Yaron London
צילום: יהונתן דייויס
African disgrace
Israelis assisting tyrannical African regimes should be pressed to stop
Once I dreamt I was in Africa, hunting wild elephants, lions, rhinoceroses and parrots. I awoke with my heart pounding: I could actually go there! Why shouldn't I do exactly that? These are the opening lines of a children's book entitled "Lobengula, King of Zulu" written and illustrated by Nachum Gutman. The book was written in 1939 and was a bestseller for several generations.
It would have been impossible to write such a story in our times for several reasons: Firstly, no contemporary writer would dare write about his passion for hunting wild animals. Secondly, Lobengula was not the king of Zulu, but rather, the king of a people currently living in Zimbabwe. Thirdly, traveling to Zimbabwe, where a rule of terror reigns, is not recommended.
At the time Gutman wrote his book, Zimbabwe was called Southern Rhodesia and it was a British colony. In 1980 it gained independence and has since been ruled by Robert Mugabe, who led one of the underground organizations that ousted the British. Similar to many other leaders in Africa who were liberated from the yoke of colonialism, the liberator turned into the enslaver.
In the first decade of his rule, his army, which was trained by North Korean officers, murdered hundreds of thousands of civilians. Later the massive estates owned by a few thousand Brits were nationalized. This act, had it been carried out honestly and wisely, could have been viewed as a reasonable land reform, but it was accompanied by wild rioting, murder, expulsion of civilians of non-African origin, and transfer of the land to supporters of the regime.
Nationalization led to terrible starvation because the agricultural industry, which was a key export industry, completely collapsed. The regime's corruption and violence also undermined the other two important economic industries: Tourism and mining. Hence, one of the most prosperous countries in Africa was turned into one of the poorest.
Due to the starvation and ethnic and political persecution 3.5 million people fled (a quarter of the population) to neighboring countries. Zimbabwe suffers six-digit inflation. Life expectancy has dropped from 60 to half of that. AIDS has infected a third of the population. Sixty percent of the wild animals have been destroyed. Elections were distorted, leaders of the opposition were beaten and murdered, the media was repressed, and foreign media agencies expelled.
Making money in Zimbabwe
The aging Mugabe is set to amend the constitution, so that it would permit him to rule for many more years. Based on the number of afflicted people, what is happening in Zimbabwe is the most severe humanitarian tragedy in Africa, perhaps even greater than the one in Darfur, the Horn of Africa and East Congo.
And yet the world continues to turn on its axis: Slowly. Zimbabwe is boycotted and isolated; however, Mugabe's regime can only be ousted by brute force. And since no superpower wishes to get its forces involved in what's going on there, we can surmise that millions more will die until this beautiful country goes back to normal.
What do we have to do with the tragedy of a far-off and distant people? An Israeli journalist born in Zimbabwe called me and directed my attention to an article that appeared in an opposition newspaper published in London. It said that Israelis are assisting Mugabe's regime with intelligence and policing services.
I was unable to obtain confirmation of this article, and sources at the Defense Ministry informed me that although water hoses for dispersing crowds were sold to Zimbabwe a few years ago, export licenses to this country have not been issued since. This doesn't rule out the possibility that Israelis are doing business with the Mugabe government, selling it equipment purchased here and there, and providing consultation on security related issues.
Based on former incidences, we can guess that someone is making money on the back of this bleeding country.
Albeit it being difficult to prevent money-hungry Israelis from offering their services to such horrific countries - unless they are declared enemy states - they should be tracked down and pressured to refrain from doing so as much as the law permits.
Israeli passports have been profusely tainted; they shouldn't be allowed to be tainted further.
