Dr Ramzy Baroud is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Islam and Global Affairs based at the Istanbul University in Turkey. In his article, Baroud was reminding African nations and their citizens not to abandon the Palestinian struggles as they are synonymous with the struggles that Africa went through in their quest for decolonisation.
Currently there are some serious divisions in the African Union over Israel’s Observer membership status and this is emblematic of a larger conflict that could potentially split the African continent’s largest political institutions. Baroud decries the fact Africa is currently facing one of its most crucial decisions regarding Palestine and Israel. He states that the repercussions of this decision could be as significant as the 1975 Resolution 77 (XII) by the Organisation of African Unity, the precursor to the African Union, which recognised Zionism, Israel’s founding ideology, as a form of racism. This time around, however, it is Palestine, not Israel, that stands to lose.
Israel has been consistent for many years in her quest to gain observer status within the AU and for many years many countries in Africa have cut all ties with Israel as a symbol of solidarity with Palestine and other countries in the Arab world. However, with a tinge of sadness, Baroud realises that the African boycott, which began in earnest in 1973, faltered soon after the Palestinian leadership itself signed a series of agreements with Israel, starting with the Oslo Accords of 1993. When some African countries saw that Palestinians and other Arab countries were now ‘doing business’ with Israel, they felt that their solidarity was no longer serving a particular purpose, thus the revival of diplomatic ties with Israel. Baroud is right when he states that since then, Israel has worked diligently to strengthen its presence in Africa.
This truth is evidenced by the fact that currently, Israel is recognised by 46 of the 55 members of the AU in addition to 17 embassies and 12 consulates that it operates throughout the continent. Sadly, some of Israel’s latest diplomatic victories include ties with Chad in 2019, Morocco and Sudan in 2020, all being Muslim-majority countries.
According to Baroud, even though Israel has been scoring these diplomatic successes, there is little evidence to suggest that the Palestinian Authority has ever mounted a substantial and coordinated counter-campaign in Africa to win back the support of a region that served as the backbone of international solidarity with the Palestinian people for many years.
This is a solidarity that has always been exemplified in countless statements by African leaders in the past, such as that of Tanzanian national liberation leader, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. It must be borne in mind that Africa’s solidarity with Palestine was itself predicated on Palestinian and Arab solidarity with Africa because, historically, Palestinians saw their liberation struggle within the same context of many African nations’ own liberation struggles against Western colonialism. Baroud reasons that this explains the wording of the above-mentioned Resolution 77 (XII), which equated between “the racist regime in occupied Palestine and the racist regimes in Zimbabwe and South Africa” as they are all grounded in the same “common imperialist origin organically linked in their policy aimed at repression of the dignity and integrity of the human being.” It is sad to say that much of this has changed in recent years, not only on the part of many African nations, but on the part of the Palestinians as well.
Baroud attributes this to the renewed ‘scramble for Africa’, championed by the US and other Western countries, and also Russia, China and Israel, is forcing many in the continent to pursue ‘pragmatic’ thinking, abandoning the old discourse of liberation and decolonisation in favour of grandiose language of supposed technological innovation and self-serving emphasis on fighting terrorism. With Israel posing as a “rising superpower”, many African countries are lining up, purchasing Israeli unmanned drones, digital monitoring and surveillance technology. However, the Palestinian leadership too, has changed. With continued ‘security coordination’ between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, Palestinians are sending confusing messages to their former allies in Africa and everywhere else.
In fact, Baroud sees these contradictions as the ones emboldening the likes of Moussa Faki Mahamat who, as the Chairman of the AU Commission, decided to take it upon himself to grant Israel the Observer status last July. African countries that opposed Mahamat’s decision argued, during the AU Summit in February, that the decision was unlawful and that it did not reflect the collective wishes of African states. Mahamat recounted that such a view reflects the double standards of African countries. In fact Mahamat asked the leaders of those African countries opposed to the granting of the observer status to explain why they have accepted Israel at national level and then want to reject Israel at the continental level.
The AU Commission chairman wanted to understand this double standards. Baroud explains the real reasons behind Mahamat’s decision to grant Israel the coveted status. He says the AU Commission chairperson was the Foreign Minister until 2017 in his native country Chad, which is one of those countries that has normalised ties with Israel so he must have played a significant role in paving the way for the normalisation of ties between his native country and Israel.
Mahamat may have calculated that Israel’s diplomatic triumph in his and other African countries in recent years has meant that Africa is ready to unconditionally embrace Israel, and that decades of Africa-Palestine mutual solidarity will not factor in the least in the AU decision.
The February Summit, however, has proven otherwise, namely that Africa has not yet succumbed to Western-Israeli pressures and that Palestine continues to command a strong political constituency on the continent, despite the many shortcomings of the Palestinian leadership. From this, one can safely argue that there is solid support that Palestine enjoys among an influential block at the AU, in addition to the popular support the Palestinian cause continues to receive throughout Africa which indicates that, despite the mistakes of the past, Palestine remains a central issue on the continent.
However, in order for Israel not to crown its diplomatic triumphs in Africa with an AU Observer status, it is best for Palestinians and their supporters to move quickly to formulate a counter-strategy.
They have to work hand in hand with African governments that reject the Israeli membership and to mobilise the numerous civil society organisations throughout the continent in order to send a strong, collective message to Israel that it is not welcome in Africa. A region that has paid, and continues to pay a heavy price for colonialism, neo-colonialism and apartheid has no need to ‘do businesses’ with another colonial apartheid regime. In short, Africa must not abandon Palestinian people and their struggles.
