Israel, Immigration and Africa: Going Beyond Building a Fence

Israel needs an Aggressive Development Policy in Africa, or at least for those countries closest to it

Israel is by no means a very rich state, yet in relation to most countries in the region, and to those countries in sub-Saharan Africa it is indeed a wealthy country. The average Israeli is not conscious of where Sudan, Eritrea or Ethiopia is. For the most part, Africa is a place that is far- and hot, poor and far. Yet, it is clear that the physical Africa is not far as the psychological one. The immigration crisis is an indication of how Israel is seen in Africa, and also how Israel has viewed Africa. The government’s view is that the African immigration through the Sinai Peninsula as an economic immigration and not as a refugee issue. The government envisaged solution is building a fence along the Sinai border. Yet, it is improbable that the fence will prove an effective protection against local smugglers who are thriving of the smuggling business. The better solution to the problem however, is to be more involved in solving the root causes that are fuelling the influx of refugees across the border. Israel needs to be aggressively involved in the political, diplomatic and development issues of the region of North and North Eastern Africa.

The people smuggling business is run by Bedouin smugglers who are quite familiar of the porous border between Egypt and Israel. Moreover, even if the border fence becomes operational and manages to stave off the infiltration, it is unlikely to succeed to renewed efforts of smugglers to find alternative ways under the fence or through it. With the large amount of money it is said that they make of this business, it is likely that smugglers can involve border police officers in Egypt to turn a blind eye to their operation. It is doubtful if building a fence 30 times longer than the fence between Egypt and the Gaza strip will effectively halt human or other form of smuggling. A long term solution will need to be more innovative than a 200 mile fence across a desert, which would need to be manned and maintained to ensure its efficiency.

The other issue is that Israel has been losing to its arch enemies in the field of International Diplomacy and Courtship. Iran has been aggressively building a relationship with African countries, in the West and in the Centre as well as down the red sea with Eritrea. Israel on the other hand has continued to implement a long running diplomatic interchange with African countries based on its national interest such as oil and the usual concerns of image on the global stage. Economically, Israel’s international development policy seems limited technology exchange, mostly in the field of agriculture. Compared with the robust international charm offensive of countries like Iran, and the economic investments of countries such as Saudi Arabia in the agricultural sector and other sectors, Israel seems still on the sluggish lane.

Israel’s strategic interests lie in the region far closer to it than Senegal, where Iran has been building a car assembly plant or Nigeria, both regional super powers in their respective corners of Africa. The Eastern Africa region, especially those parts including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, south Sudan (soon enough South Sudan), and Somalia are of immense strategic importance to Israel. Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia hug along most of the Red Sea coast, a vital sea route crucial to global trade, including Israel’s naval and merchant fleet security.

Sudan, Africa’s largest country, has always maintained its hostile stance towards the Jewish state. Its travel restrictions relating to travel to Israel, is one of the strictest. The recent discovery of oil in Sudan and what will be South Sudan, has increased the interest of the US and China in the country. Both of which vie for Sudan’s oil. Sudan however continues to be a major player in the region along with Egypt, especially in the issue of the fair share of the Nile waters, on which the two countries form a side against the rest of the countries in the region. Sudan stand on Israel is similar to the stands of the rest of Arab countries, and much doesn’t seem to change on that front. South Sudan, a new country in the making, has had a referendum a few weeks ago whose results will almost certainly divide Sudan into two and most of Sudanese oil wells. Israel had supported the independence movement of the Southern Sudanese people since the 1960s and thus has a good historical connection. If the referendum and the breakup of Sudan is peacefully realised in the coming few months, South Sudan will offer a chance to balance Sudan’s hostile stance on Israel

Eritrea, an increasingly isolated and highly repressive country, has been a source of thousands of refugees in Israel. It is said to have had reached agreement with the Iranians on the use of the oil refinery southern port of Assab, which lay abandoned ever since 1998, when the Eritrea and Ethiopia, the main user of the port went to war. Eritrea has been reportedly implicated in being one of the drop-off spots for arms destined to Hamas in the Gaza strip. The arms were said to arrive in a great semi-circle arc from Iran, through the Indian Ocean to Eritrea’s southern port, and then by land through Sudan and Egypt.

Then there is Somalia, which has fragmented in 1991 to two de facto states and various territories run by warlords and militia groups. Its Transitional government elected by a compromise of warlords and tribal chiefs, is confined to the capital city Mogadishu, similar to the central government in Kabul, Afghanistan. Somalia is similar to Afghanistan not only in its turbulent recent history, but also because it is new nest of Islamic extremists. In areas where the extremist don’t control, such as in coastal villages, piracy has replaced fishing as the choice career path. In those areas, pirates are very much in control. Using small fishing boats and small arms, and shoulder held rocket launchers, Somali fishermen turned pirates routinely hijack ships crossing the Gulf of Aden and sometimes even sail up to the middle of the Indian Ocean to make their catch.

Landlocked Ethiopia’s relationship with Israel is by far the warmest in the region. Owing to the large Ethiopian origin population in Israel and the history of cooperation between Israel and previous governments, this seems to be the most amicable connection of Israel to the region. There are Israeli investors investing in the horticulture industry in the country, and in other agricultural and construction sectors. Yet, it is still not comparable to the level of economic interests other Arab countries have with Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is strong, with Agricultural exports from Ethiopia and Saudi investment in different sectors increasing consistently. Saudi Arabia has for years increased its influence in the country, by increasing its investments and financing the building of mosques and schools for the country’s Muslim population. On the economic level, the trade ties between Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia is one of the highest for the East African country.

Israel’s foreign and economic policies for the most part, has shunned away from playing a major role in much of East Africa. This has so far seemed the right thing to do, as whatever happens in those countries didn’t offer any kind of threat to the economy and security of Israel. In today’s world, however, it is obvious that has changed. For many years, Israel has continued to exist behind its own line of defence wary of military and public security concerns. It has considered itself as besieged by enemies, as it is, and has constantly set up lines of defence and barriers, between itself and its enemies. Surprisingly, the population group from which most of the migrants originate were never appeared a cause for concern for Israel in the past. Darfurians from Sudan and Eritreans were never deemed as a security concern. Yet their increasingly visible and growing presence has made the government view them as a demographic threat to the Jewish and democratic nature of the country. The recent solution to build a fence on the southern border with Egypt seems more in line with the way Israel has addressed recent security threats than the complexity of issues driving hordes of immigrants into its border. Perhaps, the building of a fence is typical of a siege mentality that has characterised Israel. This has worked in the past, reducing suicide bombings in Jerusalem and jewish settlements near the West Bank and Gaza, but seems likely to be a costly overreaction to immigration and human smuggling business

Israel needs to step out of its siege mentality, and view those countries which are a source of the new wave of refugees and/or economic migrants, in a more broad minded approach. The recent interview that the Eritrean ambassador to Israel gave to Y-net is an indication of how Israel’s regional policy needs to be reviewed. The Eritrean Ambassador said that the country will not accept any deportees from Israel, and blamed Israel for creating the situation in Israel. In his words, “Israel has created the situation by accepting the first migrant and giving him a refugee status...they should have sent the first one back.” The utter lack of cooperation that the Eritrean government’s envoy showed to Israel’s conceived plan of deporting Eritrean unsuccessful asylum seekers back to Eritrea shows how far apart Israel and Eritrea see on the issue. Eritrea, sees return of refugees in Israel as a nuisance to its repressive politics and an end to valuable remittance that the regime relies on. While the Israeli government’s view of almost all Eritrean refugees as economic migrants and thus liable to deportation doesn’t seem even to ring a hint of responsibility to the Eritrean government, whose envoy shrugged off as being too late and politely explained that they will not accept deported Eritreans. Surprising, isn’t it?!

For the most part of the last century, Israel’s image in Africa has suffered due to the influence of Arab states and oil exporting countries stand against Israel, over the wars that were fought with neighbouring Arab states. Israel’s decision to support the Apartheid government of South Africa, didn’t add to Israel’s image in that part of the world. The world has changed since then, and is set to ever change and shape itself as well. Israel’s international development policy for the region would result in completing the repair of Israel’s image in Africa. Engaging in a dynamic and aggressive regional policy will mean exerting influence in the regional issues with a view of Israel’s long term national and strategic interest at heart and with the aim of forging lasting and mutually benefitting alliances. Building a fence is but a preliminary action; the solution is far off and would need an adjustment on how Israel sees Africa and what it can do in Africa. After all, the horn of Africa is one of the most populous parts of Africa. It certainly has strategic values, which Israel has an interest on.

On Ending the Series on Obama Inspired Articles

I am ending my articles on Obama and the effect of his presidency and moving to other issues. I intend to keep this blog open and might update it after this.

I will soon post a link to the follow up blog and series of articles that I will be posting.

Bruck

By the Content of their Charachter..

....and not by the color of their skin (or how foreign their names may sound...)


When the News Networks called the election for Obama, the crowd that I was surrounded by began to chant "Obama" repeatedly. Some of them were jumping up and down, some clapping and others were clenching their fists in victory. What got my attention was all the people, strung from all the races and places in the world were chanting, what Obama himself called 'a funny name'. Immediately, something struck me.


I imagined millions and millions in the world seized in that historic moment and chanting the name of an african man, from an obscure village in Kenya, whose son now carries his name and has made it a household name across the world.


Dr. Martin Luther King's dream of a time "...that they will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their charachte...." had come true. It could also be interpreted to mean or include not just colours of skin but also name.....something like " ... not by the wierdness of their name, but by the content of character..."


Obama's victory is for all those people whose names are not Jackson, Henderson, Smith and Jones. It is for all those living in cultures where their name, no matter how meaningful and beautiful may sound in another language beyond the horizon, sounds weird and warrants a repetition or spelling at every office and infront of every clerk.


I remember all my ethioisraeli friends in Israel who had taken up Israeli sounding names as kids. Some by the decisions of their parents others by the decision of their teachers. One friend ahs even told me how the teacher had let other students choose a name for her, as she foudn her ethiopian name to hard to pronounce. 'Ordinary' sounding names were thought to usher their assimilation in Israel society. Almost all of them had reverted to their Ethiopian names once they had grown up and their experience had shown them that the key to assimilation was not in their names.


That night, when the students went shouting "Obama, Obama" on their way out..... For me it was the same as if they were chanting any african name or any asian name. It might have been the same if they were shouting Abebe, Li, Huan, Hailu or "______".



Caveat
Ofcourse one should note that Obama's name is simple to pronounce. Even babies say it easily, it has O, ba, and ma (sylables easy enough for kids to say and remember). Names which are hard to pronounce don't make an easy chant line nor do they fit in the name memory slots of human brains easily. Imagine a crowd of europeans chanting "Gebreegzihabher".....in Berlin on Senator Gebreegzihabher (D-Il) world tour. Somehow it sucks out all the excitement out of it.

White, Red, Brown and Black

White, red, brown and black?- if you have to choose.

The concept of skin color has been on my mind ever since I had moved out of my country of birth, and started living in a country where the majority of the people have less pigmentation than I do. Obviously, this had not disturbed me back in Ethiopia. Once I was in Israel, though it was the first thing that I discovered about myself, I look darker than most people. It is not that I never knew that,  I did know that but it did not seem important then. I remember the first two or three weeks in Israel, my skin looked darker to me than it ever was. Call it culture shock, or increase in self-consciousness but it really did make me notice that for most people that might be the first thing they notice about me.

In Ethiopia, people refer to skin color as white (reserved to yes! You guessed it- white people), red (key- someone like Barack Obama), teyim (brown skinned—let us say Mandella) and black ( meaning dark complexioned). There were connotation to skin color embedded in the language, culture and history, that tended to associate, the red complexioned people to nobility, and the dark complexioned people to lower status in the society. Yet this was nothing automatic, there were light skinned kings and dark skinned kings. Poor people of “red” complexion of the skin and wealthy “black” people.

So most Ethiopians, undergo the transformation of being reclassified as black once they come to countries where the color code is quite different to the one they were familiar with. I, for one, never was fooled by this sub-classification. I was the darker than most of my siblings, my mother and I were brown skinned. My sister and brother, are light skinned and so is my father. Some among my country men learn that they are really black and not 'red' or 'teyim', in the land beyond the seas. There they meet a whole different rule of classification, where it could be more of “ if it ain’t white, it is black”.

I am not going to go into the discussion of black-white dichotomy. I am sorry to disappoint, if there are who are disappointed. I guess I am just reminded on how language and words on the meanings they carry. The phrase ‘black man’ as used in English seems so outdated and hopefully is becoming less and less politically correct. The term white man is no more politically correct.

In a way the greatest political incorrectness in the use of the word black man or white man is not the color we attach to it, but it is the way we classify the world into white, yellow and black. Like all dichotomies the removal of one part of the dichotomy defeats the dichotomy as a whole. Perhaps that is why we should drop the use of the word black man first. Soon the word, white man will be a reference that is as meaningless as the word black man.

Polls, Kadima and September 11

The first thing that I check in the morning when I sit on my computer is the numbers. Yes, the US election polls! The national polling result, the battleground states, who is leading, the favourablity ratings in short I check it as if I am a pundit on some political blog or a volunteer at a campaign office.

Meanwhile, in Israel, Olmert is definitely standing down. The primary race is between Livni and Mofaz. But I don't check that on a day to day basis. The race is likely to be between Livni and Mofaz, whoever gets the reins of Kadima will get the government. They say Livni is the darling of the left and Mofaz wants to bomb the nuclear out of his birthland. In a way I think that my life will be more affected by who wins the White House than the Siat Kadima. Even if it is Livni, I think Israel will take the necessary action to protect itself from a nuclear Iran.

When the planes crashed into the Twin Towers on September 11, I was in Ethiopia. My parents had called from Israel and I had gone into a neighbours house to speak to them since the phone at home was out of order. As I went in their living room to speak in their landline phone, they were perched on their sofa and watching CNN intently. I finished the conversation and joined what was gaining their attention. The South Tower had just crashed and they were watching that as if it was a new action movie. I was dumbstruck, couldn't believe my eyes. The twin tower has fallen and planes were crashed into the buildings purposely by terrorists! I was like trying to comprehend the monostrous consequences of that. I said to my neighbours 'this is big and we are watching history'. They did not understand my excitement, shock and disbelief.

The World did change that day. It changed in many ways. When America went around the world making a statement, I noticed the changes that Sept. 11 wrought in my life. As a consequence of the decisions of the US Administration, some countries were made stronger, like Iran; the US had given a blind eye and deaf ear as its Allies in the War Against Terrorism trampled on citizens' rights and bend and broke human rights. I think my life has been changed tremendously as a result of Sept 11, may be that is why I am more interested in the US elections than the Israeli party politics.

BT

Obama, A New Job, Hope and Fear

By Baruch Munna

The world is paying attention these days to the nomination of Barack Obama as the first ever African American candidate of a major party for the presidency of the strongest country in the world. Well, like most people, I have been paying attention to that for sometime now. Ever since Barack Obama announced that he was going to run for president in February 2007, I was checking up the news outlets on the fate of the junior senator from Illinois on a regular basis.

That was when I was just past my first semester at graduate school and a month into a new job. It happens that I was having lunch with two of my newfound colleagues, when our talk about food turned to exotic foods and then to the mix of cultures, and then I was suddenly reminded of the African American senator's bid for presidency and I decided to update my new colleagues on the news I read a few days ago.

"Have you heard?" I said shifting the conversation, and told them about the Black senator who was bidding to be the next occupant of the White House. They scoffed at my story, "A black man in the United States as President?" I just said, "Well, we shall see…." but they went on to remind me how racist America really is by citing their experiences in the US. I could not argue for or against based on experience, since by then I had never been to the US and all that I know of the country was what I read, saw on TV or heard from those who had been there. Well we never really did discuss Barack Obama; until he was all over the news outlets and the fever of his ascendancy in the Democratic primaries were all over the news. By January 2008 and after the Iowa caucus, one of my colleagues who had remained to work in the company had officially become an Obama supporter. We then began to freely discuss, if he really can beat the former first lady. Well, he won Iowa, and won South Carolina riding the African American voters' wave, but can he really win the Nomination, we would chew through our food druing lunch breaks.

Meanwhile, my classes had really advanced over the year and were approaching the end of my graduate studies. So it was that I met a friend on the corridors of the university who had just finished classes like I did and was preparing to start a new job. Unlike me, she never worked professionally and she was quite stressed about it. She had just finished a study of 5 years where she studied her first and second degree without a break in between.

With a post graduate degree in hand and a mother tongue hebrew and a good command of English, she had eased into the jobmarket with an advantage over her peers. However, the idea of becoming a full time employee really scared her. She had already got a job as a clerk in a government office. She was wondering that what she had studied in her two degrees had nothing to do with what she is going to do. Her whole perspective of the professional world was filled with pessimism. She was not expecting anything positive from her first ever job. Her sense of the future was clearly not promising and I tried to talk her out of her pessimism. I told her that I did not have any idea of what I wanted to do when I graduated too and that she will need to see the professional world for herself to really find out what she wants to do in life and to know how she can do that.

She took note of my advice and asked me why I think she feels so negative at this time while she should really appreciate the path she came and what she accomplished. I had to tell her what I think and told her that she was putting up a defense system as she is stepping out for the first time to face the world of professional work. She has her concerns and fears, and lowering her expectations bar by thinking negatively was what she was doing. After all she is a black woman, living in a mostly white country where not quite a few people doubt if she is Jewish at all. Well I had to hand it to her. As they say friends are those that tell you what you don't want to hear. To my surprise, she agreed to my explanation. "You know" she said, "I never thought that I had negative expectations for my future here in Israel, until a few months ago…" so she started telling me that she met Ethiopian Americans that came to visit Jerusalem and she had a chance to acquaint with them. They had a question for her. "Why do people stare at us in the streets?" To her surprise she had a quick response for them, she quipped "It must be because you were speaking in English and most Israeli's are surprised to hear Ethiopians speak English." Her answer surprised her more than it surprised them. She told me that she started really paying attention to all the negative thoughts she hoards in the back of her mind about her life as an Israeli of Ethiopian origin in Israel. Amazingly, she was born in Israel and does not even speak Amharic, the Ethiopian language. Yet many see her and treat her as a new immigrant in her daily life.

So our conversation drifted to Obama as conversations do often these days, well at least to me they do. We wondered people's perception of black people in Israel might change if he gets elected. She confessed that she was in dilemma. "As a black woman," she said, "I am for his election and as a Jew, I hear he will not be good for Israel and don't want him to win."

I have spent hours reading talk back comments from Ynet to Jerusalem Post and all that you read is the hostility most Israeli's have towards Obama. In my humble opinion, I think most Israeli's find it hard to accept that a man whose father was a Muslim will not have sympathy to the Arab world. Well the truth is most (or so I think) Israelis come from Jewish parents from both sides and are not exposed to a mix marriage out of their religion, let alone race. I, for one having come from a mix marriage have no problem taking Obama at his word. If he thinks he identifies as American and is a Christian fine with me. After all, the only thing he has taken from his father is his name. Maybe it is because of the fact that Israel is more or less a homogenous nation state or so we tend to think that the make up of Obama scares us. The US is definitely on the way of being more of a multicultural state, the rise of a multiracial and multicultural candidate maybe the strongest indication of that.

Hope is perhaps what I can share with my lady friend as to the fate of Israel's black population, would there be a time ever that a black man can rise to an occasion of this magnitude in Israel. Well not in the near future anyway, but as Dr. King dreamt a generation ago so can we that one day we shall cease to fear and start to hope even if it means on a small thing as our first job out of university. After all we came to live and be a part of Israel, not to stand aside and watch.

The writer is an Ethiopian Israeli, who can be reached on baruchmuna@gmail.com