Morocco-Israel normalisation is a slap in the face of the African Union

The normalisation deal between Morocco and Israel announced yesterday is a slap in the face of the African Union. It comes at a time when there has been disagreement between member states about the re-admittance of Morocco into the AU fold. The bone of contention is the Western Sahara issue. Morocco was given an ultimatum to withdraw from the territory and allow the country to move towards self-determination, a demand that the government in Rabat rejected.

Morocco has now agreed to normalise relations in a deal brokered by the United States. In return, outgoing US President Donald Trump is recognising Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. The decades-old territorial dispute pitting Morocco against the Algerian-backed Polisario Front which seeks an independent state in the territory was apparently ignored by Trump.

The African Union needs to understand that this kind of deal undermines Africa’s sovereignty and unity. It also exposes the organisation as a toothless entity. What are the imperial lickspittles at the helm of the AU going to say to the people of Africa? We insisted before that admitting Morocco back into the AU fold before it leaves Western Sahara was not a good idea. Our cautionary words fell on deaf ears. We have even called for Morocco’s expulsion from the organisation, but to no avail.

The future will judge these slaves of imperialism on our continent very harshly. As Africa, we are being led by people who are not visionaries. It is all about themselves and not the people across the continent. How are they going to sell this to the people of Western Sahara? What about all the broken promises to those oppressed people? Who is going to stand up for them if their own AU has abandoned them? There are indeed more questions than answers arising from Morocco’s normalisation deal.

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The main casualty of all of the Arab normalisation deals will be the Palestinians. They have been critical of them, arguing that Arab countries have set back the cause of peace by abandoning a long-standing demand that Israel ends its occupation to allow a Palestinian state to be viable before it receives such recognition. The normalisation states have made a U-turn from the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which stipulates that it can only come about after Israel ends its occupation of Palestinian, Arab and African lands.

Africa should not repeat the folly of the illegitimate Arab countries. The Arab leaders are traitors and enemies unto themselves. They do not love one another; and they hate themselves. I call on Africa to dissociate from them. The leadership across the Arab world requires a complete change. The current regimes are led by those who are a danger to themselves and to their people. That is why Israel finds it easy to manipulate and dominate them.

The current AU leadership anointed by French imperialism should resign or be dismissed immediately, and replaced with a more competent, proudly African team. It is perhaps time for reform of the African Union itself. Our continental body is not properly constituted; if it was, these servants of imperialism would not be in such positions. Moussa Faki Mahamat and his team are an insult to Africans and make us appear as fools in the eyes of the world. They are influenced by the heavy envelopes that came from colonial France, which twisted their arms to allow imperial Morocco to be readmitted into the AU fold.

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By not removing Morocco from the continental body, the African Union rendered itself obsolete and revealed that it is an appendage of the American Empire. It allows the imperialist USA to decide for Africa when we are supposed to be independent and free people. Morocco’s normalisation project infringes on the rights of the African people of Western Sahara to determine their destiny.

The project for Africa to silence the guns by 2020 is now a pipe dream. In the light of this development, it is obvious that the Polisario Front is left with no option but to continue the armed struggle. Morocco’s move towards Israel will not bring peace in that part of Africa, but more war, kick-started by Rabat, Tel Aviv and Washington.

The chairperson of the African Union, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, should intervene with a vote of no confidence and recommend the dismissal of Mahamat and his cohort. Moreover, Morocco should be expelled from the AU with immediate effect. Finally, all African countries should sever diplomatic relations with Morocco and Israel and defy the machinations of the American Empire on the continent. A luta continua — the struggle continues.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.