08 August 2012 By Osman Mirghani Last week, the Minister of Water Resources and
Irrigation for the newborn state of South Sudan paid a
visit to Israel. This could have been fairly innocuous
were it not for the Sudanese minister's statements and
actions during the visit, which came within the
framework of growing levels of cooperation between the
two sides ever since South Sudan separated from the
North, or perhaps even prior to this date. The South
Sudanese minister signed protocol agreements on issues
pertaining to water, agriculture, infrastructure and
military industries, but it was his statements that
will impact far beyond Sudan and pose a grave concern
to all Arabs, or at least the majority of them.
However, it seems that the South Sudanese minister's
rhetoric has passed by largely unnoticed, despite its
crucial significance in terms of current and future
reflections. So what exactly did the man say? According to a report published in Asharq al-Awsat
last Wednesday, South Sudan's Minister of Water
Resources and Irrigation, Paul Mayom Akec, and the
Israeli Minister of Energy and Water, Uzi Landau, both
launched insults at the Arabs. The former compared
Israel's experience to that of South Sudan, and hinted
at a comparison between Nazism and the Arabs. The
Israeli minister told his guest that, since he was a
young man, he kept a watchful eye on the situation and
the struggle in southern Sudan, and he was aware of
the amount of suffering the southern Sudanese had
endured, claiming that Arabs can be very cruel with
people they do not wish to see living amongst them.
The South Sudanese minister responded by pointing out
the considerable similarities between Israel's
experience and that of South Sudan, in terms of a
people's struggle for existence among a group that did
not want them to survive. Paul Mayom Akec was not
content with this however, for he went on to say that
South Sudan has lost 2.5 million of its population [as
a result of the Sudanese civil war], and the Jews lost
six million people [during the Nazi Holocaust], and
hence it is the duty of both countries to ensure that
this does not happen again. Such controversial rhetoric hides a grave problem
for future relations and alliances in the region,
especially between Israel and South Sudan. This will
also have a profound impact upon the problematical
Nile water issue, and could also incite other
minorities in the Arab world who empathize with the
injustice expressed by the South Sudanese. Such
injustices are a direct result of the discrimination
practiced against these minorities, who complain of
being treated as second-class citizens denied certain
rights. The Arab world has numerous minorities and a
vibrant mix of ethnic, religious and ideological
groups, and this means that issues such as citizenship
must be handled in a way that does not lead to
continual weaknesses in the structure of Arab states.
These issues must not be a cause for intervention,
hostilities or civil wars. It is no secret that Israel
has continually exploited the minority issue in the
Arab world, in a bid to infiltrate and provoke unrest
and tension. Relations between Israel and South Sudan could pose
numerous problems for the Arabs if they do not take
heed and correct their double mistake of firstly
neglecting to establish close relations with the new
southern state, and secondly ignoring the climate of
hostility and war between Khartoum and Juba. In this
endeavor, the Arabs are acting as if the issue does
not concern them, passing the whole matter on to
African mediations, international interventions and
Israeli infiltration. South Sudan has already
complained that Arab states have showed no interest in
establishing relations with the newborn state, nor
have they sought to promote contact and discuss
aspects of cooperation. Hence it is South Sudan's
right to explore aspects of cooperation with Israel, a
country that has showed considerable interest in
establishing positive relations. It is noteworthy that Israel's presence in South
Sudan comes at a time when the Nile water issue is
coming to the boil as a result of the increasing needs
of the Nile Basin states. This situation that makes
further tension highly probable, to the extent that
some have warned of matters escalating to the the
level of confrontations, along the lines of the "water
wars" anticipated elsewhere. In this context, it is
understandable why Israel was keen to strike its first
protocol agreement with South Sudan on the subject of
water and agriculture; an agreement that ensures "the
transportation and desalination of water" alongside
the development of agricultural irrigation systems.
According to Israeli public radio, Tel Aviv and
Juba also signed a number of military agreements
according to which Israeli Military Industries (IMI)
will export arms and equipment to South Sudan. Those following water issues are well aware that
Nile water could face a potential crisis in view of
the rising demands of some states, especially
Ethiopia, where the population is likely to exceed
that of Egypt in less than 50 years. Some other states
are also demanding an increase in their water quotas.
Simultaneously, there are questions over what quota
should be allocated to the new state of South Sudan,
and whether this will provoke further disputes in the
future, especially with Egypt and Sudan. Today, some
people believe that the appointment of Hisham Qandil -
former Egyptian Minister of Irrigation and an expert
on the Nile water issue - as Prime Minister is an
indication that water politics will be of great
significance to Egypt in the coming period. Regardless of whether or not this theory about
Qandil's appointment is an exaggeration, it is clear
that Egypt has suddenly found itself face to face with
an aggravated Nile water problem that needs to be
handled as a top priority. Egypt must be wary of the
current developments in the Nile Basin, including
Israeli maneuvers in South Sudan. Indeed, Israel seems
to be exploiting the Arabs' mistakes and their neglect
of an issue that will have an increasing bearing on
national security in view of its direct impact on both
Egypt and Sudan. Sudan lost its southern region without reaping the
fruits of peace or providing the welfare it had
promised its people when the "salvation" government
came to power, and this is well known to everyone. Yet
the question that comes to mind today is: Have the
Arabs lost South Sudan as well? The answer is clear and requires little
contemplation: We lost the South whilst many of us
were indifferent to the consequences. We were not wary
of the significance of Israel's rapid movement in a
region that will soon see events of great
significance, particularly in two countries that
constitute nearly one-third of the Arab world's
population. This is always the case with us; we do not
take notice of many issues until "the die is cast". Comments 💬 التعليقات |