SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGIST WARNS OF REPERCUSSIONS OVER ISRAELI EMBASSY OPENING IN LUSAKA AMID PALESTINE CONFLICT
By Raphael Mulenga
Social Anthropologist Dr. James Musonda has warned that Zambia risks compromising its international credibility and its standing on critical issues of human rights, following the recent reopening of the Israeli Embassy in Lusaka.
Israel last week reopened its embassy in Zambia after more than 50 years since it closed, a move which has been celebrated by some stakeholders as a positive step in strengthening bilateral relations.
But Dr. Musonda says the opening of the Israeli Embassy could have far-reaching consequences for Zambia’s relationships with its neighbors and the wider international community especially given Israel’s ongoing invasion of Palestine.
He notes that by extending a diplomatic hand to Israel, Zambia risks aligning itself with a state whose actions have contributed to severe humanitarian crises including the reported denial of food access to women and children in Gaza.
The renowned academician has further questioned the broader implications of this diplomatic shift for Zambia’s foreign policy.
PHOENIX NEWS
I doubt it the learned professor of Social Anthropology is being helpful on this issue of Israel re-opening its embassy in Lusaka. South Africa has lodged a complaint against Israel to the International Criminal Court but still maintains relations with the Jewish state at resident ambassador level. Zambia re-established relations with Israel during the Chiluba State House and it was the mission in Egypt that was covering Israel. As for the Jewish state, it was its ambassador in Nairobi who was covering Zambia. The two countries have now taken their relationship to another level by appointing resident ambassadors in each other’s capital cities. This is as far as recent history of the Zambia-Israeli relationship is concerned. So what is Prof Musonda talking about? A number of Arab countries do have diplomatic relations with Israel, including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.