African immigrants are not welcome in Israel. In 2013, a fence was erected on the Israeli-Egyptian border to stop African immigrants, the author notes. – Photo: Rudychaimg / Wikimedia Commons
Kim Heller
War is an art. And it is rarely beautiful. Israel continues its attacks on Gaza, forcing it to build up its military. It is now clear that Israel’s new strategy is to offer residency to African asylum seekers in Gaza who are ready, able and willing to fight for Israel. For the African asylum seekers, this is not the life-saving opportunity they so desperately sought, but a death sentence.
This Sword of Damocles agreement serves no purpose. It provides no lifeline to African asylum seekers, because they will be risking their lives for a country with which they are engaged in a long and bloody war. It is not an act of humanity or charity on the part of Israel.
This new proposal is just one part of Israel’s broader immigration strategy to manage African asylum seekers and refugees. It’s an easy victory for Israel in the face of asylum seekers’ desperation. Even worse, given that Israel has been charged with genocide at the International Court of Justice, African asylum seekers who are coerced or who agree to join this Israel-Gaza conflict could be charged with acts of genocide.
There are nearly 30,000 African asylum seekers in Israel, most of them young men, with an estimated 3,500 from Sudan. Most of the asylum seekers have fled their home countries due to deadly conflict, poverty and oppression. They are not perceived in Israel as asylum seekers, but as unwelcome economic migrants and a threat to Israel’s economy, society and culture.
Despite being a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, Israel has seen very few asylum seekers granted refugee status, and the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) said it was nearly impossible for migrants from Africa to be granted asylum, citing a grant rate of less than 1%.
The HIAS report argues that despite many refugees having been in the country for years and speaking Hebrew fluently, they have little prospect of integrating or accessing basic rights there.
Most asylum seekers are issued temporary protection visas that give them no right to live or work, and even if they do get work, it’s in low-paying jobs that no Israeli wants.
African immigrants are not welcome in Israel. In 2013, a fence was erected on the Israeli-Egyptian border to stop African immigrants from entering the country. Gideon Sa’ar was Israel’s Minister of the Interior at the time.
“There are tens of millions of people in Africa seeking refuge in Western countries. The potential danger to us is great because we are the only Western country with a land border with Africa,” he said. “We are fighting for the future character of our country and we will not compromise on that.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the border fence for helping to curb “violent terrorist attacks in the Sinai Peninsula and, even worse, the influx of illegal immigrants from Africa,” according to the Times of Israel.
The construction of the Egyptian border fence has dramatically reduced the number of asylum seekers from Africa. Anti-migration measures have also become increasingly tough. In 2018, Israel implemented further policies to exclude and reduce immigration from Africa, which Prime Minister Netanyahu called “accelerated removals.”
Netanyahu gave African migrants three months to move and gave them two “options”: a lump sum to move to another African country or face imprisonment. The Israeli prime minister called African migrants “infiltrators.” This wave of mass deportations and detentions was curtailed by the intervention of legal and humanitarian organizations.
In 2018, journalist David Sheen wrote for Al Jazeera that the comments from Israel’s top political and religious leader were a depressing reminder of how little value black lives are held in the country. “When the government’s racist rhetoric is most people’s only benchmark for treating African refugees, they can easily assume that Africans, like Palestinians, deserve to be despised,” he wrote.
Sheen writes that racist attitudes towards African refugees from the Israeli government and religious authorities could have deadly consequences, citing a sermon by Yitzhak Yosef, one of Israel’s two chief rabbis, who called black people “apes.”
“It is highly unlikely that Yosef will actually face any retaliation for his racist comments,” Sheen wrote, “because he was not demoted just two years ago after a similar sermon in which he said that Africans, Arabs and other non-Jews could all live in Israel only if they agreed to serve Israeli Jews.”
Clearly, black lives do not matter much in Israel. Negative portrayals of African migrants by government officials are dangerous. In recent years, there have been deadly attacks on Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers by Israeli nationals. Little punitive action has been taken against these perpetrators. Such attacks brutally illustrate the vulnerable and precarious position of African migrants in Israel.
The very idea of African asylum seekers fighting in a war they did not bring about is horrifying. It is nothing short of inhumane, especially considering the fact that most of these asylum seekers are fleeing war-torn countries and have experienced enormous trauma, displacement and loss.
For a country like Israel, founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust and offering a haven for refugees, it is sad and shocking that African refugees are not given dignity. It is sad and shocking that African refugees are only treated as human beings if they give their lives for Israel. An African immigrant will only get a modicum of dignity by sacrificing their life for Israel.
Africans should not be used in a fight that is not theirs, whatever the cost, whether it’s mountains of gold for their governments or a few pennies for themselves. Last year, Kenya sent 400 police officers to Haiti to help quell the country’s brutal and endless gang wars. This week it was announced that 600 more would be added to the Kenyan contingent in Haiti, in what Kenyan President William Ruto described as a “historic mission of solidarity.”
This is not solidarity. This is madness. It is the same in Haiti as it is in Israel. And as always, the sacrifice is made at the expense of African bodies.
*Kim Heller is a political analyst and author of No White Lies: Black Politics and White Power in South Africa.
**The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of African Media.
