Black Africa versus Arab North Africa: The Great Divide

Book excerpt: This work examines the gulf that exists in terms of relations between the Arab countries of North Africa and the predominantly black countries south of the Sahara desert. Subjects covered include the hostility black people face in the North African countries and why the people in those countries don't even consider themselves to be Africans but consider themselves to be a part of the Middle East, not Africa, in spite of the fact that their countries are on the African continent. The brutal treatment black Africans suffer in all the countries of North Africa - Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt - has caused severe strains on relations between the people of sub-Saharan Africa and those in the northern part of the continent, raising questions of how black Africans in sub-Saharan Africa should respond and whether or not maintaining ties between the two is even worth it. There is a great divide between Arab North Africa and Black Africa symbolised by the Sahara desert whose significance is more political than geographical. The rift between the two is deeply rooted in history and the author contends that innovative and radical solutions may be necessarily to address the problem, including a decision by sub-Saharan countries to sever ties with North African countries as they did with apartheid South Africa and at the same time accepting the fact that the gulf that exists between the two may be permanent. As former Tanzanian President Julius Nyerere, who was a close friend of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser stated in a speech in 1997 not long before he dies two years later: "Africa south of the Sahara is on its own."