Essential The Africa the Media Doesn't Tell You About

[Yehuda]

What does South Africa’s general strike mean for ANC-COSATU alliance?

COSATU, which has called for a national strike on October 7, is a traditional ally of the ruling African National Congress. The strike raises questions about the future of this alliance

October 07, 2020 by Pavan Kulkarni

Credit: Doctor Ngcobo/African News Agency (ANA)

One of decade’s most significant general strikes in South Africa on Wednesday, October 7, is a mobilization of workers, not simply behind a limited set of livelihood-related demands. It is also a protest against neoliberal capitalism which they have come to increasingly find to be at the root of their livelihood crisis.

The call for the strike was given by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) — a long-time ally of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). COSATU now characterizes the ANC as a “class-collaborationist” party as it has taken the side of the big capital against the working class in the “class-war long overdue.”

This position taken by the 1.8 million member-strong, largest trade union confederation makes the strike action more overtly political. It also raises the question of the future of the alliance between COSATU and the ANC.

Asked if such a political labor action by the COSATU vis-à-vis the ANC has a precedent, Sizwe Pamla, the union’s national spokesperson, told Peoples Dispatch that its country-wide strike action by public servants in 2007, in the build up to the ANC’s conference, was also “political” in a certain sense.

“Our position was that the neoliberal policy adopted by the ANC had led the country on a disastrous route. So we’d pushed for a change in leadership within the ANC,” Pamla said. “At that time, we had hope that the ANC, as an organization, could self-correct.”

“What is different this time is the realization that the ANC has betrayed the working class,” he added. No longer does the COSATU believe that the central problem is with ANC’s leadership, he explained. It is, he added, a realization that in the “class-war long overdue”, the ANC has taken the side of the big capital against the workers.

“We do sympathize”, he clarified, “with the ANC for being unable to implement radical land reforms.” The US, World Bank and the IMF will all impose a cost against such measures, and the ANC’s hesitation to face them is something the COSATU has been willing to reconcile with, he explained.

“But consciously reducing the corporate tax while increasing VAT, which burdens the working people,” and now, “blatantly stealing from the COVID-19 funds,” meant to protect the health and livelihood of the ordinary South Africans, has pushed COSATU to reconsider its assessment of the ANC.

The ruling party has shown itself to be reluctant to even limited measures to protect the workers’ basic livelihood, without having to pick a fight with the international capital, or challenging the system.

This, for COSATU, demonstrates whose side the ANC is on — a demonstration which has made the differences between COSATU and the ANC “extreme.”

Asked what this implies for the future of the alliance, Pamla said, “We don’t have the mandate to abandon the alliance that was affirmed in (our) 2017 conference. But in our next conference, we will debate the meaning of this alliance. That will be a central question.”

Future of trade union movement?

If the next conference should bring a shift in COSATU’s previous position with regards to ANC, one can expect a greater unity in the trade union movement. The nature and policies of the ANC has been a key question for the trade union movement with the country’s largest union — the left-wing National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) — leaving COSATU as it refused to continue to back the ANC.

Subsequently, NUMSA was instrumental in forming the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) in 2017. While NUMSA, which has around 360,000 members, is not participating in the strike, a number of other unions affiliated to SAFTU are mobilizing.

The General Industrial Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) was among the first of the SAFTU-affiliated trade unions which came out in favor of the strike.

“GIWUSA is encouraged that COSATU is becoming conscious of the class character of the ANC government and will not defer to it the hisfeattoric demands of the working class. GIWUSA hopes that this decisive action shall spark the beginning of a sustained collaboration between the two biggest federations in the country,” it said in its statement.

“We put forward the idea of rolling mass actions and SAFTU joining COSATU strike as a starting point, precisely because we believe in the unity of the working-class,” GIWUSA’s president, Mametlwe Sebe, told Peoples Dispatch.

“Whether COSATU leadership wills it or not, the shift in the attitude of their members has been happening…under hammer blows of the crisis and austerity that is carried out by the (ANC) government, (and) it is bound to accelerate.”

The union believes that the breaking of the alliance is a foregone conclusion because it is “not just the workers who are drawing the necessary conclusions about the alliance. The ANC itself is conducting a policy incompatible with the alliance, and sections of its leadership, especially people like the current Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, are speaking openly about “freeing” themselves from the restraints of the alliance partners,” says Sebe.

What does South Africa’s general strike mean for ANC-COSATU alliance?

 

[newworldafro]

Caribbean-American Political Action Committee

 

[Yehuda]

Abahlali baseMjondolo celebrates 15 years of revolutionary struggle for land, housing and dignity

The shack dwellers’ movement of South Africa, marked 15 years of struggle for land, housing and dignity on October 4. It held a seminar, Sifike kanjani la? (How did we get to where we are?) and, the following day, relaunched the eKhenana branch of the movement.

October 13, 2020 by Pan Africanism Today Secretariat

The celebration of the 15th anniversary of the formation of AbM was held at the eKhenana Occupation in Cato Manor, Durban. This occupation has an office, a farm, a recreation centre and a political school, which is called The Frantz Fanon Political School. The first seeds for the farm were received from the MST (Landless Workers Movement) in Brazil. The MST flag flies next to the AbM flag, symbolising the movement’s practice of international solidarity. The occupation has survived repeated violent state attacks, particularly in the form of brutal evictions where homes have been demolished.

In a feat that is rare in South Africa – and in most parts of the African continent – Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) has insisted for the past decade and a half that poor, black shack dwellers must take up their rightful place in the city, firmly and with dignity. The movement was formally launched following months of debates in the aftermath of a road blockade organized from the Kennedy Road settlement in Durban in February 2005. Built over the past fifteen years, initially by young people. South Africa’s largest and most vibrant social movement has emerged through poverty, hardship, death and also tremendous courage.

AbM has emerged against the backdrop of the collapsing moral authority of the ruling African National Congress (ANC)-led government, and its anti-poor, anti-working class politics of neoliberalism, kleptocracy and brutal repression. The brutality with which the ANC and the South African state have insisted that private property must remain sacrosanct is evidenced by the assassination and murder of 18 AbM activists since the formation of the movement.

Routine and violent evictions by the notorious Anti-land Invasion Unit and Calvin & Family Security, assassinations of key leaders such as Thuli Ndlovu and the tragic killing of 2-year-old baby Jayden by police – who threw teargas into his home – have all been the dystopian normal the movement has endured. Leaders such as AbM President, S’bu Zikode, have gone into hiding on multiple occasions in response to the very real threat of assassination.

The rampant corruption of government officials, who routinely embezzle funds intended for the benefit of the poor, has come up against the principled wall of the 80,000 member movement which, in the words of one speaker at Saturday’s seminar: “has reached 15 because we all have the same agenda: to emancipate the marginalized”

Comrades learning about the farm on the eKhenana land occupation after the relaunch of the branch and the celebration of 15 years of revolutionary struggle. AbM has transformed the land into a space that produces livelihood.

The weekend’s celebrations emerged out of 15 years of pain and difficulty in the struggle for a dignified life. Rank and file members of AbM participated in a collective reflection on the long road they had walked together. Members reflected on losing houses, children and even an eye to the violent repression inflicted by the South African state. Nevertheless, the tone was hopeful. Members grounded their reflections not only in the suffering of their daily lives, but rather in the socialist praxis, or Ubuhlalism, that permeates every aspect of AbM.

Throughout the past 15 years AbM has consistently been confronted by the view that poor, working class, shack dwellers are not fully human. From the state and NGOs to the media and academics, there has been a persistent characterization of AbM as a ‘rabble of criminals’. Nevertheless, despite this hostility from a range of elites AbM has organized 80,000 of the most poor and downtrodden people in South African society and represents a clear voice for those on the peripheries of South African cities and society.

Attempts, even on the NGO left and ANC affiliated trade unions, to see AbM as nothing more than cannon fodder have led the movement to place significant emphasis on its own organic intellectuals. By popularizing the slogan “Nothing About Us, Without Us” within their ranks and insisting that struggle is fundamentally about answering a series of difficult questions collectively, the movement has survived numerous attempts to co-opt or destroy it. Projects like the eKhenana occupation – where community members have collectively grown food, sold their excess produce through a democratically run co-op, built the Frantz Fanon Political School and prepared and shared meals together – exemplify the revolutionary praxis of AbM. Similarly, the University of AbM where the movement’s membership is taken seriously as the ‘professors of their own struggle’ illustrates a profound commitment to the dialectical relationship that exists between theory and practice. AbM’s 15 year long defiance against the relegation of the poor to the edges of society, or the forgotten who are forced to live in squalor outside of cities which they maintain, signifies 15 years of exposing the contradictions of capitalism, refusing its lies, and struggling to be heard and seen in a system which dehumanizes workers daily.

Part of the chicken farm at the eKhenana land occupation.

The Frantz Fanon Political School at the eKhenana land occupation, Cato Manor, Durban.

AbM has shown a resilience that radiates throughout the African continent and the world. This resilience is the product of the movement’s internal unity, its independence from NGO base ‘civil society’ and its autonomy from capitalist interests. Of course, the fact that AbM has consistently remained at the forefront of struggles for the full emancipation of all people should not be glossed over. As true Pan Africanists, the membership of AbM has always been the first to insist that “every person is a person, no matter where they are born.” The movement has consistently and courageously opposed xenophobia against migrants and has always been able to prevent xenophobic violence in areas where it is strong, and to offer concrete support to migrants under attack.

A mural celebrating fifteen years of struggle for Abahlali baseMjondolo.

The movement has been at the forefront of struggles against the privatization of space in South African cities and is highly effective at stopping evictions and organizing new land occupations. It has through what it terms its ‘living politics’ – a political open to all – put women and young people at the center of every process. In all events and structures women and young people will be seen at the forefront of the movement’s work.

AbM president, S’bu Zikode, explained during the weekend’s celebrations that “We continue to reiterate that land, wealth and power must be shared. We will continue to fight for the greatest gift for the world which is to humanize it.” This refusal to accept the humiliation inflicted by the capitalist and imperialist system is what anchors the struggles of AbM. The refusal to accept the violent exploitation, oppression and indignity of the current world order, alongside the organizational discipline of struggling for concrete gains through an internationalist perspective characterizes the significance of the 15 year milestone reached by the movement.

Fifteen years is of course a significant milestone for AbM. However, this is also a milestone for all people’s organizations and movements across the world. As progressive movements and organizations come together for a week of action under the banner of the International Week of Anti-Imperialist Struggle, we recognize how much we have learnt from AbM and stand with our comrades in the process of setting afoot a new humanity in South Africa, Africa and the world.

The ‘Sifike kanjani la?’ (How did we get to where we are?) seminar was held on 3 October 2020, to reflect on 15 years of struggle. The AbM choir performed during the weekend’s celebrations.

Members of AbM attend the 15 year anniversary celebrations.

Abahlali baseMjondolo celebrates 15 years of revolutionary struggle for land, housing and dignity

 

[Yehuda]

Protests against police violence in Nigeria continue for the sixth day

The protesters’ main demands are the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the police and an end to police brutality. The government was forced to give in and dissolve SARS

October 14, 2020 by Peoples Dispatch

Image Credit: Sahara Reporters

Thousands of Nigerians took to the streets in different parts of the country for the sixth consecutive day on October 13, Tuesday. The protesters are demanding the dissolution of the SARS units of the police, and an end to all forms of police brutality in the country. The government was forced to give in to popular demand and abolish SARS but protests continue demanding systemic reform.

The Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was formed in Nigeria in 1992 to stop armed robberies. However, in the past decades, it had been accused of various crimes, including extra-judicial killings, torture, corruption and robberies.



The current round of protests started after video footage of SARS officers dragging and killing people went viral in early October. The initial protests were registered on social media as people shared their brutal experiences with SARS. Thousands of social media pages with names “EndSARS” have been created. While the initial protests were small, the police responded with the use of heavy force to suppress the protesters in capital Abuja and other cities. Teargas and live fire was used against the protesters at several places.

At least ten people have been reportedly killed in the police action in the last six days. This has increased popular anger against the police.

Several well-known personalities, including British-Nigerian actor John Boyega and singer Davido, have come out in support of the protests. Many have compared the protests to the recent round of Black Lives Matter protests in the US.



Under pressure, the government announced the dissolution of SARS on October 11. While making the announcement, president Muhammadu Buhari also announced extensive police reforms in the country. However, the protests have not let up due to widespread mistrust among the people. Protesters argue that the government has promised similar reforms on several occasions in the past as well. They have demanded a comprehensive review and investigation into the working of the entire police system, as well as punishment for those involved in criminal activity against the people.

The apprehensions of the protesters were justified on Tuesday when the police announced the creation of an alternative Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT). Protesters called it a replacement of SARS and an attempt to rehabilitate the accused police officers.

Protests against police violence in Nigeria continue for the sixth day

 

[Yehuda]

A Washington Post piece that isn't terrible.

For the sake of democracy, Nigeria’s #EndSars campaign against police brutality must prevail

Demonstrators took to the streets of Lagos, Nigeria, Tuesday to protest against police brutality. (Sunday Alamba/AP)

Opinion by Karen Attiah
Global Opinions editor
Oct. 13, 2020 at 9:03 p.m. GMT-3

People in the world’s largest Black nation have taken to the streets to demand one thing of their police: Stop killing us.

Over the last 10 days, Nigerians have been protesting against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a unit of the Nigerian federal police force, after a video emerged of officers allegedly killing a man. Soon the hashtag #EndSars, as the unit is known, began trending internationally. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator, announced that SARS will be disbanded, but that promise has not been enough to quell the anger. Nigerians continue to protest.

Nigeria’s movement comes as protests demanding the protection of Black lives continue in the United States. At their core, the protests carry the same message: A country that allows state security agents to kill and abuse people with impunity is not a mature democracy. And, as in the United States, this is not the first time Nigerians have risen up against police brutality.

Amnesty International documented at least 82 cases of torture, extrajudicial killings, extortion and rape by SARS between January 2017 and May 2020. According to their report, victims held in SARS custody have been subjected to “mock execution, beating, punching and kicking, burning with cigarettes, waterboarding, near-asphyxiation with plastic bags, forcing detainees to assume stressful bodily positions and sexual violence.” Arrests and cases are rarely investigated. Despite the fact that Nigeria criminalized torture in 2017, no SARS officer has been convicted.

In December 2017, after a video circulated of SARS officers fleeing the scene after killing a man, Nigerians took to social media to share their stories of abusive encounters with the police. Back then the federal government promised all manner of reforms and investigations. But protest organizers were clear about what they wanted: SARS needed to be abolished.

In 2016, the World Internal Security and Police Index rated Nigeria’s police forces as the worst in the world. According to recent polls, Nigerians place the majority of the blame on police and government for high rates of human rights violations. For the last 25 years, the government’s response to calls for reform has been a running joke on the continent. Instead of providing better training and disciplining units guilty of abuses, successive Nigerian governments have instead responded with useless committees and panels. In 2006, President Olusegun Obasanjo set up the Danmadami police reform committee. Then, in 2008, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s Presidential Committee on the Reform of the Nigerian Police was set up to investigate the implementation of previous recommendations. In 2012, after reports that the terrorist group Boko Haram had infiltrated the police force, President Goodluck Jonathan fired the inspector general of police. He then proceeded to, you guessed it, set up a yet another committee to reorganize the police force.

And as abuses and impunity persist, Nigeria’s democracy has been dying in the darkness of government committee panels.

The energy and spirit of the Nigerian people is on display. On the ground, it has been Nigerian women and youth who have been the driving force of the protests. Feeling the pressure, a governor this week in Rivers State unconstitutionally banned #EndSars protests, but protesters took to the streets anyway. Nigerians around the world are also rallying around the #EndSars movement. Nigerian superstars, including John Boyega, Davido, Burna Boy and Genevieve Nnaji, have been tweeting in support. Jackie Aina, a Nigerian American beauty influencer, has also been posting information and links to organizations on her social media channels. In Houston, home to one of the largest populations of Nigerians in the United States, the singer Adekunle Gold helped organize a rally to support Nigerians in their protest against police brutality.

Here in the United States, the Congressional Black Caucus has even posted messages of support and solidarity. The #BlackLivesMatter movement has reminded us that for all of our lecturing to other countries about security reform and human rights, the United States has a persistent problem of police brutality and impunity. Worse yet, we’ve exported our own policing methods to other countries. The United States has offered training to Nigerian police forces. In 2017, police officers from Prince William County in Virginia trained members of the Nigerian police in human rights. This is the same police department that recently used tear gas and rubber bullets against peaceful protesters. The United States has also sold equipment and weapons to the Nigerian army and security forces.

Now Nigerians around the world are saying “enough” to police brutality, reinforcing the importance of the fight against police abuse here in the United States. And vice versa: Black Americans could stand to learn more from the years-long fight against Nigeria’s corrupt police force.

Nigeria is one of the most vibrant and dynamic countries in Africa. Sadly, it has had the misfortune of being ruled by shambolic, corrupt governments. But now the country, which has long been divided along religious and ethnic lines, has come together against police brutality, showing the power and spirit of the Nigerian people when pushed to their limits. As they say in Nigeria, “Naija no dey carry last!”

The people of the world’s largest Black nation deserve to prevail over state-sponsored oppression.

For the sake of democracy, Nigeria’s #EndSars campaign against police brutality must prevail

 

[Yehuda]

Also R.I.P. Sankara, 33 years today.

 

[voltronblack]

 

[loyola llothta]

 

[Red Shield]

Israel goin all in because they probably know they won't have such an overly agreeable stooge come Jan

 

[Premeditated]

VisualPolitik back with their fukk shyt agenda again. look at this hit piece put out on Tanzania



Tanzanians going in

 

[Red Shield]

VisualPolitik back with their fukk shyt agenda again. look at this hit piece put out on Tanzania



Tanzanians going in

As they should..

Yeah I haven't been hearing anything bad out of Tanzania.

 

[loyola llothta]

22 October 2020
Nigeria’s Racing Towards a Nightmare Scenario

The sudden outbreak of multisided violence in Nigeria’s largest city is pushing Africa’s most populous country towards the nightmare scenario of full-fledged destabilization which could have tremendous humanitarian and geopolitical consequences if it isn’t stopped before the situation spirals even further out of control.

Social Destabilization

The world’s attention abruptly turned towards Africa’s most populous country on Wednesday after the sudden outbreak of multisided violence in Nigeria’s largest city of Lagos. The situation is still extremely fluid and there isn’t any consensus on exactly what happened except that the security services and protesters clashed over the contentious issue of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) that was earlier accused by Amnesty International of committing very serious human rights violations. Some accounts claim that the security services opened fire on peaceful protesters, others say that the protesters themselves started attacking the security services without provocation and were therefore the first to cross the escalation threshold, while another interpretation is that provocateurs (possibly sent by the government) infiltrated the protest and provoked the second-mentioned scenario. At least a dozen people have been killed according to Amnesty International’s estimate and Lagos was placed on a 24-hour curfew.

An Inordinate Amount Of International Attention

Casual observers might be surprised by how much attention this event has generated since much worse acts of violence routinely happen in other parts of African such as Burkina Faso and the Congo but rarely become mainstream news. Nigeria’s situation is different since it’s Africa’s most populous country and largest economy, which means that it simply can’t be ignored. In addition, the Nigerian diaspora is very patriotic and passionate about their homeland, which greatly helps to raise awareness about events there. So quickly did this violence go viral that many American celebritiessoon chimed in on social media to offer their support to the anti-SARS protesters, which might have either been sincerely expressed or just a shrewd business calculation. Regardless of their motivation, they helped ensure that everyone in the world was talking about Nigeria, which also happened to coincide with both Democratic presidential candidate Biden‘s and former Secretary of State Clinton‘s condemnations of the government.

Contrasting Views Of Security Service Reform

Before discussing the dark scenarios that might soon unfold in the near future, it’s important for the reader to obtain a better understanding of how everything got to this point. Nigeria’s cosmopolitan society has many pent-up frustrations, both general ones such as economic and anti-corruption issues but also more particular grievances related to the interests of its many different identity groups (oversimplified for brevity’s sake along the regional North-South and religious Muslim-Christian axes as well as ethnic).


The state, which has historically been under the heavy influence of the military, is feeling this pressure and might also have its own legitimate concerns related to its fear that sudden destabilizations could spiral out of control and “Balkanize” the country according to the HybridWar scenarios that the author identified in his extensive 2017 strategic risk study. The presently identity-diverse anti-SARS movement is agitating for structural reform of the security services while their target is cautious about changing too much too quickly for fear of losing its capabilities and control.

Superficial Reforms Provoked More Protests

The state’s superficial reform of disbanding SARS and promising to replace it with a new Red Cross-trained police unit didn’t satisfy the protesters who want its former members to be held to account instead of simply redeployed to other units. They also don’t trust that new training would be sufficient for ensuring that the alleged abuses don’t repeat themselves and are therefore calling for more oversight, transparency, and psychological evaluation of the new unit’s officers. From the security service’s perspective, this might hamstring their ability to thwart legitimate threats even though it would provide a strong safeguard against their representatives committing more humanitarian abuses against the populace. Following the outbreak of violence that resulted from unclear circumstances, both sides apparently went wild attacking the other, with the rioters torching many buildingsincluding the High Court of Lagos while the security services literally hunted some of them down in the streets and might have even killed innocent people.

Escalation Scenarios

Several scenarios can develop apart from the best-case one of de-escalation. The first is that the security services (indefinitely?) impose a harsh martial law-like regime, using that time to round up suspects and possibly even terrorize the population by targeting innocent people too with the (counterproductive) intent of forcing them into submission and deterring any repeat of the riots. The second is that the clashes continue, albeit with differing frequency and intensity irrespective of whether the martial law-like regime is extended. This and the third scenario of wider unrest that spreads throughout the country could be exploited by more identity-specific groups (ethnic, regional, religious, etc.), including those that utilize terrorist means. All four scenarios can radicalize people to the point where they’re susceptible to those aforementioned groups’ messages, lead to significant international pressure through sanctions and other means, and/or result in regime tweaking (reform), regime change (self-explanatory), or a regime reboot (radical constitutional change).

Several Observations Thus Far

Regardless of what transpires, a few observations can be made about what’s happened thus far. The first is that the anti-corruption movement has thus far proven its ability to unite many of Nigeria’s diverse people under the banner of a single cause, which is significant. Secondly, their protests were facilitated by mobile phone and social media proliferation, which is booming in Nigeria. Thirdly, although elements of Color Revolution technology are being employed, it’s not black and white in the sense that it shouldn’t automatically be assumed that this means that a foreign hand is behind the events or that the cause itself is illegitimate. The fourth point is that the protest movement has been able to bring so many people out into the streets simply because they have the opportunity to protest since many don’t have formal jobs, if any at all, thus speaking to the political consequences of Nigeria’s economic challenges that could be exacerbated by sanctions. And fifth, self-sustaining cycles of unrest aren’t difficult to provoke in tense contexts regardless of which side is to blame.

The Worst-Case Scenarios

The worst-case scenario that nobody wants to see happen is that the anti-SARS situation escalates to the point of a national crisis which risks triggering the collapse of Africa’s largest country by worsening its many fault lines to the point of a multisided civil war. Thus far, the chances of that happening are low, but still shouldn’t be discounted. From the Western perspective, a slightly less terrible scenario would be that the state doesn’t concede to the protesters’ demands despite what might be heavy sanctions pressure in the coming future. Under those circumstances and especially if the violence continues to rage, the population might become more desperate and radicalized while the authorities might pivot more closely to China in response to being rebuffed by its then-former Western partners. In that event, even if a regime tweaking/change/reboot eventually commences, the West’s top geopolitical rival might be able to deepen its influence within the country to the point of ensuring that such outcomes don’t endanger its newfound entrenchment of interests there.

Concluding Thoughts

It’s difficult to tell what will happen next in Nigeria since no observer has enough information about the protest movement, international pressure plans, and the security services’ calculations to make very accurate predictions about this dynamic situation. Nevertheless, it’s still possible to analyze the origins, recent development, and larger contours of this situation in order to obtain a better understanding about everything as a whole like the author has sought to do. This should hopefully assist observers in tracking relevant trends related to these possibly emerging crisis that could thenceforth facilitate the creation of more finely tuned analytical products for better forecasting its possible evolution. Although the situation seems to be an entirely domestic one at the moment, the upsurge of international attention from influential political figures hints that foreign players might soon try to indirectly influence the course of events through sanctions or even more directly by supporting certain anti-government forces, which could make everything much worse.

link:
Nigeria's Racing Towards A Nightmare Scenario

 

[loyola llothta]

VisualPolitik back with their fukk shyt agenda again. look at this hit piece put out on Tanzania



Tanzanians going in

Whos funding visualpolitik?

 

[loyola llothta]

Israel goin all in because they probably know they won't have such an overly agreeable stooge come Jan

They did it

 

[loyola llothta]

23 October 2020
Sudan Bends to Trump’s Pressure to Normalize Relations with Israel
By Steven Sahiounie

The US has taken Sudan off the list of state-sponsors of terrorism, and with UAE support to provide several billion dollars of aid, in exchange for normalization with Israel.


US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Monday: “GREAT news! New government of Sudan, which is making great progress, agreed to pay $335 MILLION to U.S. terror victims and families. Once deposited, I will lift Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list. At long last, JUSTICE for the American people and BIG step for Sudan!”

Sudan’s de-facto leader, Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, welcomed Trump’s tweet: “I would like to express my deep appreciation and that of the Sudanese people to President Trump.”

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok tweeted: “Thank you so much, President Trump!”

Legitimate Sudanese businesses were handicapped, foreign direct investment was frozen, and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank couldn’t adopt a package to relieve its massive debt of about $72bn as long as Sudan was on the terror list.

The scale of hunger today is monumental, and the UN counts 9.6 million Sudanese as “severely food insecure”. This is made worse by the Covid-19 shutdown and floods. It is a crisis that cannot be overcome by food handouts but requires a massive injection of financial assistance.

Sudan has already agreed with the US to a compensation deal for victims of the 1998 bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which were orchestrated by Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network while he was living in Sudan.

The elephant in the room

Regardless of the economic benefits, Sudan would receive from normalizing relations with Israel, public hostility toward Israel remains strong, with many who insist on Palestinian rights. Sudan, a Muslim-majority Arab country, has long said there are three rules: no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, and no negotiations.

Trump, Netanyahu, the Gulf Arabs, and now Sudan’s leaders are not dealing with the elephant in the room, which is the apartheid condition in Occupied Palestine.

Normalizing relations with Israel

The prize Israel is seeking is to be recognized by a truly democratic nation within the Arab world. The other nations who previously signed the ‘Abraham Accords’ on September 15 at the White House are monarchies, and far from anything considered democratic; however, Sudan is now in the first stages of a transition to democracy, after shedding an authoritarian past. Experts are worried that this fragile new democracy could break apart if the public rises up in defiance of the relationship with Israel, and the country could plunge into chaos.

Burhan’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Uganda in January was met with shock and dismay not just among Islamists, but among many of the liberal and secular forces that were active in promoting democracy.

The normalization process could begin with a phone call between Trump, al-Burhan, Hamdok, and Netanyahu.

“Now, whether we like it or not, the removal is tied to (normalization) with Israel,” the deputy head of the council, Gen.


Mohammed Dagalo, told a local television station on October 16, while adding, “We need Israel … Israel is a developed country and the whole world is working with it,” he said. “We will have benefits from such relations … We hope all look at Sudan’s interests.”

The Israeli government hopes a deal can be wrapped up before the US election on November 3.

The US pressure and the election

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Khartoum on August 25 and a later trip to Abu Dhabi by al-Burhan, on September 20 are the basis for speculation.

While in Khartoum, Pompeo proposed a deal to Hamdok: if Sudan recognized Israel, President Trump would remove Sudan from the terror list, and announce an aid package to include financial aid and wheat, medicine, and oil shipments. Trump also committed to mobilize private sector investments in Sudan and to organize a Sudan donors conference.

Trump would reap a huge boost to his campaign for normalizing Arab relations with Israel in the days before the election, while Trump would appear in a foreign policy victory. The pressure on Sudan’s leaders is intense, as they fear incentives being offered now could be withdrawn after the US election.

The oil-rich Arab Gulf influence

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain joined Egypt and Jordan in declaring peace with Israel, and when Sudan joins them the US and UAE would provide Sudan with a big aid package, which was offered in Abu Dhabi last month. Almost $1 billion in cash was being offered, mostly to be paid by the Emirates, but the Sudanese team had asked for $3 billion.

Sudan’s resources

Sudan is rich in natural resources, including natural gas, gold, silver, chromite, asbestos, manganese, gypsum, mica, zinc, iron, lead, uranium, copper, kaolin, cobalt, granite, nickel, tin, and aluminum.

Petroleum is Sudan’s major natural resource, though much of it went to the split with South Sudan; however, nearly 30 tons of gold is produced annually.

Sudan’s main crops include cotton, peanuts, sesame, gum arabic, sorghum, and sugarcane. Agriculture and livestock raising are the main sources of livelihood for most Sudanese.

In late 1999, the Jordanian army found a food-growing paradise in Sudan, with flat, nutrient-rich soil, and plentiful water.

Besides the Jordanians, Pakistanis, Syrians, Emiratis, Lebanese, Yemenis, and others began flocking to Sudan and snapping up huge acreages to farm. In 2016 the Saudi government leased 1 million arable acres in the east of the country, while Bahrain leased 100,000 acres. The Qataris, Saudis, and Emiratis are Sudan’s largest financial benefactors, while all depend heavily on food imports.

The past leader

President Omar al-Bashir was deposed in April 2019 following a 30-year rule. Violent street protests began immediately after al-Bashir returned from a visit to Syria, which resulted in a military coup.

After seizing power in a military coup in 1989, President Bashir turned Khartoum into a global center for militant extremism, and Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network operated freely in Sudan in the 1990s before he moved to Afghanistan.

Sudan will now pay compensation for victims of the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania conducted by al Qaeda. After the first terror attack on New York’s World Trade Center in 1993, the US designated Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism.

In 2016, under pressure from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the Bashir government cut its ties with Iran.

Sudan’s current government

In a deal brokered by the US, UK, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, Sudan agreed to share power with a civilian cabinet. Sudan’s transition to democracy presents an opportunity for the country to chart a path out of autocracy and violence toward stability.

However, one year into the transition, the security and economic crises that were the trigger of the revolution have worsened. Millions remain displaced, while the value of the Sudanese pound has fallen from 45 to a US dollar in August 2019 to nearly 300 this month. More than half of the country is severely food insecure, and despite pledges of support, the international community has failed to mobilize financial aid to support the transition, which has caused the population to distrust the new transitional government.

Sudan is currently ruled by a fragile transitional Sovereignty Council run by the top military official, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, with the cabinet led by a technocratic prime minister in Abdallah Hamdok, along with a legislative assembly.

Sudan’s political landscape was one of the most diverse and vibrant in the Arab world, with organized forces ranging from communists and Baathists to liberal secular forces to a range of Islamist-oriented groups.

Backed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, the chairman of the transitional council, al-Burhan, and his deputy Lt Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, known as “Hemeti”, command troops and money. Burhan met Netanyahu in February, without Hamdok knowing. Burhan and Hemeti want international recognition, without the burden of democracy.

Link:

Sudan bends to Trump’s pressure to normalize relations with Israel