THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Nigerian Writer Asks Reappraisal
of His Country Break With Israel
NEW YORK—A leading
Nigerian columnist has
called on his country to re-
sume diplomatic ties with
Israel—and a former gov-
ernment official has re-
sponded in agreement.
In a recent column in the
Nigeria Times, Edem E.
Ekwo urged that his coun-
' "take a second look at
led her into severing
relations with Israel." Ac-
cusing the present Nigerian
administration of "cow-
ardly and irresponsible pol-
icy in the Middle East,"
Ekwo wrote:
"To talk of 'Zionism as a
form of racism and racial
discrimination' shows a
lack of understanding of
what that movement stands
for. Put simply, it aims at
creating a state for the Jew-
ish people so that the Jew
wherever he might be
should be accorded respect
as a human being.
A
"Zionism in many ways
could be equated with Pan-
Arabism which has the
same aim. Interestingly,
the Arab League seems to
be the only international
grouping whose member-
ship is based solely on race.
Yet nobody has ever talked
of that movement as being
a form of racial discrimina-
tion...
"When Qaddafi came into
power in Libya he expelled
non-Arab populations of his
country. Among those were
Jews who knew no other
home apart from Libya.
Yet nobody accused the
young colonel of racism.
Could somebody say why
there should be no Jewish
state?"
On Israel's relations with
South Africa, Ekwo ob-
served that "it was Black
Africa which in October
1973 forced Israel into her
present position. Before
then, the Israeli mission to
Pretoria was maintainId
only at the consular level
while at the same time the-
Black African states had
good relations at the, ambas-
sadorial level with Israel...
"To say that this country
supports the Arabs because
of 'Zionist imperialism' or
Israeli collaboration with
South Africa is far from the'
truth. The reasons are pure-
ly eonomic and diplomat-
ic...
"It is disgusting to see
that we are prepared to go
to any length ,with the
Arabs even when they sup-
ply oil to South Africa—or
do we pretend, not to know
that the Arabs still sell oil
to the apartheid adminis-
tration in Pretoria?
"How can we be con-
vinced that the armored
personnel carriers which
took Vorster's butchers to
Soweto were not brought
from Jordan?"
On Arab-Israel relations,
the Nigerian journalist
wrote: "We have never
questioned why the Arabs,
according to President
Sadat, will not recognize Is-
rael even if that country
pulls back to pre-1967 bor-
ders. Neither have we
sought to know why Libya
and the Palestine Liber-
ation Organization seek
nothing but a complete de-
struction of Israel.
"We accuse Israel of rac-
ism without giving a name
to the organized boycott of
Jewish products including
firms with Jewish con-
nections and even films
starring someone like Eliza-
beth Taylor (who has never
claimed to be an Israeli) by
the Arabs. If such an act is
not racial discrimination,
then let someone explain
what it is."
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"Nigeria's
diplomatic
relationship is long overdue
for review. It has never
been in our 'enlightened
•
unt.1
a
, then a a and
the child knew alltir ie
letters of the ali-ef het.
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a yOung man, int,.
feeble m ■ nued ch,1,1 no one
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Sympathy
self-interest' to quarrel with
Israel."
Ekwo concluded with this
somber analogy: "Our un-
flinching support for the
Arabs may help . them
achieve what their Nazi
friends could not—an exter-
nal solution to the 'Jewish
problem.' The nationalistic
frenzy expressed today
against the Jews is not dif-
ferent from Hitler's call for
the purification of the
Aryan race."
A few weeks after Ekwo's
column appeared, Chief J.
E. Adetoro, former Federal
Commissioner for Health,
Agriculture and National
Resources, wrote to the Ni-
geria Times to express his
agreement. Chief Adetoro
noted:
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