Abdalla Ndovu Mwidau
(died 1986) was a Kenyan politician who served as
Mayor of Mombasa and as a member of parliament for the
Likoni Constituency Likoni is among the six constituencies in Mombasa County with five wards which include Timbwani which is the largest, Bofu, Mtongwe, Likoni and Shika Adabu.
The current Member of Parliament for Likoni is Hon Mishi Juma Mboko who is a member of th ...
.
Mwidau is noted as having been a prominent
Muslim supporter of Israel.
[ Arye Oded. Islam and politics in Kenya. p.129. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000]
Career
After Kenya alongside a majority of African countries broke ties with Israel following the
Yom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...
, Mwidau argued that Kenya did not receive its economic benefit in the form of foreign investment by
Arab countries. In 1979, Mwidau worked on behalf of a pro-
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
information campaign directed at
Muslim Americans that highlighted Israeli financial support for developing African nations.
In 1980, Mwidau criticized religious sectarianism and stated that "we African Moslems are not enemies of the Jewish community" and urged inter-religious cooperation. Mwidau criticized efforts to
partition Jerusalem, arguing that it should solely serve as the capital of Israel and that dividing the city would be as inappropriate as dividing
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
.
[{{Cite web , title=Special to the JTA Kenyan Mp Predicts His Country, Other Black African Countries, Will Resume Diplom , url=https://www.jta.org/archive/special-to-the-jta-kenyan-mp-predicts-his-country-other-black-african-countries-will-resume-diplom , access-date=2022-11-06 , website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency , language=en-US]
Death and legacy
Mwidau died in 1986.
His daughter, Maimuna Mwidau, is a political analyst who ran to represent the
Kisauni Constituency Kisauni Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of six constituencies in Mombasa County. The constituency has seven wards electing councillors for the Mombasa municipal council. With the promulgation of the new constitution in ...
in 2004.
See also
*
Muslim supporters of Israel
Muslim supporters of Israel refers to both Muslims and cultural Muslims who support the right to self-determination of the Jewish people and the likewise existence of a Jewish homeland in the Southern Levant, traditionally known as the Land o ...
References
1986 deaths
Kenyan Muslims
Muslim supporters of Israel
Mayors of places in Kenya
20th-century Kenyan politicians
Date of birth missing