The Zimbabwe Israel Connection

While most of the world decries the oppression of the Zimbabwean people under what used to be a government of liberation little is known or made of who is actually propping up this odious regieme.
As it turns out Israel has done more than most in this area to support Robert Mugabe. Witness the following: Israel is a supplier of riot control vehicles as noted by the South African Documentation and Cooperation Council:

"The Israeli government has endorsed the sale of heavy riot control vehicles to Zimbabwe, the state-run radio station, Kol Yisrael reported yesterday. The report, on the station’s respected international affairs programme, quoted foreign ministry sources as saying that Shimon Peres, the foreign minister, had authorised the transaction between the Beit Alfa Trailer company and the Mugabe regime, but had specified that it be delayed until after Zimbabwe’s March elections. Use of the equipment during the polling would have embarrassed Israel. The report quoted Mr Peres as saying the deal would boost the economy in the north of Israel, where Beit Alfa, a kibbutz turned weapons producer, is located. In Harare, opposition elements are worried that the new weaponry, which has reportedly already arrived, will be used to intensify the regime’s current crackdown. "The equipment is heavy and can crush any demonstration," a Zimbabwe police official was quoted on Sunday as telling the Zimbabwe Gazette. The paper said police were being trained by an Israeli in how to use the equipment.

The equipment has already arrived in Zimbabwe and includes customised anti-riot tankers, gas masks and microscopic 'laser guns', similar to those used by Israeli forces against the Palestinian protesters. The tankers, called Riot Control Vehicle model RCU 4500 I, were supplied by the Beit Alfa Trailer Company and have been undergoing tests at the Police Support Unit Headquarters in the capital. The anti-riot vehicles include the latest in water cannon technology based on an advanced computer controlled jet pulse system. Highly accurate pulse firing can be done in three different modes-short pulse, long pulse and continuous stream. The water is shot up to 500 metres. The command control panel allows the operator to mix additives like scorching tear gas, pepper spray or dye to the water "according to operational needs." They are also equipped with surveillance cameras. "

More relevant at this time is the contract with Nikuv which allowed the Mugabe government access to computer equipment to influence the outcomes of elections, which as anyone living in Florida or Ohio might know, has major implications. As noted at the Cambridge Forecast Group Blog:

"Nikuv International Projects, a company that specializes in identification, electoral and government systems, holds a government contract with Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Home Affairs to computerize all identification documents. The ID database compiled by the company was used in Saturday’s voters’ roll.

In an article last week, The Zimbabwean, a weekly independent newspaper promoting democratic change and published simultaneously in London and Johannesburg, alleged that 20 Israelis had arrived in Zimbabwe as “special government guests” “to beef up Mossad support for… Mugabe’s election-rigging plans.” Met by members of the Mugabe government’s Central Intelligence Office, the paper alleges they were “taken to a hideout in the capital” to meet other Mossad and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission officials. It quoted an anonymous government official saying Mossad agents were the “major force… controlling the election process, especially… the counting and announcement of results.”

So the Middle East's only "Democracy" is squashing it for anyone can fork over the neccesary bucks.