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The African Union 'has remained curiously silent on the Middle East', writes Joseph Kaifala, but the continent ‘can no longer afford to remain oblivious to one of the saddest human crises of our time’. What’s missing, says Kaifala, are ‘active African voices in ongoing peace processes and political actions’ – ‘if nothing else, African leaders must at least start to teach their peoples about the Middle East and speak their opinions openly on the conflicts.’

For many years I have pondered on whether Africa is politically excluded from the Middle East Peace processes by those involved or whether the continent is merely reluctant to participate out of fear of the complicated nature of the conflicts, especially the Israeli-Palestinian disputes. The question of exclusion, however, has been eliminated from my thinking because the voting records of many African countries on resolutions relating to Israeli actions towards Palestinians illustrate their diplomatic opinions. However, what remains lacking are active African voices in ongoing peace processes and political actions.

Apart from Egypt, which many continue to deliberately separate from Africa, the African Union has remained curiously silent on the Middle East and it bugs the mind. Even outside of African leadership circles, very little is been done to increase African awareness of Middle Eastern history. Most African history books have considerable portions devoted to American and European History, but very little attention is given to the Middle East. It was therefore not a surprise to me that no student at a Sierra Leonean high school I recently taught knew anything about Judaism or the actual existence of the State of Israel. Most African understanding of Israel is limited to Biblical stories of chosen tribes and a Promised Land that are not connected to contemporary Israel.

While the nature of the conflicts in the Middle East might appear to indicate that the less involved one is the better, Africa must realize that most of our independence from colonial oppression was expedited because many elsewhere screamed on our behalf. China and Cuba for instance were quite indispensable in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. The Soviet Union came to the rescue of Guinea when the French dugout tarmac roads and vandalized civil service furniture because of Sekou Toure's refusal to conform to the commonwealth of La plus grande France. Africa must remember that in times of political needs, the neutral neighbour is always more useful than the middleman with considerable stakes in the matter.

I don't believe the reasoning of US being a viable peace broker in the region, and it is high time we considered other options in the interest of genuine peace. If nothing else, African leaders must at least start to teach their peoples about the Middle East and speak their opinions openly on the conflicts. There are no moderations in the West when it comes condemning Africa's woes, why are we reluctant to condemn the dishonesty of others in the International System. Africa can no longer afford to remain oblivious to one of the saddest human crises of our time and we need more political voices added to the isolated voices of Rev. Desmond Tutu and unavoidably Egypt.

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* Joseph Kaifala is from Sierra Leone. He is director of The Jeneba Project, a not-for-profit organisation providing educational assistance to Sierra Leone.
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