The U.S. should leverage its relationship with Israel to help expand its relations in Africa and resist Russia and China’s encroachment on the continent, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) told Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod after a trip to Israel and Rwanda with eight other members of the Congressional Black Caucus earlier this month.
Leveraging relationships: Cherfilus-McCormick said that conversations with officials from the three countries, particularly Israel’s ambassador to Rwanda, highlighted Israel’s inroads on the continent through trade and technology, such as irrigation, humanitarian work and discussions about military cooperation.
“Israel has successfully [built] this relationship with Rwanda where we have struggled, especially in recent years,” she continued. “We need to make sure we’re maximizing those relationships because, in some spaces, Israel might be the best voice to help us mend the disconnect that we may have.”
Commonalities: The Florida congresswoman said that the trip also highlighted commonalities in the Jewish, Rwandan and Black American experiences. “Some people feel like it’s not necessary” to continue Holocaust education and to continuously call out antisemitism and other forms of hate speech “because we’ve evolved as human beings,” she said. “But the truth is that we haven’t. And another Holocaust, another genocide is really just one step away if we don’t start really hammering down on stopping hate speech and antisemitic speech.”
Source: The Jewish Insider