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Introduction ix Introduction Hamdy Abdelrahman Hassan Why should there be a need to discuss North Africa’s interactions with Africa south of the Sahara? This question perhaps raises the bigger issue of people’s general understanding of Afro–Arab relations. Since the beginning of the 1990s I have had the opportunity to travel to many African countries and acquire a detailed understanding of the Afro–Arab relations discourse, in terms of both its theory and practice. Perhaps the logical and most objective conclusion that can be drawn is that an Arab–African dialogue is an urgent strategic necessity. Afro–Arab relations have not emerged today or even in the recent past: they are the product of history and a multidimensional, cultural and civilisational reality. And yet there are complex, interrelated issues that obstruct the process of activating good relations between the two ‘sides’. Some talk about the need to overcome the negatives of the past and to build on the commonalities for a better future. However, this might not be useful in the face of the atmosphere of doubt and the negative mental images that Arabs and Africans have of each other. A frank dialogue is needed and a clear understanding that the era in which we are living imposes upon us the need to rebuild the bridges of civilisation and cultural communication between the two parties.1 The Afro–Arab summit held in Sirte on 10 October 2010 after an interval of more than 30 years since the convening of the ¿rst summit in Cairo in 1977 can be seen as a reÀection of the missed opportunities that have characterised the trajectory of Arab–African relations since the post-independence period.2 Is it possible then to say that the revolutions that happened in Arab North Africa in spring 2011 will rebuild the bridges of cohesion and interconnection between the north and south of the continent? Roots of the ‘Afrabia’ notion Some commentators argue – as does the prominent Kenyan scholar Ali Mazrui – that ‘Afrabia’ is ‘an expression of the essence of organic cohesion between Arab and African regions’. Some studies indicate that the Arabs and Africans lived in one continent before the geographic separation of Africa from the Arabian Peninsula due to the emergence of the Red Sea3 , and that this physical separation between the two entities was a fate finally sealed in the nineteenth century with the construction of the Suez Canal. Despite this, the degree of interaction between the Arab and African civilisations over a long period of history exceeded the physical separation created by the barrier of the Red Sea. The experience of interaction and co-existence over long periods of time led to the emergence of Afro–Arab communities. While the Afro–Arab bond is to one extent a product of geography and geology, it is also, in its human dimension, a product of history and the interactions shared between the Arab and African cultures. This human interconnection has taken place in three main regions. The x RegionalIntegrationinAfrica:BridgingtheNorth-Sub-SaharanDivide¿rst is East Africa, which extends to the Indian Ocean region. Arabs have migrated to and practised trade in the greater East Africa region since pre-Christian times. The second region is the Nile Basin, the life artery for many Arab and African communities co-existing simultaneously, as evidenced by the establishment of Sudan – a state composed of both Africans and Arabs. The Saharan coast (the Sahelian region) and West Africa represent the third region of cohesion between Arab and African peoples. The history of relations between Arabs and the Berbers in the north of the Sahara and the Africans in the south is well established. From disconnection to cohesion Despite these deep bonds that have long connected the Arab and African civilisations, they faced serious challenges during the colonial period. The Europeans constantly looked to cut the ties and cohesion between the Arab and African communities in many ways, such as abolishing the common relationships and legacies between the two groups and redirecting the Arab and African economies to link them with the European colonisers’ countries. The West tried to stir up hostility and conflict between the nations of the region. This was evident in countries such as Sudan, Mauritania and Tanzania. Nevertheless, the challenges of the post-colonial era, which saw a number of public policies that were supported by Arabs and Africans alike, such as opposing colonialisation and condemnation of the apartheid regime in South Africa, served to reconnect the...

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