In the aftermath of 7 October and Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, official African responses1 in support of the Palestinians have been articulated by South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
On 11 December 2023, South Africa's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement urging a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian resistance, while also offering to draw on its historical experience to mediate between the parties. Then-Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor further called on South African trade union movements to boycott products associated with the Israeli occupation, while on 14 October 2023, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, spokesperson for the ruling African National Congress (ANC), expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people and denounced the Israeli army's calls for 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza. He emphasised that “the Palestinians live under the occupation of an apartheid state”.
On 29 December 2023, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands, for breaches of the Genocide Convention.2 The 84-page application to the Court, written in English, presents evidence of Israel's genocidal acts and its intent to commit genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. In its judgement of 26 January 2024, and subsequent judgements of 28 March and 24 May 2024, the ICJ issued provisional measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza from breaches of the Genocide Convention.
Namibia's condemnation of Israel’s genocide in Gaza was as resolute as South Africa’s. On 24 January 2024, in a statement posted on the platform X (formerly Twitter), then-President Hage Geingob criticised the German government for supporting Israel in the case before the ICJ. Geingob remarked that Germany, of all nations, should have learned from its own genocidal history and he argued that Germany could not uphold its commitment to the Genocide Convention—including atonement for its genocide in Namibia—while at the same time supporting Israel’s actions in Gaza, which he equated to the Nazi Holocaust and to genocide.
The Republic of Zimbabwe also condemned the Israeli war of aggression against the Gaza Strip and demanded the immediate cessation of hostilities, describing the Israeli action of cutting off water and electricity in Gaza as a “war crime”. Veterans Minister and spokesperson for the political bureau of the ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF), Christopher Mutsvangwa highlighted during a press conference in Harare that 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were under constant and brutal bombardment by Israel, using aircraft supplied by Western powers. He stated: “Depriving the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip of basic needs, such as water, food, and electricity, is a compound crime because it is a crime of siege and a war crime under international law. … As allies of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) since the struggle for liberation, we affirm our support for the Palestinian people and condemn Israel for not committing to the two-state solution, violating the agreements, and allowing Israeli settlers to continue seizing more lands with the aim of leaving nothing for the Palestinians. Now, it [Israel] wants to forcibly displace them again to Egypt or perhaps push them into the sea.”3
On the other hand, several African countries, most prominently Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have expressed their unconditional support for Israel. Kenyan President William Ruto issued a strongly worded statement condemning Hamas attacks on Israel and urging the international community to take action against the perpetrators, organisers, financiers, sponsors and supporters of what he described as “criminal terrorist acts”. Ghana, a temporary member of the Security Council, took a similar stance, abstaining on two draft resolutions for a ceasefire in Gaza: one Russian and the other Brazilian. Similarly, statements in support of the Israeli occupation came from the governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Cameroon. These governments explicitly condemned resistance operations against the Israeli occupation. It is likely that in so doing they were motivated by pragmatic considerations related to security and their economies: these countries have significant projects with Israel in fields such as security, agriculture, infrastructure, technology and armaments.4
Between these two poles, the events since 7 October have revealed what can be called a “hesitant” bloc, which seeks to maintain an unbiased stance due to its intertwined interests with both Israel and Arab countries. This bloc includes nations that have commonly advocated for the adoption of a two-state solution to the Palestine situation, based on the pre-June 1967 borders. Foremost among these countries are Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Guinea-Bissau and Ethiopia. However, it is notable that Ethiopia, despite its long and strong historical association with Israel, has not expressed a definitive position on the events since 7 October.
In regard to popular solidarity with Palestine, public support for the Palestinian cause remains strong across Africa, often surpassing—and contradicting—official reactions. Despite a decline in pro-Palestinian activism and in the number of Palestinians present in many African countries, large segments of the African population still view support for the Palestinian people and their cause as part of collective African values, including the rejection of occupation and exploitation. This support is especially evident in Muslim-majority countries, such as Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania, but people in other African countries without Muslim majorities also continue to show support for the Palestinian cause.
Since 7 October, explicit solidarity with Palestine and rejection of Israel’s genocide in Gaza have been demonstrated in numerous popular protests in many African countries, including Kenya, Senegal and Nigeria. Protests have also been held in front of Western embassies. All of this counters the Western media's portrayal of African public opinion as divided on Palestine.
In Kenya, President Ruto's stance was quickly criticised by voices in solidarity with Palestine, who argued that it contradicted the Kenyan constitution as he had not consulted the Kenyan people on the issue. Booker Omole, vice chairperson of the Communist Party of Kenya, likened Israel's occupation of Palestine to Britain's historic colonisation of Kenya, while Raila Odinga, leader of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement, condemned Ruto's stance, stating: "We must condemn in the strongest terms possible the brutality with which innocent children and women of Palestine are being brutalized by the regime of Mr Netanyahu."5
In March and April 2024, the opposition in Nigeria organised candlelight vigils in solidarity with Palestinian martyrs, while in January 2024 some political movements in Senegal called for a massive donation campaign to support the residents of Gaza and to alleviate their suffering and demanded the immediate cessation of Israeli aggression on Gaza and the permanent opening of crossings for humanitarian aid.
In South Africa, as early as 23 October 2023, Julius Sello Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters party organised protests across various regions and held a sit-in in front of the Israeli embassy in Pretoria.
As can be inferred from the foregoing, anti-colonial sentiment remains prevalent in the African consciousness, although it is not as intense as it once was. In this regard, it is important to note that Israel’s genocide in Gaza has occurred alongside growing popular rejection of the French presence in the Sahel countries. In the light of French support for the Zionist Israeli regime, many African countries, and their people, view Palestinian goals as aligned with their own.