Soccer Dad

Africa appreciates

Amnon Rubenstein writes

What country in the world boasts the highest rate of support for Israel? The United States? Wrong. The highest rate of support for Israel can be found in the Ivory Coast, where 61 percent support Israel and only 16 percent support the Palestinians.

The same ratio is true where support for Hamas is concerned: Only 2% have a favorable opinion of Hamas and 37% have a "very negative" opinion of this organization.

This surprising finding is part of a global opinion survey conducted this year by the PEW Research Center, which included tens of thousands of participants in 47 countries. And Ivory Coast is not the only African country to demonstrate a high rate of support for Israel...

There is an exception though.

The opposition to Hamas in the African countries polled is even higher. The exception to this rule is Egypt, in which the opposition to Israel is all-embracing and support for Hamas especially high.

That would be the first Arab country to make peace with Israel.

Why would it be?

In absence of a scientific study, we can only guess that support for Israel likely has a number of sources: the memory of the Arab slave trade (to this day, the Arabic word for "black African" is the same as the word for "slave"); the threat of Muslim expansion; the genocide perpetrated by Sudanese Arabs in Darfur; the asylum Saudi Arabia provided to murderer Idi Amin, and the absorption of Ethiopian Jews in Israel (which may explain the results of the survey in Ethiopia).

However, there may be a secondary reason: Israel's own anti-Zionist propaganda squads are not active in Africa: There could be a hidden connection between this activity and the level of hatred for Israel in other places.

AS A CASE in point, take Britain's Oxford University. The following activities were held there in the past school year: "Israel's wars in Gaza and Lebanon," with Avi Shlaim and Shachar Nativ; "The ethnic cleansing of Palestine," with Ilan Pappe; "Israeli apartheid week," with Avi Shlaim and Jemal Zehalka; screening of the film Route 181 by Eyal Sivan (the screening of which was canceled by the government of France because of French Jewish community claims that it was anti-Semitic); "Ethnic terror as a crime against humanity: The case of Palestine" - Lecturer: Ilan Pappe.

That second bit of speculation is especially damning.

But there might well be another reason too: MASHAV. Or even a private initiative like Save a Child's Heart. Israel, officially and unofficially is extending a lot of practical aid to African countries. Perhaps it's finally getting recognized.

Of course some better known African celebrities like Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela who hang with rock stars to save the world are not know for being that friendly to Israel.

Mandela, despite his fight for freedom in South Africa has shown a troubling tendency to embrace tyrants.

Mandela has long been a friend of tyrants, from Fidel Castro to Muammar Qaddafi to Yasir Arafat. In the current issue of Azure, I explore the theme of Mandela’s support for these autocrats within the larger context of the troubling direction in which his political party—the African National Congress—is taking South African foreign policy.

Say an ill word about Nelson Mandela and you become, in the eyes of the mainstream media, international glitterati, and pop culture stars, a heretic of all that’s right and good in the world. But no one is immune from criticism, not even someone who spent 27 years of his life languishing in prison for the ideals of non-racialism and democracy.

Still, there's one South African freedom fighter who remains a light unto nations: Helen Suzman and who sees Israel without blinders.

She continues to speak out on a wide range of topics including Israel. Last year, for example, she accused Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils of fostering anti-Semitism for likening the Jewish state to the Nazis. Although never having being a member of any Zionist organisation, Helen describes herself as a passive Zionist. She has over many years contributed to Israeli causes and has had thousands of trees planted by the JNF in her name. On two occasions she has visited Israel but has yet to see the Knesset in action.

Why is it that being a progressive hero means never saying a good word about Israel? Surely aiding Africa is a great anti-colonial enterprise.

Also posting on this Daled Amos, Rubicon3.

africa, israel.