The African Union issued an official statement which largely supports the Palestinian cause.
What that AlJazeera article focuses on is “why are some of you publicly supporting Israel on this moment”.
African countries are diverse and have agency to act in all manner of ways, some contradictory to their public statements.
South Africa, for example, has been the staunchest public defender of Palestine in non-Arab Africa. But, and the article cites numbers, are the biggest traders with Israel. See my point, the domestic politics matter as much as foreign ones, and to expect 54 economies to line up on one specific position is to lose focus on the complexity at play.
And why not? Imagine expecting 54 countries to have one harmonized foreign policy on a plethora of issues!
Because all but one of those 54 have a bloody history of colonization and domination by foreign powers.
The African Union issued an official statement which largely supports the Palestinian cause. What that AlJazeera article focuses on is “why are some of you publicly supporting Israel on this moment”.
African countries are diverse and have agency to act in all manner of ways, some contradictory to their public statements.
South Africa, for example, has been the staunchest public defender of Palestine in non-Arab Africa. But, and the article cites numbers, are the biggest traders with Israel. See my point, the domestic politics matter as much as foreign ones, and to expect 54 economies to line up on one specific position is to lose focus on the complexity at play.