Four telling lines

"We are not arriving here in Africa to take resources from the African countries. We are coming here in order to give know-how and abilities to these countries to develop," Simhon told Reuters in Senegal over the weekend. 

"Israel is the only country in the world that has been able to conquer the desert. More than 50 percent of our exports are coming from semi-arid areas. This is our strength - this we would like to bring here." (Thanks Marcy)

I REALLY must put more time into debunking the Israeli agriculture "miracle": Ingredients are of course simple: stolen land and water, stolen technology from US and Europe, unlimited subsidies due to the political nature of farming (note the use of the word "conquer", in all its meanings), and of course highly favorable terms of trade from Europe and the US: et voila, messieurs dames, le tour est joué!

But of course, farming is not Israel's strength; violent repression is. This is what Simhon is pitching to the African regimes: military and security systems to keep their people in check.

The best part of these four lines is of course the preemptive rejection of accusations of neo-colonialism. Quite clever...