11/24/2024–|Last updated: 11/24/202404:44 PM (Mecca time)
Eben Barlow, president and founder of the South African company “Decisive Results”, the first and most famous private army company in the world, confirmed that it is difficult to compare the conflicts he deals with on the African continent and the conflict in Palestine, indicating that it is not possible to use a model of the conflict in Africa and impose it on Another region in the Middle East. He added that following the conflict in Palestine is required to try to understand everything behind this conflict.
Regarding his opinion if a private army company accepts a contract from Israel to be part of its war on the Palestinians, Barlow expressed his belief that the matter would be difficult.
He added, “I know how difficult this matter is based on my experience in Africa. I personally and my company (Critical Results) do not participate in conflicts whose terrain, languages, peoples, different cultures, ethnic groups, and religions we do not understand.” Therefore, any private security company must understand these things before accepting such a contract if it wants to have a positive impact on either side.”
Regarding his agreement with the government of his country, South Africa, in filing a case before the International Court of Justice regarding the genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinians more than a year ago, and his definition of genocide and ethnic cleansing in a military context, Barlow said that governments make decisions, and voters abide by them.
He added that it is natural that some support and others strongly oppose, “but I see that before we start trying to solve other people’s problems, we must look at what is happening in our homeland,” noting that South Africa has not condemned the Russian war on Ukraine. He added, “If we are going to condemn one party, we must condemn another party and not be selective.”
In response to a question about what should be the behavior of honorable armies in urban areas crowded with civilians, in light of the killing of more than 45,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, at the hands of Israel during the past 13 months, Barlow said that densely populated urban areas cause problems for any military force. Because of civilian casualties, he pointed out that without planning operations surgically, there will be problems. “However, we believe that military forces must remain outside urban areas to avoid civilian casualties and massive damage.” “It affects all parties involved in this matter.”
In response to his conviction of the effectiveness of what he described as the necessity of planning operations in areas crowded with civilians in a surgical manner, Barlow responded by saying, “No, I do not actually believe that, but in general, people like to use the expression (surgical strikes) as a buzzword, but there is no consideration for collateral damage.” resulting from it on civilians. “More often than not, I think a surgical strike should actually be defined as a non-surgical strike,” he added.
In response to a question about how he feels when Israel is described as an apartheid state, given that he served in the South African army and intelligence during the time of racism, Barlow explained that according to studies, the number of those killed in this conflict from 1960 to 1994 reached 21. A thousand dead, and then there is no comparison between what happened in South Africa and what is happening in Palestine.
He added that apartheid had become a buzzword for many, noting that the situation was different in South Africa in that apartheid simply controlled the movement of people, which led to many injustices against blacks and colored people in many respects, but it is not possible to compare the two models. .
Barlow denied any similarity between the apartheid regime in South Africa and the Israeli occupation of Palestine, saying, “Despite what some may say, the South Africans did not invade South Africa, which was a colony like many countries in the world, and the majority of whites grew up in Africa and consider themselves Africans or South Africans.” “We did not invade or occupy anyone.”
Barlow – who worked in the 1980s as director of the regional office of South African intelligence in Western Europe – explained that there are currently two rules, one applies to Africa and the Middle East, and the other applies to the rest of the world, and that this translates into double standards, as South Africa did not go beyond its borders to occupy… Other lands and build homes on them.
Regarding his belief in the necessity of imposing sanctions against Israel because of its crimes against the Palestinians, such as the sanctions that were applied against the apartheid regime and considering it a crime against humanity, the president and founder of the “Critical Results” company said that the sanctions that were applied to South Africa were enormous, and we do not see them being issued against Israel, and he considered the whole matter It is based on hypocrisy.
Regarding the contradiction in the position of Joe Biden, a US Senator in the 1980s, describing the regime in South Africa as disgusting and calling for a tightening of the siege on it, and his position as a president who supports Israel in the crime of genocide against the Palestinians, Eben Barlow described this as hypocrisy, pointing out that despite the mistakes of the apartheid regime And using it as a justification to bring white South Africa to its knees, what we are witnessing is a completely different story, as the United States sends its forces to Israel, and that is why I say it is international hypocrisy.
Barlow believes that the Palestinian resistance factions that fight within their homeland and are classified by the West as terrorists are fighting for what they believe is their right, exactly as I would have done if we had been subjected to an invasion by foreign invaders.
He added that history will be harsher with Israel compared to the apartheid regime, especially in light of the growing European opposition to what it is doing in Gaza and Lebanon. But regardless, a political solution will have to be found.
Barlow concluded the first part of the dialogue by stressing the necessity of reaching a solution to the Palestinian issue, saying, “You cannot eliminate people’s beliefs and principles. You will not be able to kill them all, nor their beliefs.”