The Global Effort for Africa: Israel and the Jewish Community Initiatives

Today I attended an incredible conference on Jewish and Israeli development initiatives in Africa. I have to share a little about it because it was just so positive and inspiring. The conference itself was 3 hours long, so I'll keep it to the basics.

The opening address was given by Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Columbia who is considered one of the leading economists today. He is the director of the Earth Institute which focuses on combining economic development with environmental sustainablity, named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people twice, wrote "The End of Poverty" and as can be seen from his picture, has a nice head of hair and the eyes of a visionary. He spoke a bit about how people have no right to ignore the terrible tragedies which are happening daily in Africa. That the majority of the starvation and disease could be easily countered. An example is the 2 million children who die every year from malaria which could be countered with 50 cents in the form of a mosquito net or three doses of medicine at $1 each. He spoke about how these were easily attainable goals, that the these areas were not war torn and any excuses about bureaucracy were unfounded. He talked about a village he worked with, and an anonymous donor who gave a million dollars that 10 days later was planted in the form of soil and high-producing maize and that in a year this starving village became one of surplus.

Then Ruth Messinger spoke on behalf of the American Jewish World Service. She talked about school and community projects that give directly to people in Africa and the importance of raising awareness. Next was Will Recant from the Joint Distribution Committee and he discussed his programs Rescue, Relief and Renewal program that had helped bring planes full of Ethiopian Jews to Israel as well as dug wells between Jewish and non-Jewish villages in Africa. He discussed how Israel has given humanitarian aid to Africa even when due to Arab Oil boycotts the African countries couldn't have formal ties to Israel. Then Ambassador Haim Divon, former Israeli Ambassador to Ethiopia, discussed the importance of Human Capacity Building, the idea of fostering leaders within the local communities and having them create plans for development rather than people from outside dictating to Africans their needs. He also gave a great deal of background on Mashav, the organization he founded which spearheads Israelis development projects around the world. He also, very wisely, spoke on the importance of education for awareness of the problems facing Africa in order for youth to understand their own role in how to help with future development. (Pictured: Israeli agriculturalists training in India)

Next came Ambassador Obiozor from Nigeria. He served as Nigeria's Ambassador to Israel and Cyprus and is currently Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs. I ask you, have you ever seen a more jolly looking man? Although a bit hard to understand, he made some excellent points. He focused on Israel's ties to Nigeria, and that it was appreciated that Israel performed its services with "no strings attached" whereas other governments came to Nigeria's aid only to leave the country deeper in debt. He called for Africa and countries who would support aid to put their resources towards agriculture, technology, and the reduction and eradication of Africa's debts. He discussed ways in which Israel had already contributed a lot on the firt two points by exporting their drip irrigation system to Africa as well as setting up phone service in a country that previously had less that a quarter of its population wired. He talked about an emotional closeness felt between Jews and Africans and specifically said that both groups understood that "Success is the greatest revenge for injustice."

Last, and with a great deal of bald Israeli security personnel, came the Israeli Minister of Tourism Isaac Herzog. He highlighted the history between Israel and humanitarian aid in Africa; specifically Herzl discussing the potential for Africa when considering Uganda as a Jewish homeland and Ben Gurion's and Golda Meier's support for sending Israeli aid to Africa. Israel, seen by Africa as neither a colonizer or major actor in the Cold War, was welcome as a provider for aid when others were not. It seems that Israel has also exported more than just agriculture and technology to Africa; Africa is now setting up Kibbutzes (socialist communal farms), Israeli entrepreneurial businesses are being welcomed, and youth villages for orphans or impoverished children are being created according to Israel's designs. He also pleaded for the mass media, which focuses so much attention on the conflicts of the Middle East, to focus even a fraction of that attention on the huge atrocities being carried out daily in Africa.

I leave with a Jewish proverb and an African one:

Pray as if all depends on God
Act as though all depends on you

If you want to travel fast, travel alone.

If you want to travel far, travel together.