The System is Broken

From Hamas to al-Qaeda, the US funds the terrorism that Africa & Israel must fight

L - Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traoré, R - US AFRICOM Commander General Michael Langley

There are many parallels between the Black and Jewish communities in America, just as there are between Africa and Israel. One of those parallels is how each entity has historically persevered despite the forces trying to destroy it — racism, disenfranchisement, violence, terrorism, slavery, genocide, and more. In Africa-Israel Weekly’s first academic article, Professor Ansel Brown explains the connections in Zionism & Pan-Africanism: A Common Journey to Recapture Ethnic Self-Realization. There is also a video adaptation.

The United States is one of, if not Israel’s closest allies and strategic partners, and has close ties with many African nations. Chief among the areas of cooperation between the US and its partners is counterterrorism and military funding. Over the years, Israel, as well as many African nations, has received billions of dollars in US military aid. Also, over the years, US taxpayer dollars (usually in the form of USAID) have gone to Islamic terrorist organizations like Hamas (which led the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel) and Hezbollah. In February of 2025, Congress heard official testimony that the US is sending $40 million per week to the Taliban in Afghanistan. According to former CIA Targeter Sarah Adams, that number is over $100 million per week and is distributed to the Taliban offices in both Afghanistan and Qatar (Doha). While on Capitol Hill, Gregg Roman, the Executive Director of the Middle East Forum, stated:

“[The US has] assisted al-Shabaab in Somalia (and Kenya), the Hamza network in Sudan, Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Kata’ibah Hezballa, Haya Tahrir al Shams in Syria — dozens of terrorist organizations have received indirect assistance from US foreign aid.”

This means that the US government has historically, and is still currently, funding both sides of the proverbial War on Terror. We are selling weapons to our allies to defend themselves against the terrorists that we are funding. But, especially for Africa and Israel, it goes deeper.

In April of 2025, General Michael Langley, head of United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee. General Langley was asked about African leaders who misuse their country’s abundant natural resources, spending the wealth on themselves and not for the benefit of the people. As if prompted, Langley named Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traoré as a prime example of this practice. Burkina Faso is a small nation that, along with Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Guinea, Nigeria, and Chad, makes up the Western Sahel region. Ibrahim Traoré came to power in 2022 after staging a coup d'état against then-President Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba. Given the massive humanitarian crises in Africa, like the Islamic terrorist-led genocides in Sudan and Nigeria, US Senators and a Marine General discussing the equitable distribution of Burkina Faso’s mineral wealth would seem out of place. Again, it goes deeper.

In April 2025, General Langley testified before Congress and answered pointed questions by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on AFRICOM’s role in training African soldiers to overthrow their governments — to stage coups d'état. In this video excerpt, it is clear that Langley is uncomfortable with the questions and deflects by stating that African trainees are started with “core values.” Langley also testified that, over the 18 years of AFRICOM’s existence, the US military has trained at least 50,000 African soldiers. This means that President Ibrahim Traoré was almost certainly trained by Langley’s personnel to stage the coup he led in Burkina Faso. And, according to Traoré, his main reason for the overthrow of President Damiba and his subsequent ouster of US and French troops was the need for better security against the terrorists killing his countrymen — the terrorists largely funded by the US government. It goes deeper.

In an effort to quell the African backlash he received for his Capitol Hill testimony about Burkina Faso’s Traoré, General Langley has done a slew of African-hosted podcasts and interviews. In one such interview, Langley made a startling admission.

“Back in 2007 (when AFRICOM began), the global percentage of terrorism that was resident on the African continent was 2%. Fast forward to 2024-2025, the global percentage of attacks under terrorism (in Africa) is 43%.”

In less than 20 years since the creation of AFRICOM, terrorism in Africa has risen twentyfold. According to the Global Terrorism Index, beginning in 2020, Africa became the No. 1 region for terrorist activity. Africa-Israel Weekly has been reporting on this since November 2021.

Despite this alarming and detailed information on the rise of the Islamic caliphate in Africa, the US government and Western media seem determined to obfuscate as if covering for the jihadists. On May 12, 2025, BBC News published a story with the headline, Burkina Faso military accused of killing over 100 civilians in 'massacre'. The story is filled with the type of deception, manipulation, and redirection routinely used in hit pieces on Israel. Based on a Human Rights Watch report, writer Basillioh Rukanga attempts to paint Traoré’s military as wantonly attacking innocent people. However, even within the piece, the BBC admits that, “About 40% of Burkina Faso is under the control of groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State operating in West Africa's Sahel region.” The BBC also mentions the Fulanis as a “pastoralist, largely Muslim community” without explaining that the Fulani (along with Boko Haram) are committing a genocide of thousands of Christians in Nigeria every year.

In Africa-Israel Weekly’s previous piece, Compromised: How the new Trump administration has aligned with Israel's and Africa's enemies, IBSI focused on the Trump administration placating terrorist regimes like Qatar and Turkey, yet attacking South Africa which is being used by Qatar and Turkey to take Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The pattern is clear. Western governments, including the United States, are giving a pass to, and even assisting the spread of global Islamic terrorism, while paying lip service to helping their allies like Israel and Sub-Saharan, mostly Christian African nations. This pattern is as unsustainable as it is inexplicable.

It would appear that much of our foreign policy is dictated by the desires of Qatar and Turkey rather than by the strategic and national security interests of the American people. When considering the sharp rise in antisemitism connected to Israel-hatred in the US, including the assassination of two young Israeli diplomats in Washington, DC, last month, there is much cause for concern. With the rise of Islamic terrorism in Africa and anti-Israel, antisemitic violence in the US, both Africa and Israel, as well as the Black and Jewish communities, should work closely together. Especially in the US, anti-Israel/antisemitic sentiment is increasing on the left and right sides of the political aisle. No one knows better than Blacks and Jews what that has historically meant in this country. If solidarity was ever important before, it is even more important now.