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Last week, South Africa became the first country to file a suit against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. In the 84-page suit which South Africa filed with the court on December 29, it details evidence of brutality being perpetrated in Gaza and asks the Court – the United Nations body for resolving interstate disputes – to urgently declare that Israel has breached its responsibilities under international law since October 7.
South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention which defines genocide as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
Jordan’s minister of Foreign Affairs, Ayman Safadi, announced that his country backs South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in the ICJ. He added that the Jordanian government is working on a legal file to follow up on the case. Turkey, Malaysia, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had announced that they back the case too.
Genocidal actions listed in the suit include the killing of Palestinians in Gaza in large numbers, especially children; the destruction of their homes; their expulsion and displacement; as well as enforcing a blockade on food, water, and medical assistance to the strip.
Israel and South Africa are both parties to the ICJ, meaning its rulings are binding on both of them. But while the ICJ has more weight than the UN Security Council where Israel is tightly shielded by the US, the court lacks enforcement power. In fact, the ICJ’s orders have been ignored in some cases with no serious consequences. South Africa has also specially requested that the ICJ move urgently to prevent Israel from committing further crimes in the strip – likely by issuing an order for Tel Aviv to halt its invasion. That request will be prioritised, the ICJ said in a statement, but did not specify a timeline.
The initial meetings will be public and will be held on January 11-12. Israel reportedly appointed prominent US lawyer and Israel advocate Alan Dershowitz as their council. Yes, that Dershowitz, who currently is high profile in the Epstein papers and where he, it is alleged, did the things that Epstein and his woman handler was famous for setting up to do. “Have you condemned Hamas yet”?, is his hackneyed schtick, an attempt to whitewash himself? Questioned about his Epstein connections he responded by ranting that feminists should condemn Hamas based on an issue that is debunked completely.
Where the ICC is not a court that the ordinary person trusts, South Africa has an aspect going for it and that is the arrest warrant that this court issued before the South African BRICS summit, where South Africa had to decide whether they would arrest Mr Putin under this warrant, or not. This was an absurd position to be in. South Africa has refused in the past to carry out arrests of this nature.
From John J. Mearsheimer
I am writing to flag a truly important document that should be widely circulated and read carefully by anyone interested in the ongoing Gaza War.
Specifically, I am referring to the 84-page “application” that South Africa filed with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 29 December 2023, accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.1 It maintains that Israel’s actions since the war began on 7 October 2023 “are intended to bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnic … group in the Gaza Strip.” (1) That charge fits clearly under the definition of genocide in the Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.2
The application is a superb description of what Israel is doing in Gaza. It is comprehensive, well-written, well-argued, and thoroughly documented. The application has three main components.
First, it describes in detail the horrors that the IDF has inflicted on the Palestinians since 7 October 2023 and explains why much more death and destruction is in store for them.
Second, the application provides a substantial body of evidence showing that Israeli leaders have genocidal intent toward the Palestinians. (59-69) Indeed, the comments of Israeli leaders – all scrupulously documented – are shocking. One is reminded of how the Nazis talked about dealing with Jews when reading how Israelis in “positions of the highest responsibility” talk about dealing with the Palestinians. (59) In essence, the document argues that Israel’s actions in Gaza, combined with its leaders’ statements of intent, make it clear that Israeli policy is “calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza.” (39)
Third, the document goes to considerable lengths to put the Gaza war in a broader historical context, making it clear that Israel has treated the Palestinians in Gaza like caged animals for many years. It quotes from numerous UN reports detailing Israel’s cruel treatment of the Palestinians. In short, the application makes clear that what the Israelis have done in Gaza since 7 October is a more extreme version of what they were doing well before 7 October.
There is no question that many of the facts described in the South African document have previously been reported in the media. What makes the application so important, however, is that it brings all those facts together in one place and provides an overarching and thoroughly supported description of the Israeli genocide. In other words, it provides the big picture while not neglecting the details.
Unsurprisingly, the Israeli government has labelled the charges a “blood libel” that “has no factual and judicial basis.” Moreover, Israel claims that “South Africa is collaborating with a terror group that calls for the destruction of the state of Israel.”3 A close reading of the document, however, makes it clear that there is no basis for these assertions. In fact, it is hard to see how Israel will be able to defend itself in a rational-legal way when the proceedings begin. After all, brute facts are hard to dispute.
Let me offer a few additional observations regarding the South African charges.
First, the document emphasizes that genocide Is distinct from other war crimes and crimes against humanity, although “there is often a close connection between all such acts.” (1) For example, targeting a civilian population to help win a war – as occurred when Britain and the United States bombed German and Japanese cities in World War II – is a war crime, but not genocide. Britain and the United States were not trying to destroy “a substantial part” of, or all the people in those targeted states. Ethnic cleansing underpinned by selective violence is also a war crime, although it is also not genocide, an action that Omer Bartov, the Israeli-born Holocaust expert, calls “the crime of all crimes.”4
For the record, I believed Israel was guilty of serious war crimes–but not genocide—during the first two months of the war, even though there was growing evidence of what Bartov has called “genocidal intent” on the part of Israeli leaders.5 But it became clear to me after the 24-30 November 2023 truce ended and Israel went back on the offensive, that Israeli leaders were in fact seeking to physically destroy a substantial portion of Gaza’s Palestinian population.
Second, even though the South African application focuses on Israel, it has huge implications for the United States, especially President Biden and his principal lieutenants. Why? Because there is little doubt that the Biden administration is complicitous in Israel’s genocide, which is also a punishable act according to the Genocide Convention. Despite his admission that Israel is engaged in “indiscriminate bombing,” President Biden has also stated that “we’re not going to do a damn thing other than protect Israel. Not a single thing.”6 He has been true to his word, going so far as to bypass Congress twice to quickly get additional armaments to Israel. Leaving aside the legal implications of his behavior, Biden’s name – and America’s name – will be forever associated with what is likely to become one of the textbook cases of attempted genocide.
Third, I never imagined I would see the day when Israel, a country filled with Holocaust survivors and their descendants, would face a serious charge of genocide. Regardless of how this case plays out in the ICJ – and here I am fully aware of the maneuvers that the United States and Israel will employ to avoid a fair trial – in the future Israel will be widely regarded as principally responsible for one of the canonical cases of genocide.
Fourth, the South African document emphasizes that there is no reason to think this genocide is going to end soon, unless the ICJ successfully intervenes. It twice quotes the words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 25 December 2023 to drive that point home: “We are not stopping, we are continuing to fight, and we are deepening the fighting in the coming days, and this will be a long battle and it is not close to being over.” (8, 82) Let us hope South Africa and the IJC bring a halt to the fighting, but in the final analysis the power of international courts to coerce countries like Israel and the United States is extremely limited.
Finally, the United States is a liberal democracy that is filled with intellectuals, newspaper editors, policymakers, pundits, and scholars who routinely proclaim their deep commitment to protecting human rights around the world. They tend to be highly vocal when countries commit war crimes, especially if the United States or any of its allies are involved. In the case of Israel’s genocide, however, most of the human rights mavens in the liberal mainstream have said little about Israel’s savage actions in Gaza or the genocidal rhetoric of its leaders. Hopefully, they will explain their disturbing silence at some point. Regardless, history will not be kind to them, as they said hardly a word while their country was complicit in a horrible crime, perpetrated right out in the open for all to see.
By Pepe Escobar and first posted at the Cradle
Pretoria’s genocide case against Israel is crucial, not just to stop Tel Aviv’s carnage in Gaza, but to plant the first flag of mutipolarism in the globe’s courtrooms: this is the first case of many that will seek to halt western impunity and restore international law as envisioned in the UN Charter.
Photo Credit: The CradleNothing less than the full concept of international law will be on trial this week in The Hague. The whole world is watching.
It took an African nation, not an Arab or Muslim nation, but significantly a BRICS member, to try to break the iron chains deployed by Zionism via fear, financial might, and non-stop threats, enslaving not only Palestine but substantial swathes of the planet.
By a twist of historical poetic justice, South Africa, a nation that knows one or two things about apartheid, had to take the moral high ground and be the first to file a suit against apartheid Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The 84-page lawsuit, exhaustively argued, fully documented, and filed on 29 December 2023, details all the ongoing horrors perpetrated in the occupied Gaza Strip and followed by everyone with a smartphone around the planet.
South Africa asks the ICJ – a UN mechanism – something quite straightforward: Declare that the state of Israel has breached all its responsibilities under international law since 7 October.
And that, crucially, includes a violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention, according to which genocide consists of “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”
South Africa is supported by Jordan, Bolivia, Turkiye, Malaysia, and significantly the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which combines the lands of Islam, and constitutes 57 member states, 48 of these harboring a Muslim majority. It’s as if these nations were representing the overwhelming majority of the Global South.
Whatever happens at The Hague could go way beyond a possible condemnation of Israelis for genocide. Both Pretoria and Tel Aviv are members of the ICJ – so the rulings are binding. The ICJ, in theory, carries more weight than the UN Security Council, where the US vetoes any hard facts that tarnish Israel’s carefully constructed self-image.
The only problem is that the ICJ does not have enforcement power.
What South Africa, in practical terms, is aiming to achieve is to have the ICJ impose on Israel an order to stop the invasion – and the genocide – right away. That should be the first priority.
A specific intent to destroy
Reading the full South African application is a horrifying exercise. This is literally history in the making, right in front of us living in the young, tech-addicted, 21st century, and not a science fiction account of a genocide taking place in some distant universe.
Pretoria’s application carries the merit of drawing The Big Picture, “in the broader context of Israel’s conduct towards Palestinians during its 75-year-long apartheid, its 56-year-long belligerent occupation of Palestinian territory, and its 16-year-long blockade of Gaza.”
Cause, effect, and intent are clearly delineated, transcending the horrors that have been perpetrated since the Palestinian resistance’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on 7 October 2023.
Then there are “acts and omissions by Israel which are capable of amounting to other violations of international law.” South Africa lists them as “genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent (dolus specialis) to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a part of the broader Palestinian national, racial and ethnic group.”
‘The Facts,’ introduced from page 9 of the application, are brutal – ranging from the indiscriminate massacre of civilians to mass expulsion: “It is estimated that over 1.9 million Palestinians out of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people – approximately 85 percent of the population – have been forced from their homes. There is nowhere safe for them to flee to, those who cannot leave or refuse to be displaced have been killed or are at extreme risk of being killed in their homes.”
And there will be no turning back: “As noted by the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Gaza’s housing and civilian infrastructure have been razed to the ground, frustrating any realistic prospects for displaced Gazans to return home, repeating a long history of mass forced displacement of Palestinians by Israel.”
The complicit Hegemon
Item 142 of the application may encapsulate the whole drama: “The entire population is facing starvation: 93 percent of the population in Gaza is facing crisis levels of hunger, with more than one in four facing catastrophic condition” – with death imminent.
Against this backdrop, on 25 December – Christmas day – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his genocidal rhetoric, promising: ‘We are not stopping, we are continuing to fight and we are deepening the fighting in the coming days, and this will be a long battle and it is not close to being over.”
So, “as a matter of extreme urgency,” and “pending the Court’s determination of this case on the merits,” South Africa is asking for provisional measures, the first of which will be for “the state of Israel to immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza.”
This amounts to a permanent ceasefire. Every grain of sand from the Negev to Arabia knows that the neocon psychos in charge of US foreign policy, including their pet, remote-controlled, senile occupant of the White House are not only complicit in the Israeli genocide but oppose any possibility of a ceasefire.
Incidentally, such complicity is also punishable by law, according to the Genocide Convention.
Hence, it is a given that Washington and Tel Aviv will go no-holds-barred to block a fair trial by the ICJ, using every means of pressure and threat available. That dovetails with the extremely limited power exercised by any international court to impose the rule of international law on the exceptionalist Washington–Tel Aviv combo.
While an alarmed Global South is moved to action against Israel’s unprecedented military assault on Gaza, where over 1 percent of the population has been murdered in less than three months, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has regimented its embassies to arm-twist host country diplomats and politicians to swiftly issue an “immediate and unequivocal statement along the following lines: To publicly and clearly state that your country rejects the outrageous, absurd, and baseless allegations made against Israel.”
It will be quite enlightening to see which nations will abide by the order.
Whether Pretoria’s current efforts succeed or not, this case is likely to be only the first of its kind filed in courts around the world in the months and even years ahead. The BRICS – of which South Africa is a crucial member state – are part of the new swell of international organizations challenging western hegemony and its ‘rules-based order.’ These rules mean nothing; nobody has even seen them.
In part, multipolarism has emerged to redress the decades-long shift away from the UN Charter and rush toward the lawlessness embodied in these illusory ‘rules.’ The nation-state system that underpins the global order cannot function without the international law that secures it. Without the law, we face war, war, and more war; the Hegemon’s ideal universe of endless war, in fact.
South Africa’s genocide case against Israel is blatantly necessary to reverse these flagrant violations of the international system, and will almost certainly be the first of many such litigations against both Israel and its allies to shift the world back to stability, security, and common sense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXZy2zErPzk
https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k11/k11gf661b3
Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong wins support for speech calling for overhaul of global systems in the G77 + China Summit
Jevans Nyabiage for the South China Morning Post
China rallies G77 countries for major reform of WTO and Bretton Woods at Kampala summit
China is rallying the Group of 77 developing countries to push for reform of the global governance system which – according to some leaders in Africa, Asia and Latin America – disproportionately favours the West.
Chinese vice-premier Liu Guozhong said on Sunday that developing countries “should jointly support the reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the international financial system”.
Liu was speaking in Kampala at the third South Summit – the decision-making body of the 134-country G77 and China, which does not consider itself a member of the grouping. Uganda also assumed chairmanship of the group at the meeting, taking over from Cuba.
China joins a growing list of countries, especially from Africa and Asia, that have been piling on the pressure for a reorganisation of the global political and economic order – especially the UN Security Council and the WTO, as well as the World Bank and the IMF.
The increasing calls for a review of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are based on concerns that the structure, location and mandate of the Bretton Woods institutions are no longer fit to deal with changing global trends.
The US played an outsize role in the creation of the IMF and World Bank and continues to command considerable influence, as one of the largest shareholders in both organisations, which are also headquartered in Washington.
Liu’s call to reform the WTO comes a few months after Chinese President Xi Jinping urged more effort in reforming the organisation, which has become the world’s largest goods trader and a key partner for more than 140 countries since China joined in 2003.
Liu, who is attending the summit as Xi’s special representative, said that it was crucial to make international development agencies more efficient in supporting countries in the Global South – broadly categorised as Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oceania.
“The collective rise of the countries of the Global South is unstoppable, yet the unjust and inequitable international political and economic order from the past continues to have lingering effects.”
Liu said that, as part of China’s initiative to reform the global financial system, Beijing had helped to establish the New Development Bank, the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Silk Road Fund.
These institutions are providing alternative lending for countries that cannot access international financial markets, and have funded multibillion projects in Asia and other overseas markets, he said.
Liu said developing countries, especially those in the Global South, should raise their representation and voices in meaningful ways to tackle the age-old problems of international governance.
At the same time, he urged developed countries to deliver on their development and climate financing commitments, and to speed up implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Goals Development (SGD) agenda.
“China supports countries of the south to realise common development,” Liu said. He added that his country was doing its part, with investments through initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative.
Liu highlighted the more than 3,000 belt and road projects, worth more than US$1 trillion, that China has bankrolled around the world in the past decade.
Xi had “underlined that China is a developing country and one of the Global South countries” and had stood with fellow developing countries “through thick and thin”, Liu said. He added that South-South cooperation would continue to be a priority.
Liu’s sentiments won support among the leaders present, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was also encouraged by Liu to nominate a special envoy for poverty eradication.
In his address, Guterres said the international system is “out of date, out of time, and out of step, reflecting a bygone age when many of your countries were colonised”.
“The United Nations Security Council is paralysed by geopolitical divisions. Its composition does not reflect the reality of today’s world. It must be reformed,” he added.
The UN chief said the global financial system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, had failed to provide a global safety net for developing countries in distress.
But he added that the Summit of the Future, taking place in New York in September, would be considering “deep reforms” to the international financial architecture.
Dennis Francis, president of the UN General Assembly, told the gathering that multilateral organisations – including the United Nations and international financial institutions – must undergo urgent reforms to better recognise and leverage the significance of the Global South.
“We need an international financial system rooted in inclusion and equity, inspiring full commitment to multilateralism, fostering SDG-aligned investments, and breaking the vicious cycles of debt and interest for developing countries,” Francis said.
In his first speech as chairman of the G77 and China, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni rallied the leaders to remain united in their demands to the international community – to support developing countries to urgently address global challenges such as poverty, hunger, the digital divide and climate change.
“As the G77 and China, we should continue to work collectively to ensure that we achieve an international economic order that is just and equitable, as envisaged 59 years ago at the founding of the group,” Museveni said.
He added that Uganda supports the urgent reform of the international financial architecture to ensure that it is fit for purpose to respond to the financing needs of developing countries.
Since its inception in 1964 as a group of 77 developing countries, the G77 has promoted economic cooperation among its member states. Beijing has provided political and financial support to the grouping since 1994.
Seifudein Adem, an Ethiopian global affairs professor at Doshisha University in Japan, said that the G77 and China, like the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), seeks to represent the interests of developing countries.
“China has almost ceased to be a part of the Third World. It is regarded today as a superpower. Yet some observers see China’s interests as aligning or at least intersecting with the interests of G77,” Adem said.
“Unlike the NAM, which suffered a crisis of purpose with the end of the Cold War, the raison d’être of G77 remains valid,” he said, pointing out that the international political and economic conditions which led to the G77’s formation are still there.
As much as the ICJ may be dismissed as a collective West farce, the fact is the ruling explicitly calls for Israel to stop the killing.
by Pepe Escobar at Strategic Culture
Let’s cut to the chase:
By 15-2, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has just ruled in favor of BRICS member South Africa, and ordered Israel to take all necessary measures to prevent a genocide in Gaza.
When it comes to the most scrutinized genocide ever, followed 24/7 by every smartphone on the planet, it’s fair to argue that South Africa has just scored an astonishing win against Zionism.
And yet, as a Global Cynic Armada argues, in practical terms there has been no call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Of course it may also be argued that calling for a ceasefire only applies to a war – as in the case of the proxy war in Ukraine. Gaza is a case of genocide of an indigenous population perpetrated by an occupying power. That calls for an immediate halt to all genocidal acts. Essentially this is what the ICJ has ordered.
The South African Foreign Ministry has noted that “if one reads the sentence, it’s implicit” that a ceasefire must be imposed.
The inestimable former British ambassador Craig Murray has noted that “after an extremely damning exposition of the facts by South Africa”, powerfully “and meticulously well stated”, conclusions were inevitable.
These are the highlights:
“The military operation conducted by Israel in Gaza has resulted in untold death and injuries, destroyed substantial infrastructure and housing units, caused mass malnutrition, collapsed the healthcare system, and displaced the majority of its inhabitants. This war has affected the entire population of Gaza and will have far lasting consequences. The court has taken note of the language of dehumanization by senior Israeli government officials.”
Hence the ICJ “accepts the South African demand for urgent provisional measures to be taken for the protection of Palestinians in Gaza against Israel and recommends” (italics mine) the following:
By 15-2: “The state of Israel shall take all measures to prevent the commission of genocide to Gaza.”
By 15-2: “The state of Israel shall ensure that the military not commit any acts of genocide.”
By 16-1: “Israel shall take all measures to punish all public solicitations to genocide.”
By 16-1: “Israel shall take immediate and effective measures to address adverse conditions to life in the Gaza Strip”.
By 15-2: “Israel shall take effective measures to preserve evidence of actions impacting the Genocide Convention.”
By 15-2: “Israel shall submit to the court a report of all measures taken to follow the orders of this court within one month.”
The Houthis and the Genocide Convention
The ICJ decision is binding (italics mine). Yet even as the ICJ decided that Israel must “take all measures to prevent death and injury”, and provide for all Palestinian humanitarian needs (including access to food, medicine, infrastructure), what happens if Tel Aviv simply ignores the decision?
Even considering that Israel must file a report on the remedial actions within one month of the ruling, all bets are off on whether biblical psychopathy practitioners will comply.
The answer came fast. Israel’s National Security Minister Ben Gvir, a cartoonish candidate for the role of out of control psycho in a cheap horror flick, stated that “the decision of the antisemitic court in The Hague proves what was already known: This court does not seek justice, but rather the persecution of Jewish people. They were silent during the Holocaust and today they continue the hypocrisy and take it another step further.”
Psychos don’t do history. The ICJ in its current iteration was founded in 1945.
What the ICJ ruling certainly did was de facto legitimize the moral strength of the Houthis supporting “our people” in Gaza.
And this while the US and the UK are spinning across the Global South that they must strike against the Houthis, whose policy of defending Palestine translates as upholding the Genocide Convention. The US and the UK cynically evoke the necessity to “protect international law.”
The overwhelming majority of the Global South instead interprets it as a peacekeeping force upholding the Genocide Convention – the Houthis – attacked by the rogue purveyors of the “rules-based international order”.
In parallel, a crucial point has been underlined by crack international lawyer Juan Branco. France currently presides the UN Security Council. According to Article 94.2 of the UN Charter: by South Africa’s request, the UN must (italics mine) force Israel to apply the ICJ ruling.
No one should count on trashy Macronist France to do the right thing.
The killing won’t stop
From the Global South’s point of view, it’s no less than appalling that an African, Ugandan judge Julia Sebutinde, opposed all the provisional measures requested by South Africa against Israel.
As the ICJ ruled that “Israel’s actions in Gaza may (italics mine) constitute genocide with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a specific ethnic group – the Palestinians”, it logically follows that US complicity with Israel amounts to US complicity in the genocide of Palestinians.
The ICJ ruling in fact indicts US, UK, Germany and other collective West members who all stated that the South African case is “without legal merit” and should be thrown out.
So it’s no wonder that a team of 47 South African lawyers is already preparing a lawsuit against the US and UK for complicity.
Whatever happens next, the hyper-committed Global Cynic Armada will not relent. The ICJ ordering Israel to “take all measures to prevent death and injury” certainly can be interpreted as calling for a ceasefire, without mentioning the magic word.
But what the Global Cynic Armada really sees is four interlinked toxic items: No ceasefire; kill the Palestinians, but softly; feed them before you kill them; and you still have one full month to engage in widespread killing.
As much as the ICJ may be dismissed as a collective West farce, the fact is the ruling explicitly calls for Israel to stop the killing. One may argue that the ICJ did the absolute maximum of what it can possibly do under its jurisdiction and procedures.
Yet considering that the ICJ has less than zero ways to enforce its ruling – it depends on the hyper-corrupt UN – the Global Cynic Armada may have got the grim picture right: the killing won’t stop.
Say whatever you wanna say,we know those who are pulling the strings. Personally , I ain’t got nothing to say! I have said enough. I rest my case! pic.twitter.com/f8jJH9sBQr
— Sy Marcus Herve Traore (@marcus_herve) February 24, 2024
Do you remember all the Thunder & Lightning starting with the overthrow of the French poodle Bazum of resource-rich Niger late last summer (rapidly forgotten after October 07)?? The roars of the French peacock and ECOWAS about the inadmissibility of another Junta coup overturning west-built “Freeum & Demokracy” in “our Africa?”
Well, after they were stared down as they wet themselves, and Frenchie’s troops duly kicked out, and a political-economic-military merger made among the Junta Belt, and trade was rerouted elsewhere to friendly neighbors, and the trio left ECOWAS, the latter just rolled over onto its naked back and cried “Uncle!” btw, this is a preview of the best-case scenario for the combined West in 404 too.
@Arab_Africa:
ECOWAS lifted sanctions on Niger. Local sources report this.
On February 24, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced the lifting of sanctions imposed on Niger, which include border closures, suspension of financial transactions, and a ban on the import of food and medicine.
@Sputnik Africa:
ECOWAS has decided to lift a number of sanctions against Niger, the head of the bloc’s commission says
The measures include the closure of borders, ban on financial transactions, and the freezing of Niger’s assets. The measures are lifted with immediate effect.
Earlier, ECOWAS Chairman and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said it was important to “re-examine our current approach to the quest for constitutional order in our member states.”
ECOWAS leaders met Saturday in Abuja to discuss the crisis in the region, which has recently seen military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. In response, ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Mali and Niger.
In January, the three countries declared their pullout from ECOWAS. They called the bloc a “threat” to its member states and criticized it for applying “illegal, illegitimate, inhumane” sanctions against them.
ECOWAS has decided to lift financial and economic sanctions against Guinea, the head of the bloc’s commission says
In 2022, the media reported that the ECOWAS countries, at an emergency summit held on the sidelines of the UNGA, decided to introduce “phased sanctions” against Guinea, which had underwent a coup d’etat in 2021.
The Vladimir Putin Sambo Tournament kicks off in Burkina Faso
The martial art is becoming increasingly popular in this West African country. The Burkinabe Sambo Association, founded in September 2020, today has 18 clubs across the country.
The Association plans to offer internships for Burkinabe sambo wrestlers in Russia, where athletes will be able to better understand and master this Olympic discipline.
”They say that sambo is power, sambo is leadership. Vladimir Putin is an example of the power of leadership,” the secretary general of the Burkina Faso Sambo Association
The Russian President has been a champion in this discipline, he has a great interest in martial arts and he is a “fervent amateur” of sport in general, Amidou Guindo recalled.
“His name must be a part of the event,” he added.
About fifty athletes from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, and Russia will compete for medals in several categories. |video|
LOL! Russians aren’t the only ones who know how to impale the Yemeni dagger and rotate it with glee.
“When we sat there in The Hague, the feeling in my heart was for the first time Israel’s impunity is visible to the world.”
The bravery of South Africa bears repeating. It is ironic the second to last official Apartheid state started the firestorm to burn down the Old Order, due to outrage over the brazen criminality of the last official Apartheid state.
The legal case and law maneuvers may not be fast enough to save the dying Palestinians, but the price to the accomplices will be TOTAL in the hearts, wallets, and chosen politico-social relations of 85% of Mankind. Note among the questions asked of the eloquent South African foreign minister: (1) we need enforcement powers of international law and where to obtain it, and (2) why are not all accomplices of this savage annihilation ousted from top international decision-making bodies, such as the UN Security Council??
Gaza by itself will help birth the fairer new multipolar world
Those who travel to Russia and see the reality for themselves, from any part of the world, are consistently astounded and pleased with what they see. This consistent discrepancy between reality and media-driven myth underlines the potency of the mindwashing western Big Lie Media, which most of humanity continues to foolishly imbibe.
Visiting Russia is a key antidote, until the Global South / Global Majority drops safeguards against western media, referred to as “informational hygiene” by Russians. Otherwise Forever Wars are permanently baked in as this Big Lie Media forever sews discord, false impressions between natural allies, and works to divide humanity along false lines.
An interesting pattern developed during yesterday’s first of three main voting days. Let the following 11 African election observers from 10 different African countries tell you in their own words. The selections are from the Sputnik Africa Telegram channel.
“International observers for the Russian presidential elections plan to visit at least 52-53 regions, they will be provided with all the necessary assistance, said the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova. Currently 333,600 people are monitoring the Russian presidential election, including over 700 from 106countries,” Pamfilova noted.
The process of voting is “proceeding normally,” she added.”
Everything you need to know about Russia’s 2024 presidential elections
Russian citizens will head to the polls on March 15-17 to vote in 2024 presidential election. There are 112.3 million eligible voters inside Russia, and around 1.9 million eligible voters reside abroad. Voter turnout is expected at 71%, as per the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM).
What’s new about 2024 elections?
E-voting, a remote electronic voting system, is being used for the first time to elect a Russian president. Voters in 29 Russian regions will be able to cast their ballots remotely.
Electronic ballot processing system uses a special scanner to read and process marked paper ballots and tally the results.
Mobile Voter mechanism provides online voting.
Elections state automated system is information software that ensures that ballots are counted in an accurate and rapid manner.
There are four candidates vying for the top office:
Self-nominated candidate and incumbent President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin;
Communist Party nominee Nikolay Kharitonov;
Liberal Democratic Party nominee Leonid Slutsky;
New People party nominee Vladislav Davankov.
Who will observe the voting process?
Election observers are Russian citizens who monitor compliance of election procedure with the law, supervise the process and record possible violations.
200 parliamentary international observers have been accredited to monitor the elections in Russia, delegations from 36 countries are already arriving.
Follow this link to learn more
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A Kenyan observer for the Russian presidential elections, who’s watching the voting process in Russia’s city of Perm told Sputnik that “the election process has started well” and “the election officials are well set”
“It’s very cold, [but] I am very happy to be here,” he added.
Fast and secure procedure: a Burundian observer appreciates the advantages of voting electronically in the Russian presidential election
“When I was told what happens electronically, I congratulated you, I saw that you had succeeded,” President of the National Assembly of Burundi, Honorable Gelase Daniel Ndabirabe, told Sputnik Africa.
Ndabirabe noted that once a person is identified in the system, the voting process takes “very little time,” adding that such an option saves “a lot of time and energy” for people.
Lastly, the observer praised the excellent security of the electronic voting.
“I was told that to date there have been no complaints about the security of the electronic trial. Which is another great success, because that’s what’s so frightening. I say: “congratulations”. Because there can’t be any hacking. That’s a very good thing,” Ndabirabe concluded.
Cameroonian observer speaks about Russian presidential election. African observers who are inspecting polling stations across Russia will return home genuinely satisfied with what they have seen, Serge Espoir Matomba, the first secretary of the Cameroonian United People for Social Renovation, told Sputnik Africa.
According to him, at a time when “the world wants to be multipolar, we have an obligation to know what’s going on without waiting to be told what’s going on. There is this growing misinformation that is being used today as a lever for manipulation.”
“That is why I am in Moscow today, to see with my own eyes how the elections are going, how the buzz around the elections is going, how the process itself is being set in motion,” Matomba said.
“The image that Africa has often had of Russia in the past is changing exponentially,” the politician concluded. “Africans are now realizing that Russia is not the country they were presented with. And that’s a good thing.”
An observer from Kenya in the Kherson region praised the Russian electronic voting system
“In Russia you can vote from home. In other countries, especially in African countries, with electronic voting you have to go to the polling station to register,” said Ezekiel Kanagi Mutes.
“Absolutely fair”: Ethiopian observer impressed by Russian presidential elections
“Really, it is well planned, well organized. I have seen the voters, how they are electing. As to my observation up to now, it is absolutely fair. I appreciate it,” Dr. Petros Woldegiorgis, an observer from Ethiopia and President of Bonga University, told Sputnik Africa.
He particularly noted the accessibility measures in place, including the option for citizens in distant locations to vote via telephone—a novel experience for him.
“The general feeling I have is wonderful,” the observer remarked. “From Alpha to Omega, what I have seen now, honestly speaking, I’m very much excited.”
“Very open and freely”: Tanzanian observer from the ruling party on the Russian presidential election
“The voting process here is very interesting. […] It takes very small time, just 3 to 5 minutes you are done, is very open and freely,” Joseph Mgaya told Sputnik Africa.
Furthermore, the observer pointed out that Russian citizens are voting “freely” and they can do it in every corner of the country – you just need to have an ID with you.
Mgaya also praised the “high-end” online voting technology that simplifies the whole election process.
“I’m very interested in it because it’s high-end [and] […] it’s very open,” he added.
“The process is more than transparent”: Comorian observer on presidential elections in Russia
The Russian presidential election has a number of advantages, including security cameras to ensure transparency, candidate representatives at each polling station, “a more efficient electronic system combined with a reliable manual system,” Ahmed Said Mdahoma, head of the Independent National Electoral Commission of the Comoros, told Sputnik Africa.
He also noted “maximum” security to ensure the calm of the electoral process and “constant communication at the level of the Central Electoral Commission to inform citizens, observers and actors about the electoral process.”
In addition, Mdahoma emphasized a 3-day voting period that would allow “everyone who wants to exercise their right to vote to find the right time” to do so.
Chairman of CAR National Electoral Commission praises organization of Russian presidential elections
Mathias Moruba visited three polling stations in Russia and noted their compliance with international electoral standards, the Russian Embassy in the Central African Republic (CAR) said.
According to the embassy, the delegation from the Central African Republic arrived in Russia to observe the presidential election at the invitation of the Russian Central Election Commission.
“Russia is already ahead,” says Madagascan observer on electronic voting in Russia
Russia’s presidential election is taking place “calmly and also within the norm,” which has highlighted some advances, such as automated voting, which saves voters’ time, Ralaisoavamanjaka Andriamarotafikatohanambahoaka, the first general rapporteur of Madagascar’s Independent National Electoral Commission, told Sputnik Africa.
“The computerized system is a novelty. The whole world will choose this system. The choice of the virtual system, which the majority of people will make, is mainly to save time for them,” the observer explained.
He added that “it’s obvious that we’ve respected the principle of electoral sovereignty and the electoral norm in Moscow and Russia in general.”
[His name is not a typo!! Another example here.]
“No violations”: an observer from Angola about the Russian presidential elections
“We didn’t find any problems, no violations. [Everything went] very well, without problems. And everything was peaceful,” said Manuel Camati, member of the National Electoral Commission of Angola.
He also noted that elections are part of the sovereignty of each state, and therefore it was important for him to be personally present in this process.
Speaking about the technological innovations of the Russian elections, Camati said that they help to quickly resolve any issues, and the electronic voting option allows “to minimize the number of errors and speed up electoral processes.”
Voting in Russia “proceeding normally, as in other countries,” says Malian observer
The ability to vote electronically is important for people who cannot travel, such as the disabled and the elderly, Nana Aïcha Cissé, the first vice-president of Mali’s Network of Women Parliamentarians, told Sputnik Africa.
She came to observe the elections in Russia for the first time and said she was impressed by the organization.
The observer also called Mali “a friend of Russia,” noting that “people know Russia, they know the ties that exist between Mali and Russia, and that’s very important.”
Lost in the thunder of the two incendiary battlegrounds of the Ukraine and the Holy Land, the end of the western Age of Plunder is vividly demonstrated in the West African Sahel. Calm business arrangements are conducted with friendly states, even as the last US garrisons are dismantled, one by one.
@Intel Slava Z:
SENEGAL: how Russia is destroying French neocolonialism
Historical events are brewing in another West African country, Senegal. Getting rid of the country’s neocolonial dependence on its former official metropolis – France.
Over the weekend, presidential elections took place here, in which the opposition candidate Bashiru Jumaye Faye is confidently leading (and may even win them in the first round, which will become known tomorrow), who, as part of his election promises, promised to review oil and gas deals with Western campaigns, including agreements with British Petroleum, Endeavor Mining and Kosmos Energy.
He also advocates a radical revision of relations between Senegal and France. And as part of this, Faye is going to follow neighboring Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to leave the French currency system (by abandoning the CFA franc). And the French military will have to leave the country. By the way, sensing something was wrong, Paris had already announced a little earlier that it was sharply reducing the military contingent in the country (probably so that it would not be so shameful later). In return, he promises to take a course towards rapprochement with Russia.
Thus, France’s next major foreign policy defeat on the African continent looms on the horizon. Moreover, Senegal was a key player in the issue of the blockade of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, which had previously freed themselves from the influence of Paris. And the departure of Senegal from the CFA franc zone puts a final and fat cross on this system (which brought huge profits to France) and on which the entire system of French neocolonialism was essentially built.
And hence all of Macron’s current anti-Russian hysteria. He, like a plucked rooster, understands that he is losing to Russia and therefore becomes hysterical. And Ukraine for him is the last chance to spoil Moscow. But I think he will be disappointed here too.
@Russian MFA:
President Vladimir Putin spoke over the phone with President of the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland of the Republic of Niger Abdourahamane Tchiani, who expressed solidarity with the Russian people and heartfelt condolences over the numerous victims of the heinous terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall.
In discussing the bilateral agenda, the Leaders expressed determination to step up political dialogue and develop mutually beneficial cooperation in various spheres.
They also exchanged views on the developments in the Sahel-Sahara region with an emphasis on coordination of security and counterterrorism efforts.
@Sputnik Africa:
US will plan for the “disengagement” of troops from Niger after its military pact with Washington ends, Niger’s interior minister says.
The statement was published on social media after Mohamed Toumba hosted US Ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon for talks.
A spokesperson for the Nigerien military said in mid-March that the country’s transitional government, which took power in a coup last July, ended the agreement with immediate effect, citing the interests of the Nigerien people.
@Africa Intel:
Putin discusses security cooperation with West and Central African leaders.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed security and economic cooperation with Mali’s junta leader Assimi Goita by phone on Wednesday, both countries said, a day after Putin held a similar call with the junta leader in neighbouring Niger.
“We discussed bilateral issues, particularly the security and economic areas,” Goita said. “We agreed to cooperate further in the fight against terrorism.” The Kremlin confirmed.
The call appeared to be part of a round of diplomatic exchanges Putin has made with West and Central African leaders since his re-election earlier this month.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday Putin and the leader of the Republic of Congo, Denis Sassou Nguesso, had agreed in a phone call to deepen political, economic and humanitarian ties.
On Tuesday, Putin spoke by phone with Niger’s junta leader, Abdourahamane Tiani and discussed a need to reinforce their security cooperation, according to Nigerien state television.
@Arab_Africa:
The US is worried that Niger will replace its military with Russian mercenaries
This was stated by the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Mike Rogers, at a hearing on the US military posture in the Middle East and Africa.
According to him, the recent expulsion of the US military from Niger may be linked to security talks with Iran and Russia that took place the day before.
“It looks like Niger will soon join Mali, Libya, Sudan, Mozambique and Burkina Faso in welcoming Russian troops and mercenaries into their country,” Rogers suggested. He also noted that China is at the same time seeking to expand its military presence beyond the PLA naval base in Djibouti.
“And they set up bases on the west coast to give the PLA strategic access to the Atlantic. China has already built and currently operates several major trading ports along the west coast of Africa,” the Republican reported.
Finally, Rogers warned that the US could lose the initiative due to inaction on the continent.
“Africa is of vital strategic importance to the United States. We cannot allow China or Russia to become their preferred security or business partner,” the American worries.
#нувыпонимаете
LOL
@Sputnik Africa:
“Atomexpo-2024,” the largest international forum on nuclear energy, was held on March 25-26 in Russia. Here are our publications not to be missed
Atomexpo-2024 nuclear industry forum breaks attendance record;
Rosatom signs roadmaps for developing cooperation on nuclear energy with Mali, and Burkina Faso and Algeria; NOTE: the first two are members of the Sahelian Junta Belt..
“Russia will be able to better support Burkina Faso towards its energy independence,” a Burkinabe minister reveals details of the roadmap with Rosatom;
“Gold mined in Mali should be processed in Mali,” Malian minister of mines comments on the gold processing plant project with Russia;
Cooperation with Russia can help eliminate power shortages in Africa and advance Zimbabwe’s healthcare system, says minister;
Russia attracted Africans’ interest in nuclear energy because it’s a reliable partner, says a Rosatom official;
With the help of the agreements with Rosatom, Burundi intends to have a nuclear power plant that will help launch the country into industrial production, says a minister from the African country.
The Axis of Resistance in the Sahel is a multipolar counterpart of the Axis of Resistance in West Asia. Everyone needs to keep the focus on Resistance across the spectrum. A long and winding road – but we will prevail.
By Pepe Escobar at The Cradle.
The African Sahel is revolting against western neocolonialism – ejecting foreign troops and bases, devising alternative currencies, and challenging the old multinationals. Multipolarity, after all, cannot flower without resistance paving its path.
The emergence of Axes of Resistance in various geographies is an inextricable byproduct of the long and winding process leading us toward a multipolar world. These two things – resistance to the Hegemon and the emergence of multipolarity – are absolutely complementary.
The Axis of Resistance in West Asia – across Arab and Muslim states – now finds as its soul sister the Axis of Resistance spanning the Sahel in Africa, west to east, from Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger to Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.
African Sahel states
Unlike Niger, where the change in power against neocolonialism was associated with a military coup, in Senegal, the power change comes straight from the polls.
Senegal plunged itself into a new era with the landslide victory of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, in nationwide elections on 24 March. A former tax inspector who had just spent a fortnight stint in jail, Faye emerged with the profile of an underdog pan-African leader to turn the ‘most stable democracy in Africa,’ under French puppet incumbent Macky Sall, upside down.
The incoming Senegalese president now joins Ibrahim Traore, 36, in Burkina Faso, Aby Ahmed, 46, in Ethiopia, Andry Rajoelina, 48, in Madagascar, as well as future superstar Julius Malema, 44, in South Africa as part of the new, young pan-African generation focused on sovereignty. In his election manifesto, Faye pledged to reclaim Senegal’s sovereignty no less than eighteen times.
Geoeconomics is key to these shifts. As Senegal becomes a substantial oil and gas producer, Faye will aim to renegotiate mining and energy contracts, including the largest ones with British Petroleum (BP) and UK gold mine operator, Endeavor Mining.
Crucially, he plans to ditch the exploitative CFA franc – the French-controlled currency system used in 14 African states – even setting up a new currency as part of reshaping relations with neocolonial power France, Senegal’s top trading partner. Faye, echoing Comrade Xi Jinping, wants a “win-win” partnership.
(L): Niger’s military ruler General Abdourahamane Tchiani with Malian counterpart Colonel Assimi Goita, Bamako, Mali; (R): Niger’s Tchiani with Burkinabè counterpart Captain Ibrahim Traoré, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; November 23-24, 2023.
Enter the Alliance of the Sahel States
Faye has not yet been clear on whether he intends to kick the French military out of Senegal. Were that to happen, the blow to Paris would be unprecedented, as embattled Petit Roi Emmanuel Macron and the French establishment consider Senegal the key player when it comes to blockading landlocked Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso, which have already left Paris in the (Sahel) dust.
The three latter states, which have just formed an Alliance of the Sahel States (Alliance des Etats du Sahel, AES, in the original French), are not only a major Paris nightmare after serial humiliations but also a big American headache – epitomized in the spectacular breakdown of military cooperation between Washington and Nigerien capital Niamey.
The culprit, according to the US Deep State, is, of course, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Obviously, no one in the US Beltway has been paying due attention to the Russia–Africa diplomatic flurry since last year, involving all key players from the Sahel to the new African BRICS members Egypt and Ethiopia.
In sharp contrast to its prior regard of Niger as a staunch ally in the Sahel, Washington is now forced to present a calendar date to get its troops out of Niger – after a military cooperation deal was annulled. The Pentagon cannot be involved in military training in Nigerien territory anymore.
There are two key bases – in Agadez and Niamey – which the Pentagon spent over $150 million to build. Niamey was finished only in 2019 and is managed by the US military’s African Command, AFRICOM.
Operational objectives are, predictably, shrouded in mystery. The Niamey base is essentially an intel center, processing data collected by MQ-9 Reaper drones. The US Air Force also uses the Dirkou Aerodrome as a base for operations in the Sahel.
Now things get really exciting, because the presence of a de facto CIA drone base in Dirkou, manned by a handful of operatives, is not even acknowledged. This dark base allows intel collection everywhere in Central Africa, from west to north. Call it another classic example of former CIA director Mike Pompeo’s “We Lie, We Cheat, We Steal.”
There are roughly 1,000 US troops in Niger who may soon face ejection. The Americans are trying everything to stem the bleeding. Only this month, US Undersecretary of State for Africa Molly Phee visited Niger twice. Losing bases in Niger will translate into Washington following Paris in losing control of the Sahel – as Niger gets closer to Russia and Iran.
These bases are not essential to exercise surveillance over the Bab al-Mandeb; it’s all about the Sahel, with drones operating on their limit and violating every sovereign air space in sight.
Incidentally, a hefty delegation from Niamey visited Moscow in January. Then, last week, Putin discussed security cooperation in phone calls with Mali’s interim President, Assimi Goita, and Niger’s military junta President Abdourahmane Tchiani before talking to the Republic of Congo’s President Denis Nguesso.
(L): VVP with Burkinabè interim leader Traoré, St. Petersburg, July 2023; (R): Russian Deputy PM Alexey Overchuk with Nigerien PM Ali Lamine Zein, Moscow, January 2024.
Ivory Coast: The Empire turn-around
Pro-west puppet regimes are dwindling fast all across the African continent. The Alliance of the Sahel States – Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger – may be the vanguard of an African Axis of Resistance, but there’s more, in the form of South Africa, Ethiopia, and Egypt as full BRICS members – not to mention serious candidates for the next wave of BRICS+, such as Algeria and Nigeria.
Russia, diplomatically, and China, commercially, plus the full weight of the Russia–China strategic partnership, are clearly focused on the long game – counting on Africa as a whole as a key multipolar player. Additional evidence was provided once again during the multipolar conference last month in Moscow, where charismatic pan-African leader Kemi Seba from Benin was one of the superstars.
Pan-Eurasian diplomatic circles even allow themselves to joke about the recent hissy fits by Le Petit Roi in Paris. The utter humiliation of France in the Sahel is likely one of the drivers of Macron’s chest-thumping threats to send French troops to Ukraine – who would be turned into steak tartare by the Russians in record time – and his eagerness to support Armenia’s current Russophobic stunts.
Historically, the fact remains, that Africans considered the former USSR much more pliable and even supportive when it came to siphoning natural resources; that goodwill has now also been transferred to China.
As a regional integration platform, the Alliance of the Sahel States has everything it takes to become a game-changer. Senegal under Faye may eventually join, but Guinea already offers the geographical capacity to provide the alliance with credible maritime access. That will lead to the progressive extinction of the western-controlled, Nigeria-based ECOWAS.
Yet, never dismiss the Hegemon’s mighty tentacles. The Pentagon master plan does not entail abandoning Africa to a multipolar Russia–China–Iran sphere of influence. Yet no one across the Sahel’s Axis of Resistance buys the US ‘terror threat’ card anymore. There was virtually zero terror in Africa until 2011, when NATO turned Libya into a wasteland, then put boots on the ground and erected military bases across the continent.
So far, the Alliance of the Sahel States is winning the sovereignty-first information war, hands-down. But there’s no question the Empire will strike back. After all, the whole game is tied to the Beltway’s supreme paranoia of Russia taking over the Sahel and Central Africa.
Enter the Ivory Coast, now that Senegal may be about to start flirting with the Alliance of the Sahel States.
Ivory Coast is more strategic to Washington than, for instance, Chad because Ivorian territory is very close to the Sahel alliance. Still, Chad has already recalibrated its foreign policy, which is no longer Western-controlled and comes with a new emphasis on getting closer to Moscow.
What lies ahead for Empire? Perhaps US ‘anti-terror’ drones shared with Paris at the French base in the Ivory Coast to keep the Sahel alliance in check. Call it the humiliated Gallic rooster embracing the Hegemon in West Africa without receiving even the crumbs of a stale croissant.
Sweet coordinated moves in our Juntaland, West African Sahelian branch, among the Axes of Resistance!
Little noticed, just after Niger officially kicked out US troops (turning on the ticking clock, as with Frenchie earlier), and right after Russian advance troops arrived in town, China swooped in to provide sanctions-busting liquidity and lucrative deals. This effectively seals off Plunder Inc from one of most stupendous resource-rich regions on earth, easily to rival Russia itself. And Niger is projected to be Africa’s top growth economy this year….
Niamey, Niger protests against French occupation troops, July 2023.
@Arab_Africa:
The day after Russian troops arrived, Niger signed a $400 million oil deal with China. China asked for $400 million for the sale of crude oil. The official signing ceremony of the agreement between Niger and CNPC took place on April 12. It was attended by the Prime Minister of Niger, Mahamane Zein Lamin, and the Chinese Ambassador to Niamey. |video|
Niamey, Niger protests against French occupation troops, July 2023.
@Africa Intel:
Hundreds rally in Niger’s capital to push for U.S. military departure
Hundreds took to the streets of Niger’s capital on Saturday to demand the departure of U.S. troops, after the ruling junta further shifted its strategy by ending a military accord with the United States and welcoming Russian military instructors.
Marching arm in arm through central Niamey, the crowd waved Nigerien flags in a demonstration that recalled anti-French protests that spurred the withdrawal of France’s forces from Niger last year after the army seized power in a coup. |media|
Oh, the Chinese fan the flames. And the key Junta leaders were trained in the famous USA torture academy AKA “School of the Americas,” located in Georgia, LOL!!!!
Support is cherished by those besieged and subjugated by neocolonialism, struggling to live.
By Bruce Gagnon at the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space.
China’s announced it’s writing off some loans owed by Zimbabwe which is struggling with heavy debt. The gesture was made during the African country’s independence celebrations marking 44 years of freedom from British colonial rule.
This is why the west hates China.
The western ‘Rules Based Order’ does not allow for this biblical mandate of forgiving debt. Capitalism does just the opposite. It takes everything of value the debtor has and keeps the debtor in bondage.
“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed.” ~ Deuteronomy 15:1-2
China lived under the yoke and the whip of western extractive capitalism for a long time. The Chinese understand what much of the Global South is going through these days.
The western ‘way of life’ resulted from more than 500 years of thievery from the Global South. The reason the US-UK-EU are now at war with the rest of the world is the colonial occupiers know the vise is turning and squeezing them. Thus they move to terrorism in the vain attempt to hold onto power and domination.
But it is not working.
Thank you China.
Bruce
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