The New Africa-Israel Alliance
5 Reasons Why Black American Leaders Should Be Seated at This Table
Last month, my wife, Valerie, and I had the honor of representing the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI) at the First Arab-Africa-Israel Security Conference hosted by our partners at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA). A capacity crowd of diplomats and journalists from 30 countries gathered at the Cassia (formerly King Solomon) Hotel in Jerusalem for this historic meeting. According to the JCPA:
Panelists and participants discussed the prospects for enlarging and enhancing the Abraham Accords and the potential areas for Gulf-Africa-Israel partnerships in the fields of counterterrorism and national security, food and water security, and environmental concerns. Speakers and attendees [included] citizens of Bahrain, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kurdistan, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, South Africa, South Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland, Tunisia, Turkey, [the United Arab Emirates], Uganda. Jerusalem Center fellows, members of Knesset, and American Jewish leaders also attended.
Among the many achievements at the JCPA Conference was the signing of an Israeli-Ethiopian Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The goals expressed in the MOU are to enable Ethiopia to better manage its natural resources. As reported in the Jerusalem Post:
Ethiopia sees itself as a gateway to the African horn, which includes South Sudan, Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea and Kenya, JCPA President Dan Diker said, and it would like to develop into more of a global diplomatic power.
“If we can combine Israel’s tech power with their resources, they can become that power,” Diker said.
Other than community leader and IBSI partner, Rabbi Mordechai Ben Avaraham, Valerie and I were the only Black Americans in attendance at the JCPA Conference. The conference’s focus was the African/Middle Eastern region, not the West. Also, the gathering was conceived in January and (brilliantly) executed just two months later, leaving little time for advertisement in the U.S.
IBSI intends to bring a delegation of African-American pastors and community leaders to next year’s JCPA event. It is crucial that Black American voices — the most influential voices in the African diaspora — be heard in the Africa-Israel discussion, just as it is crucial that knowledgeable Black Americans be involved in Africa’s development. This is especially true at a time of what the JCPA calls, “shifting alliances” in the Africa-Israel region. Here are five reasons Why (We) Black American Leaders Should Be Seated at This Table:
We are Joseph
While visiting South Africa last December, the IBSI Ambassadors met with Nigerian Pastor Olusegun Olanipekun (Pastor Segun) in Sandton. Pastor Segun leads the Africa Leadership Summit held in Jerusalem. He spoke to our group and told them that he is committed to a substantive reuniting with his African family in America whom he likened to Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers. Pastor Segun’s sentiments are not isolated as Ghana has launched a campaign to welcome Black Americans who wish to live there. Black American descendants of slavery have risen to prominence in every sphere of influence and are strategically placed to assist Africa’s 21st-century development. Like Joseph, though we were sold by our brothers (African kings), we have the power to use the tragedy for Africa’s good.
We are Nehemiah
Continuing with the biblical themes, Black Americans are also symbolic of Nehemiah who oversaw the reconstruction of Jerusalem’s walls destroyed by Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Nehemiah did not just rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, which speaks to Judah’s national security, he also instituted civil and religious reforms meant to root out corruption and poor governance. During Nehemiah’s time, Jerusalem’s working class was being crushed by high taxes, predatory bank lending, and compromised political and religious leaders. (All of these things were in violation of the Torah). One of Africa’s greatest challenges to its peace and prosperity is corruption. Pious Black American leaders must be instrumental in helping develop effective, young African leaders; and, like Nehemiah, must be committed to holding African leaders accountable to God and their people.
Africa’s Exploding Christian Population
According to Pew Research, by 2050, the largest percentage of the world’s Christians will be in the Motherland. Here is a quote from Pew’s, Christianity poised to continue its shift from Europe to Africa.
The global Christian population has been shifting southward for at least a century and is expected to continue to do so over the next four decades, according to new demographic projections from the Pew Research Center. Overall, the share of Christians in the world is expected to remain flat. But Europe’s share of the world’s Christians will continue to decline while sub-Saharan Africa’s will increase dramatically.
Nearly half of the world’s Christians already reside in Africa and the Latin America-Caribbean region. By 2050, according to the Pew Research study, those two regions will be home to more than six-in-ten of the world’s followers of Jesus, with just a quarter of Christians living in Europe and North America.
Also according to Pew, Africa’s Christians are among the world’s most committed to their faith. Historically, these are the Christians who are also the most willing to support Israel and the Jewish people. In my decade of Israel advocacy with both IBSI and Christians United for Israel (CUFI), I can easily attest to the fact that the most passionate Israel supporters were African, both on the continent and in the diaspora.
However, Pew’s demographic information doesn’t even begin to tell the full story. The following is from Pew’s How Africa Is Changing Faith Around the World.
Not only will there be many more African Christians and Muslims, but they are also likely to be active and devoted in their religious practice and strongly resistant to secularization. African religiosity emerges strongly in most surveys, even if it is not quite uniform. Nowhere are there significant minorities rejecting or questioning the religious consensus, especially not such fundamental assumptions as the belief in God. In modern times, by far the most important trend in African Christianity has been toward especially enthusiastic, charismatic, and Pentecostal expressions of faith. Many of the newer churches use highly entrepreneurial forms of marketing and evangelism to spread that faith, commonly employing the most advanced technology. Little-known in the West, one of the main expressions of popular evangelical faith in Africa is the Nigerian-based video industry. Since the 1990s, hundreds of popular religious and charismatic videos have appeared, teaching doctrines of deliverance and sanctification while reminding believers of the dangers inherent in occult dabbling. Nigerian Christian videos enjoy distribution throughout Africa on satellite networks and cable channels, and are also easily available in North America and Europe. What’s more, while African countries have experienced economic development and many are enjoying a growing and vigorous middle class, social ideologies are still strongly in favor of parenthood and family. And persistently strong population growth means that this tendency is unlikely to change anytime soon.
In his 2019 appearance on the JW Show, Ghanaian entrepreneur, John Ayayee told IBSI:
If you study the way the African Union used to vote back in the day, it was always in favor of Israel. [Ghana’s} first president [Kwame Nkrumah]…declared that Ghana would not…succeed if we do not embrace Israel…if we do not embrace the things of Christianity.
African Christians’ (and Muslims’) commitment to God, family, and country is the foundation for a new benchmark in biblically-based Israel solidarity. The world’s largest portion of Israel-supporting clergy, religious institutions, businesses, and academic centers could soon be in Africa. This has implications for Israel as well as Black American religious leaders.
Our Obligation to Young Black Americans
In a recent class for IBSI’s P.E.A.C.E. Initiative, one of the IBSI Ambassadors relayed a powerful story.
A friend of mine from Ghana told me and some others that some family of his from Ghana that had children born in America and influenced by American culture were failing in school, so they decided to send them back home to Africa, and the decision to send them to Africa was life changing for them. When they came back to America, they had a different perspective on life, and began excelling in school.
Valerie told me a similar story about an Italian-American high school classmate of hers. Before her first visit to her ancestral homeland, she was a typical wandering, unintentional American teenager. After a summer in Italy with her family, she returned to California a changed person, full of regal pride and renewed self-worth. She even emphasized the correct pronunciation of her name, no longer satisfied with the Americanized approximation.
With the onslaught of today’s faux Black American identity led by cheap anti-racist ploys and its maniacal focus on White supremacy, Black young men and women are in need of a real connection to Africa. Beyond the Western headlines of wars and poverty (though there is war and poverty on the Continent), young people need a much broader understanding of Africa. As stated in the Pew piece, “African countries [Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, and more] have experienced economic development and many are enjoying a growing and vigorous middle class.” What’s more, as our IBSI Ambassadors discovered in South Africa, many Africans welcome the partnership of their brothers and sisters in America.
Africa’s Global Importance
Regardless of the West’s view of Africa, it remains a major player in global affairs. Its abundant mineral resources — gold, silver, copper, cobalt, platinum, oil, diamonds, etc. — are coveted by other nations now more than ever. Further, there are nefarious actors who are exploiting Africa in what some call a new era of colonization. In his Gatestone Institute piece, China's 'Debt-Trap' Diplomacy with Third-World Nations, Lawrence A. Franklin writes:
China's disregard for the human rights of its own citizens not surprisingly extends to the rights of the citizens of its host nations. China's extraction of raw materials and minerals in Ecuador, for instance, has elicited protests by the Shuar and Waorani natives, concerned about the environment. While some of China's infrastructure projects are beneficial but costly — such as the construction of a rail line in Kenya from the capital Nairobi to the main port of Mombasa -- others are "white elephants." One such marginally useful project is a road built by Chinese engineers from Uganda's capital Kampala to the country's international airport at Entebbe. The project is expected to improve traffic but will have little to no other benefits — apart from moving local resources to China.
In his 2019 piece, Africa is Indeed Rising, IBSI Executive Director, Joshua Washington shared this anecdote:
On the most recent South Africa visit, I spoke with a good friend of ours who empowers entrepreneurs to grow, own, and become more financially independent. His business spans across the continent of Africa and in other countries like Israel. We talked a great deal about the success he has had, the entrepreneurs who now own shares in very successful companies, and the lives positively changed from all of this work. In hearing all of this, I asked my friend if he has received any opposition. My friends immediately said to me that the opposition is everywhere, from countries like China not interested in Africa rising to political leaders within South Africa who have sold out their country who aren’t interested in Africa rising. My friend looked at me and told me that once he has significantly contributed to helping economically liberate South Africa, he will have to pack up his family and leave the country. When I asked him why, he said, “because my life will be in danger.”
The increased presence of extremist violence in Africa is due mainly to Iran’s increased presence on the continent. In her 2022 piece, Israel's Enemies are Focused on Africa, IBSI Board Member Olga Meshoe-Washington stated:
In 2020, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime uncovered evidence that suggested Iranian weapons were being trafficked by criminal networks into Africa. From the Islamic Movement in Nigeria to Al Shabab in Kenya and Iranian sleeper cells across the continent, Africa is now the eye of the global terrorism storm. This newly earned title is due in no small part to Iran’s direct and indirect presence on the continent. Iran’s growing presence in Africa as part of its efforts to establish a global terror network houses the very real threat to destabilize any peace and security efforts in the Middle East, and initiate new terrorist attacks in the West.
Like Nehemiah and Joseph, Black Americans are the most empowered Africans in the diaspora and can help bring awareness and remediation to Africa’s external threats. Internal corruption can thwart Africa’s forward progress, but foreign malignancy is no less dangerous.
Since its independence in 1948, the Jewish State has proven itself to be a powerful ally and friend to Africa. While there have admittedly been missteps over the past 75 years, Israel’s consistency in reaching out to Africa is irrefutable. One testament to this fact is the JCPA’s conference in which African delegates — some from nations with no diplomatic ties with Israel — came to Jerusalem to discuss a unified future. African leaders are making their voices heard, and they want even stronger ties with Israel. Black Americans must join this regional conversation for Africa’s sake as well as our own.