Nigeria’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, has accused the United States of America of turning a blind eye to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, saying that President Biden will not risk his re-election bid by intervening in the conflict.
In an exclusive interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, Akinyemi also praised South Africa for filing a genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, calling it a moral stand in the face of injustice.
Akinyemi, who served as Nigeria’s top diplomat from 1985 to 1987, said that the US was the only country in the world that had the power to stop Israel, but it was unwilling to do so because of the influence of the Jewish lobby in the US politics.
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“This is election year. Biden is not going to risk his presidency by putting the kind of pressure that you need to stop the Israelis. He’s simply not going to do that,” he said.
He added that the US was sacrificing its morality for electoral purposes, and that God would not forgive it for its inaction.
“When the history of this time is written, people are going to ask each one of us, what did you do? What position did you take? They will ask, and what will we say?” he asked.
Akinyemi also commended South Africa for taking a bold step to file a genocide case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, saying that it was following the example of Nelson Mandela, who fought against apartheid and oppression.
“I think South Africa has stuck its neck out, a good moral position. This is what I once referred to as the ‘Mandelisation’ of South Africa. South Africa simply did this because it had that moral compulsion to do so,” he said.
He explained that genocide was defined by two elements: the intention and the act of eliminating an identifiable group of people. He said that South Africa had presented strong evidence that Israel had both elements, citing statements by Israeli leaders that they wanted to wipe out Hamas, which they often used interchangeably with Palestinians.
He said that it was ironic that Israel, which was founded after the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews, was now facing a genocide charge for its actions against the Palestinians.
He also said that Israel had no valid defence for its actions, as genocide was one of the few conventions that had no justification under international law.
The interview came as the Israel/Hamas war entered its 100th day, with no sign of a ceasefire or a diplomatic solution. The conflict, which started on May 10, 2021, after Hamas fired rockets at Jerusalem in response to Israeli police raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, has killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Palestinians, and displaced tens of thousands more.
Israel has claimed that it is acting in self-defence and targeting Hamas militants and infrastructure, while Hamas has said that it is resisting Israeli occupation and aggression. The international community has called for an end to the violence and a resumption of peace talks, but so far, no concrete steps have been taken to achieve that.
Akinyemi said that he was afraid that the Palestinians were stuck in a hopeless situation, and that the world was failing them.
“So, I’m afraid we’re stuck. The Palestinians are stuck, and it’s a shame,” he said.
