oppressor that the oppressed will fight until victory in their quest to liberate themselves from oppression.
By:
Dr. Mustafa Mheta
Senior researcher/Head of Africa Desk
Media Review Network
South Africa
Johannesburg
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