At a time when the Israeli occupation army is intensifying its aggression against Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, with no deterrent in sight, we find ourselves following the developments in neighboring Mali. The return of the city of Kidal to the Azawad forces, their control over it, and their proximity to the capital, Bamako, in coordination with Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), signals many potential transformations and changes.
I do not favor armed rebellion; yet at the same time, what has the government in Bamako offered to the Tuareg of the north? Nothing but promises—and their breach. Nor do we place trust in Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which is a merger of four armed groups: “Ansar al-Din,” “Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Sahara Emirate),” “Al-Mourabitoun,” and the “Macina Liberation Front.” It represents Al-Qaeda in the Sahel and has gone beyond Mali’s borders to attack security forces in Burkina Faso and Niger. Its presence, coupled with its growing influence, portends a new wave of confrontations and instability in poor states that are being instrumentalized by major powers in their rivalries.
We continue to suffer in Africa in general from the legacy of French, Belgian, British, and Portuguese colonialism. Those who assumed power, instead of leading their peoples toward a sovereign destiny, turned governance into spoils and maintained the grip of countries such as France and the United States. This economic and military dependency has generated the phenomenon of armed rebellion, which has worsened conditions rather than resolving them. As a result, the Azawad are now thinking about and working toward secession from southern Mali.
There must be an evaluation of failed policies, the activation of civil societies, and a turn to dialogue instead of arms, as well as peaceful struggle to bring about change. Military coups have proven their failure, and security-based solutions do not constitute an exit for peoples who have suffered—and continue to suffer—from the suppression of freedoms and the restriction of peaceful movement.
What will the temporary alliance between the Azawad movement and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin lead to? We do not know. What we do know is that such a temporary alliance conceals deep differences in visions and solutions.
