To be absolutely clear from the get-go, the term “Jewish state” was not used but in the lead-up to World War II, some influential figures in the Bechuanaland Protectorate were lobbying for the resettlement of Nazi-Germany Jews in Tati District and Tuli Block. Had such plan gone head, it is more than likely that a shrinking Botswana would now be sharing a border with a persistently expanding Jewish state.
In in an academic paper titled “Bid to Settle Jewish refugees from Nazi-Germany in Botswana, 1938-1939” which was published in the Botswana Notes & Records in 2006, Professor John Makgala tells the story of a colonial plan that never came to fruition – largely because of World War II and British anti-Semitism.
When incidents of anti-Semitism spiked in not just in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany but in Europe in general, Jews were subjected to the most heinous persecution. Like other western European nations, Britain was itself not willing to take the large numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing this persecution. Thousands of kilometres away in the Bechuanaland Protectorate, which was a British colony, a colonial settler called Captain Martin living in Sherwood tried to interest the colonial government in the idea of resettling these refugees in Tuli Block – which is where Sherwood is located. This followed a meeting that Martin had had in Johannesburg with a Mr. Kirshchener, who was a representative of the Zionist Association. The latter “was said to be in a position to purchase the whole of Tuli Block for purposes of settling the Jewish refugees from Germany.”
This was a commercial and not humanitarian gesture. The 1929 Depression, periodic outbreaks of cattle disease and drought had taken a heavy toll on Bechuanaland and prompted some Europeans settlers to agitate for the incorporation of the territory into South Africa – which was the main market for their agricultural produce. The South African government itself wanted that to happen and when the British government balked, retaliated by imposing an embargo on cattle below a certain weight from Bechuanaland. Naturally, this brought ruin to the Protectorate’s economy and it was hoped that resettling well-off Jewish in the agriculturally-productive areas would improve the economy.
Resident Commissioner Charles Arden-Clarke, who was based in Mahikeng, relayed Martin’s proposal to High Commissioner Sir William Clark in Cape Town. At this point in time, Bechuanaland, Basutoland and Swaziland were collectively known as the Territories and each was administered by a Resident Commissioner – who reported to the High Commissioner. In response to Martin’s proposal, Clark said that Swaziland’s exportable produce could itself not find a market. He also felt that Tuli Block was more suitable for ranching and that “it would be unwise to encourage Jewish ranching for export due to the South African cattle embargo.”
Arden-Clarke also suggested the Tati Company should be approached with a view to resettle Jews in the Tati District. The response from the Company’s General Manager leaned towards skepticism: “The question of settling Jewish farmers in the Territory is … a matter for much thought and consideration and I am not prepared to say at present whether a scheme of this kind is likely to meet with the approval of my company.” Conversely, Edmund Davis, a representative of the Bechuanaland Exploration Company (BEC) was more enthusiastic and laid out a proposal of how Jews could be resettled on the 259 909 acres that his company owned in Tati. While some in the British government were amenable to BEC’s proposal, High Commissioner Clark had misgivings about the number of families (“one to two hundred”) that the company wanted to resettle. In a December 14, 1938 letter, Clark said that “this would not only mean a considerable increase in the white population of the Territory but would cause a preponderance of Jews in the Tati District.”
When Forsyth Thompson, the British Government Secretary, shot down this scheme, Arden-Clarke proposed settling 100 Jewish families in the Tuli Block instead. The latter was deemed more suitable because it had “approximately one million acres of land capable of supporting not less than one hundred and fifty families of four persons each engaged in ranching and/or dairying provided outlets for their products were available.” In his January 9, 1939 letter, Arden-Clarke pointed out that the British South Africa Company and the majority of landowners were anxious to sell their holdings.
This back-and-forth went on until the start of World War II when all energies went towards the task of defeating Hitler. Nine years year after Hitler had been defeated, the British established a Jewish state in Palestine. Uganda had also been proposed but fell out favour.
This history is relevant as Israeli bombs rain down on the Occupied Palestinian Territory of Gaza Strip, killing innocent people that Israel, as an occupying force, is legally obliged to protect in terms of international law. When formed in 1948, Israel was very small but over the years has expanded by grabbing Palestinian land and continues to grab more as its troops slaughter Palestinians.
Five Arab armies invaded Israel hours after it was established, leading to war that displaced 750 000 Palestinians. Some fled to avoid the ongoing war and expected to return after the war was over while others were forced to flee by individuals or groups fighting for Israel. Of the Palestinians who left, one-third went to the West Bank (which was under Jordanian control), one-third went to the Gaza Strip (under Egypt’s control), and the remainder to Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. The Arab nations refused to absorb these Palestinians into their societies and they were instead settled into refugee camps, insisting that citizen and integration would undermine the refugees’ right to return to their homes in Palestine.
During the 1967 Six Day War, another estimated 250 000 Palestinians fled the West Bank and Gaza Strip with the arrival of Israeli forces. Some of these were people who had left their homes in Israel in 1948. Israel now occupies the West Bank and Gaza. Some people in Gaza, who live a few hundred metres from the Mediterranean Sea have never been seen the Sea at close quarters or even swam in it because Israel has declared beaches a no-go area for them.
In 1950, the Israeli parliament passed the Law of Return which gives Jews anywhere in the world the right to come and live in Israel and to gain Israeli citizenship. Conversely, it doesn’t recognise Palestinians’ right who fled during 1948 and 1967, the right to return. The only country to not have declared borders, Israel continues to gobble up more Palestinian land (which the current Prime Minister made an electoral promise in the last general election) and give it to settler Jews. As even the UN says, Israel is an apartheid state. It is also a well-documented fact that Israel treats black African refugees dastardly.
The self-appointed global policeman (the United States) finds its own hands handcuffed when it comes to dealing with Israel. Politicians don’t dare criticize it because that ends careers and they often have to “clarify” statements of facts they make about Israel. Whatever atrocities, Israel commits, they are always required to say that they are “standing with the people of Israel.”
When he could exercise his freedom of speech, Senator Barack Obama rightly stated that “no one has suffered like the people of Palestine.” When he ran for president, Obama was forced to clarify that statements by basically negating what he had said years ago. Both the US media and academia, who both frame issues and franchise them into international public consciousness, know better than to criticize Israel. Not long ago, Dr. Cornel West, a highly accomplished African-American scholar, wondered whether Harvard University didn’t renew his contract because of critical comments he has made about Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
One can’t help but wonder how the Jewish colonies in Tati District or Tuli Block would have evolved if the British’s own anti-Semitism had not stood in the way. With increasing power of the Zionist movement, what would those colonies have turned into? How much of Botswana would have been gobbled up and how many Batswana (or Ugandans for that matter) would have died in the process? How many jet fighters would have been sent after small groups of freedom fighters fired a rocket?
