Writing this blog as long as I have, I’ve seen some pretty low blows from the Israeli government. But this one ranks right up there. Those of you old enough remember Ronald Reagan’s arms for hostages deal with the Iranians–now, Israel proposes an arms for refugees exchange. And it stinks to high heaven.Ynet reports that the government is close to inking a deal with three African states (who are likely Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda) who will take “tens of thousands” of ‘undesirable’ African refugees from Israel in return to Israeli weapons and training. Isn’t that neat and tidy!? Israel gets rids of what MK Miri Regev called a “cancer in its midst” and contributes to the rising tide of mayhem and violence in countries like South Sudan and Eritrea, already beset by instability and civil war
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Israel to Sign Guns for Refugees Deal With African States
Writing this blog as long as I have, I’ve seen some pretty low blows from the Israeli government. But this one ranks right up there. Those of you old enough remember Ronald Reagan’s arms for hostages deal with the Iranians–now, Israel proposes an arms for refugees exchange. And it stinks to high heaven.Ynet reports that the government is close to inking a deal with three African states (who are likely Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda) who will take “tens of thousands” of ‘undesirable’ African refugees from Israel in return to Israeli weapons and training. Isn’t that neat and tidy!? Israel gets rids of what MK Miri Regev called a “cancer in its midst” and contributes to the rising tide of mayhem and violence in countries like South Sudan and Eritrea, already beset by instability and civil war.There was a time back in the 1960s when Israel actually offered aid
that was constructive to newly independent African states. Of course,
this aid wasn’t done for purely altruistic reasons. Israel also wanted
to cozy up to these states because they insulated it from the charge
that Israel was oppressing similar types of states in the Middle East.
Africa also offered a rich field for Israel’s intelligence operations
and satisfied some of its need for raw materials for its
military-industrial complex.This story should be linked to another important one
reported yesterday. The Israeli government revealed there are 7,000
registered arms merchants plying Israeli weapons to precisely these
sorts of unstable states, making Israel the sixth largest arms merchant
in the world. What the government refused to do in response to a court
case, was reveal the names of these merchants of death. It claimed that
doing so would endanger them and expose them to potential terrorist
attacks.While this possibility is remote, it’s much more likely that these
arms dealers would be exposed to the shame and obloquy of the world
community. And they should have to face such exposure. Israel and the
nations where they ply their trade have the right to know who these
people are. While the U.S. goes after the Victor Bout’s of the world,
it does little or nothing to reduce the proliferation of Israel’s stable
of sophisticated, lethal weaponry. These 7,000 go scott free because
Israel is an ally, which Russia isn’t.
Writing this blog as long as I have, I’ve seen some pretty low blows from the Israeli government. But this one ranks right up there. Those of you old enough remember Ronald Reagan’s arms for hostages deal with the Iranians–now, Israel proposes an arms for refugees exchange. And it stinks to high heaven.Ynet reports that the government is close to inking a deal with three African states (who are likely Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda) who will take “tens of thousands” of ‘undesirable’ African refugees from Israel in return to Israeli weapons and training. Isn’t that neat and tidy!? Israel gets rids of what MK Miri Regev called a “cancer in its midst” and contributes to the rising tide of mayhem and violence in countries like South Sudan and Eritrea, already beset by instability and civil war
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