News
Lieberman wants closer ties with Africa, Latin America
Roni Sofer
Published: 24.04.09, 09:06
Comment Comment
Print comment Print comment
Back to article
23 Talkbacks for this article
1. to Mauritania or South Africa?
observer   (04.24.09)
March 5, 2009, in response to the Israeli offensive into the Gaza Strip, the African country of Mauritania has cut diplomatic ties with Israel and expelled the Israeli diplomats in the country. They have been ordered to leave the country in no more than 48 hours. The political uncertainty in the South African presidential elections and the predicted landslide victory of Jacob Zuma have pushed many Jews recently to make the ultimate alliyah. We have to recall that Lieberman has already gained the title of persona non grata in Egypt and wouldn't accompany Netanyahu to Egypt.
2. 100 Countries voted against Israel racism
lydia ,   Brisbane   (04.24.09)
at the Durban Conference. None of the 23 countries that walked out in support of Israel were either African or Latin American. Chavez is a Latin American God and hold sways amongst the LA countries and he has already thrown his support behind Ahmadinejad/Iran. Does Lieberman thinks he is more popular or charismatic than Chavez.? In his dreams! The Africans have already started boycotting Israels ships/products in support of the Palestinians and after Israel latest' turkey shoot' in the African/Somali desert, even if Lieberman is bringing in forklifts loaded with US$bills, once the funds dry up these guys will revert to form and Lieberman wouldn't want to turn his back on any of them.
3. To number 1
Allan Gold ,   Rosh Haayin, Israel   (04.24.09)
There is more than one country in Africa, south Africa is not a great country any more and is corrupted beyond recognition now. You are completely forgetting the sub-saharan countries that are growing. As well as this Latin America is growing, especially Brazil. But the FM should make it a priority to visit Asia as well, especially China / Japan / South Korea as well as Austrailia and New Zealand.
4. Who cares about egypt!
(04.24.09)
5. israel and Africa
Moises ,   lisbon, Portugal   (04.24.09)
Hmmm...A known racist goin 'to africa looking for support! For those who do not know, Israel sold weapons to the racist apartheid south african government of Botha and De klerk. The massacred of unarmed children of soweto was all israeli weapons. Israelis must know the truth and understand that they too have African blood on their hands.
6. Lieberman visits countiers who may shake his hands!
Tayfun_Turkey ,   Istanbul   (04.24.09)
A short travel shall be indeed! Cannot go to Europe!
7. #3 may be corrupt, but active
observer   (04.24.09)
According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, in 1977 Israel traded 30 grams of tritium in exchange for 50 tons of South African uranium and in the mid-80s assisted with the development of the RSA-3 ballistic missile. Also in 1977, according to foreign press reports, it was suspected that South Africa signed a pact with Israel that included the transfer of military technology and the manufacture of at least six atom bombs. In 2000, Dieter Gerhardt, Soviet spy and former commander in the South African Navy, claimed that Israel agreed in 1974 to arm eight Jericho II missiles with "special warheads" for South Africa. In the 1990s, the South African government dismantled all of its nuclear weapons; but, did South Africa really destroyed its nuke? Israel helped South Africa develop its bomb designs in return for 550 tons of raw uranium and other assistance. According to the information provided to the IAEA that South Africa fabricated its first nuclear explosive device in November 1979, two months after the flash over the Indian Ocean, and that this first experimental device remained in the stockpile until 1989. The IAEA investigations of uranium production records, and actual inventories of highly enriched uranium, could not hide enough highly enriched uranium to fashion a "missing" bomb. Israel signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, but provided assistance for those tests and didn't condemn the Indian test.
8. Portugual have more blood hands!
moises ,   Brazil   (04.24.09)
Let´s play a fair game, moises! Portugal was a colonial power in africa, were they active participated in massacres and slavary in africa and latin america, and you are not so crytical to your own country. Portugal was one of the first countries to do the inquisition and persecuit jews, or you forgot. Portugal was one power runned by african hands and souls. Maybe Africa must boycott portugal.
9. #2 what load of c**p typical of an antisemite.
Tahl ,   Ashdod, Israel   (04.24.09)
Lieberman certainly has no intetion of strengthening ties with the likes of Venezuela or Bolivia. These backward, corrupted, totalitarian countries are hardly in our interest. Trust me, there are enough countries in S. America which are very westernized, and would love to have Israel help them in technological or military issues. We already have great ties with Columbia and Chile. Now it's time for more. "The Africans have already started boycotting Israels ships/products in support of the Palestinians and after Israel latest' turkey shoot' in the African/Somali desert" - Haha, right... As if Ethiopia, Angola, Namibia, Ivory coast, Nigeria, etc... care about Sudan. Heck, even the Sudanese themselves hardly care about this incident... Also, the expression "turkey shoot" makes it sound like these targets were innocent. Nothing could be farther than the truth!
10. Israel and Africa
Spencer ,   Israel   (04.24.09)
Massacred unarmed children in Soweto......this is a complete and utter lie!
11. #5 You've apparently forgotten...
Tahl ,   Ashdod, Israel   (04.24.09)
Russia, China and France supplying Iran with nuclear technology, used to threaten and destabilize the entire world. Or Russia supplying Syria with missiles which were used against Israel by Hizbullah. Or Russia exporting AK-47s, Katyushas and SCUDs to dark dictator regimes throughout world. Or China doing the same with GRAD missiles. Or the United States supplying weapons to the Mujahideen. And I wonder just how many people, did American M16s kill in Sri Lanka or Rwanda or East Timor? And there are numerous other examples. As you can see war means business for the entire world... Yet the Israel-haters always forget all other examples and only scapegoat Israel.
12. In your dreams!!
Carlos ,   USA   (04.24.09)
N o one in the world trust liberman or israel, looking at what you have done to your own allies, the world starts to realize who you are. Specially latin america , viva chavez, de lula, martinos
13. Lieberman comming?
Eduardo ,   Mexico   (04.24.09)
I can say on the part of Mexico, FM Lieberman is VERY welcome here. I will contact the israeli embassy to see if he will hold a public meeting and get my way in. I've had the opportunity to meet some israeli leaders including Netanyahu, Peres, and some more. But OMG, am I excited about Lieberman!! Please come visit us to Mexico FM! we have a VERY pro-israel society, and especially jewish community.
14. Finally somebody decided to go on offensive.
leo ,   USA   (04.24.09)
15. to # 10
Moises ,   Lisbon, Portugal   (04.24.09)
the children and youth were all mostly shot in the back. http://www.inminds.com/img/soweto-uprising.16.june.1976.jpg you need to go and read some african history and not HIS-tory. I did not put Israelis down...I was critizicing a governmental decision like I would to any other nation. NOW LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!
16. TO #8 Moises from Brazil
moises ,   Lisbon, Portugal   (04.24.09)
First of all, just because I live in Portugal it does not mean I agree with what happened in the past. Otherwise there would be no Jews of any kind living in germany and other places in the World. Second of all, I am of African ancestry (Mozambique) so do not insult me by reminding me what your kind have done to mine. If the Portuguese have bloody hands so does Brazil. One of the most racist nations on earth. If you ever read any history about the Atlantic slave trade you will find out that some portuguese "colonies" were controlled by Brazil for at least 100 yrs. slavery in Brazil officially ended in 1888. Even after that people were still being kidnapped to Brazil by Brazilians. Some of our grandparents were born between 1910 and 1920 and witnessed this. If you do your mathematics it was recently and it lasted about 400 yrs or so. Last, it is a known fact and made legit but jewish scholars that many Jews from Portugal and Spain (sephardim) sponsored the Atlantic slave trade. "Jews also took an active part in the Dutch colonial slave trade; indeed, the bylaws of the Recife and Mauricia congregations (1648) included an imposta (Jewish tax) of five soldos for each Negro slave a Brazilian Jew purchased from the West Indies Company. Slave auctions were postponed if they fell on a Jewish holiday. In Curacao in the seventeenth century, as well as in the British colonies of Barbados and Jamaica in the eighteenth century, Jewish merchants played a major role in the slave trade. In fact, in all the American colonies, whether French (Martinique), British, or Dutch, Jewish merchants frequently dominated. Now leave me alone. Don't try to con me and make my criticisim of the Israeli government in south africa an anti-semitic thing. I do not have problems with Israeli People.
17. to # 11 Tahl
Moises ,   Lisbon, Portugal   (04.24.09)
I made a comment regarding the article. Nobody has claimed The israeli Government is alone on this one. Nobody!!! But by teaching me about the other countries you have agreed that the Israeli Gover'nt was morally wrong selling weapons to racist south Africa. Thank you for the enlightement. I respect you.
18. ethiopian Israeli attacked
Tadesse ,   Ethiopia   (04.24.09)
has anybody heard of this incident recently? Shame! http://nazret.com/blog/index.php?title=attack_on_ethiopian_israeli_video&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
19. Moises In your~5 post you are talking rubbish-What weapons?
Alan ,   SA   (04.24.09)
SA made plenty stuff for Riots etc .SA didnt need Israel weapons for SOWETO RIOTS.. I was in SA then so dont tell me Bobbe Maises.Now leave me alone with your Bobbe Maises.
20. 9 African Union53 PanAfrican Rep.265
lydia ,   Brisbane   (04.25.09)
The countries you mention i.e. Ethiopia, Angola, Namibia, Ivory coast, Nigeria, are all members of the AU, and China has already swimming in that pool. Mugabe as obnoxious as he might seem to some, is a member of the AU and enjoys it's protection. Ask the Brits! Gaddafi, that eternal 'friend' of Israel, plays an important huge in the organization. Without your bag of money which Obama will no longer provide if you won't respect Int. laws, there is no warm fuzzy breast in either SA or the AU that Lieberman can snuggle into. Talk Peace.
21. Bobbe Maises (whatever the hell that means)
Moises ,   lisbon, portugal   (04.25.09)
Israel was openly critical of apartheid through the 1950s and 60s as it built alliances with post-colonial African governments. But most African states broke ties after the 1973 Yom Kippur war and the government in Jerusalem began to take a more benign view of the isolated regime in Pretoria. The relationship changed so profoundly that, in 1976, Israel invited the South African prime minister, John Vorster - a former Nazi sympathiser and a commander of the fascist Ossewabrandwag that sided with Hitler - to make a state visit. RACISM!!!
22. Bobbe Maises (english please)
Moises ,   Lisbon, Portugal   (04.25.09)
Vorster, whose army was then overrunning Angola, told his hosts that South Africa and Israel were victims of the enemies of western civilisation. A few months later, the South African government's yearbook characterised the two countries as confronting a single problem: "Israel and South Africa have one thing above all else in common: they are both situated in a predominantly hostile world inhabited by dark peoples." Vorster's visit laid the ground for a collaboration that transformed the Israel-South Africa axis into a leading weapons developer and a force in the international arms trade. Liel, who headed the Israeli foreign ministry's South Africa desk in the 80s, says that the Israeli security establishment came to believe that the Jewish state may not have survived without the relationship with the Afrikaners. "We created the South African arms industry," says Liel. "They assisted us to develop all kinds of technology because they had a lot of money. When we were developing things together we usually gave the know-how and they gave the money. After 1976, there was a love affair between the security establishments of the two countries and their armies. "We were involved in Angola as consultants to the [South African] army. You had Israeli officers there cooperating with the army. The link was very intimate." Alongside the state-owned factories turning out materiel for South Africa was Kibbutz Beit Alfa, which developed a profitable industry selling anti-riot vehicles for use against protesters in the black townships. CAN you hide that Alan? Maybe you can but not forever. Again...I do not intend to insult Israelis. I made a statement concerning the Israeli Government.
23. Bobbe Maises
Moises ,   Lisbon, Portugal   (04.25.09)
Going nuclear The biggest secret of all was the nuclear one. Israel provided expertise and technology that was central to South Africa's development of its nuclear bombs. Israel was embarrassed enough about its close association with a political movement rooted in racial ideology to keep the military collaboration hidden. "All that I'm telling you was completely secret," says Liel. "The knowledge of it was extremely limited to a small number of people outside the security establishment. But it so happened that many of our prime ministers were part of it, so if you take people such as [Shimon] Peres or Rabin, certainly they knew about it because they were part of the security establishment. "At the UN we kept saying: we are against apartheid, as Jewish people who suffered from the Holocaust this is intolerable. But our security establishment kept cooperating." Brothers in arms - Israel's secret pact with Pretoria http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/feb/07/southafrica.israel
Back to article