Liberia to Israel: Fixing US Settler States
By Suzette Gardner

Latest Liberia News

One good turn deserves another, but what about failures?

It is not surprising that the Bush administration is cautious about getting ‘embroiled’ in the Liberian civil war, after all, they have moved on to bigger and more profitable American diplomatic failures in Israel and the ‘Occupied Territories’. Though the Liberian fiasco is a mirror of Israel, there are differences. The Liberian tragedy, albeit older, is less reported, receives less US financial aid--despite with a more direct connection to the US, and unlike Israel, remains a step-child in US foreign policy.

Like Israel, Liberia was 'founded' on land already populated by thriving communities of indigenous people with the backing of imperialist power. Although the triumphal escape from the horrors of holocaust and slavery into nationhood have been used to quiet consciences against this injustice, it still exists and is at the root of both ceaseless conflicts. Ignoring the rights and displacing millions of indigenous Liberians and Palestinians to appease the conscience of western nations and satisfy the nostalgia of the oppressed, prove to not be sound basis for peaceful nation building. Yet, the United States continues to support and guide Israel's bid down that very road while leaving Liberia to an 'African solution' for the 1822 American creation.

While neighboring African countries are expected to 'take care' of the problem in Liberia and perhaps usurp the disgruntled indigenous Liberian population to save thriving Americo-Liberian institutions, so too are neighboring Arab states expected to absorb Palestinians. The pro-Zionist argument that all Palestinians are Arabs, thus their nationality is of no significance in a region mainly populated by Arabs--and as such should make way for those that are perhaps more deserving or longing for the same, is very American. Palestinian refugees advocating for the right to return to their homeland and puzzling over this ethnic insensitivity in American foreign policy can take some comfort in knowing that the practice is not particular to them, and regardless of how ignorant, is long standing and not about to become unpopular.

Jamaican historian and folklorist Sir Philip Sherlock once told a story about two women searching for a fallen coin on a dark path; after some time and increased frustration, the woman who lost the coin confessed that perhaps she would have found the coin already if the other woman wasn't helping her. The story is akin to the US brokering a 'just peace' for Palestinians and now for Liberians. Can those who stand to gain from instability in both communities be trusted with securing their peace? Liberia neither makes the arms nor consumes the diamonds or timber being traded to fund the conflict and loss of African lives. According to Small Arms Survey, the companies that control these trades and are directly responsible for making their conduit Charles Taylor Liberia's political kingpin, are based in the US, United Kingdom and China-all operating through an intricate cryptic network often utilizing the bureaucracy of countries in eastern Europe; The Ukraine in particular.

For Palestinians, their oppression if further funded by the Israeli diamond cutting industry busy polishing conflict diamonds from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Angola. Although profits from Israeli diamond trading is perhaps a pittance in comparison to the US$3 billion Israel gets per year from the US government, Liberia has had to make do with only US$60 million--at most. Perhaps more answers are to be found in the capitalist agenda of the west for Africa and the developing world where US foreign policy mirrors the workings of a capitalist corporation. In the US, top management's welfare gets prioritized over labor. Therefore, US foreign policy ensures that those managing and shuttling the resources of Africa and the rest of the developing world be handsomely rewarded and given free reign to create the cultural and political atmosphere necessary to procure vital markets for western development.

The United States being the most powerful country in the world does have the resources to end the conflict in Liberia and Israeli occupied Palestine, but what it obviously lacks is the conscience or sense of history. Africans on the other hand, should know better from experience. It is time for African states to fortify their own institutions such as ECOMOG, ECOWAS and the African Union to create formidable forces to bring about the diplomacy and military action to secure peace and control over African resources. Arab nations should do the same for Palestine.

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