Donald Trump’s claim to have brokered the deal is made all the more ridiculous by the well-know reality that Tel Aviv and Rabat have secretive military relations dating back decades – to the time they were both in league with the apartheid regime.

In those Cold War days Morocco was being armed by Pretoria and Israel cooperated with apartheid South Africa in developing a nuclear weapon.

Both countries justifiably feel deep shame about this now and speak of it either with reluctance or try to deny it.

The surprise in yesterday’s announcement by President Trump is his recognizing what he calls Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.

This amounts to him flying in the face on international condemnation of Morocco’s 1995 invasion of the former Spanish territory and its illegal occupation of it since then.

Britain, America’s permanent Western partner on the United Nations Security Council, who joined in scolding Morocco 45 year ago, hastened today to stress that its position on Western Sahara has not changed.

It is holding Morocco to its promise to hold a referendum on self-governance for the territory.

That was a condition of the 1991 ceasefire ending Morocco’s 16 year war with Polisario, the Western Sahara liberation movement.

The African Union also hastened to emphasize that Western Sahara is a founder member of the continental grouping having been admitted to its predecessor the Organization of African Unity.

Morocco stormed out of the OAU when this happened and shunned Africa until it recently joined the AU as a fellow member with the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic.

King Mohammed VI, Morocco’s absolute ruler, has clearly opted once again to turn his country’s back on Africa to take up with Israel and the lame duck Trump administration in the United States.

It remains to be seen whether President Joe Biden will persist with the maverick position on Morocco which is at odds with international opinion.

The ruling African national Congress in South Africa which currently occupies the  chair of the African Union says: “It is regrettable that outgoing President Trump in his last days in office tries to cement his legacy of reactionary foreign policies, that does not contribute to peaceful resolutions of conflict in  the world, but in fact fuels hatred and conflict.”

It “calls on all international and progressive forces on the continent and in the world to condemn this deal and continue to work for the implementation of UN and AU resolutions.”

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I was also deeply irritated to have a U.S. official point out that the result has been  accepted without any last-minute deals to keep the peace.

He was referring to seats given to the Inkatha Freedom Party to prevent bloodshed in KwaZulu/Natal 14 years earlier and to other post-election deals in Africa.

How the didactic have fallen!

A dozen years since the official’s irksome lecture we have the incumbent of the White House behaving exactly like a brazen African dictator.

Donald Trump has prematurely claimed victory and urged electoral officials to stop counting votes in states he  believes he is winning and to keep counting ballots where he fears he is losing.

Trump has gathered lawyers to keep the election results tied up in the courts.

He is hoping to be heard in the pinnacle tribunal to which he has appointed conservative justices hoping to get a sympathetic hearing.

He has taken a leaf from the African dictators’ handbook and deliberately left his compatriots wondering whether he will accept the election result.

Legal experts point out that in the unlikely event of  his case coming before the Supreme Court, the justices are painfully  aware that their credibility is at stake and  will make a decision on its merits.

They will not be swayed by loyalty to the man who put them there.

Trump’s single-minded pursuit of his self interest blinds him to long term damage he might be doing to American democracy.

A happier African example will come into play here if the Supreme Court behaves like the judiciary did in apartheid South Africa and saves the country from its cynical, selfish and misguided politicians.

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