Should Africa really care about the war in Israel-Palestine?

Global geopolitics has been turned upside-down even as everyone provides their opinion on the war in Israel-Palestine. However, should Africa care?

As the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine continues, many around the world have been quick to vocalize their opinions on the matter and declare support for either party. Given that Africa’s opinion is quite removed as compared to the rest of the countries from global powers, does this conflict still provide an opportunity for the continent to vocalize its stand on the matter?

Introduction

It is no secret that the ongoing war between Israel and Palestine has had far-reaching consequences across the globe. Many are convinced that the war is a sign of worse things. For some Christian evangelicals, it is a sign of the end of days and the nearing of the holocaust. For those in the Arabic world, the war seems to be reading from a familiar playbook, as it is not the first time that there has been a war between the Jews and the Arabs.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on the issue of who is right and who is wrong and who is to blame for the predicament. The West, in particular, seems to be divided on the issue as many have moved to take sides in the conflict.

War has a way of affecting everyone directly or indirectly. The direct effects of war are more easily perceived as they are instantaneous, especially for those on the war fronts. Unlike the days of old when wars were exclusively fought between belligerents in battle, modern warfare is entirely different, as battlefronts have moved to civilian spaces. The rise of terrorism has made it harder for traditional warfare to occur, given that terrorists have a knack for hiding in plain sight within civilian populations. It is thus no surprise that militaries fighting against these insurgent organizations resort to indiscriminate attacks on ‘hideouts and bases for terrorists’ regardless of their location in civilian populations.

The Russia-Ukraine war has been ongoing for close to two years, despite the hopes for it subsiding in 2023. It has taught us that major wars in our globalized world affect everyone. When two of the world’s major resource producers put their economic productivity on hold and go to war, international trade comes to a standstill. However, many countries in the developing world tend to fare worse than their developed counterparts in such events. Given their access to other trading alternatives or a stockpile of needed resources, developed countries are less likely to succumb to economic shortages that are the result of these wars.

Africa, like much of the developing world, is left to its own devices, especially if its trade partners are involved in war or are directly affected by it.

What has Africa to do with the war in Israel-Palestine?

Well, you may wonder, what has that to do with the conflict in Israel-Palestine? Despite being labeled as an Israel-Palestine war, the war is being fought between the Israel state military and Hamas, an Islamic militant movement.  Israel’s trade volume with African countries pales in comparison with many of Africa’s biggest trading partners. Palestine is not even recognized officially as a state. It is in fact, dependent upon its support from regions such as Africa to stake its claim to being a legitimate state. For many in the African continent, the war should only be a sideshow, happening in a corner of the world that has nothing to do with Africa.

Nonetheless, the war in Israel-Palestine has unconventionally manifested itself. Firstly, the latest eruptions of all-out warfare come as a result of decades of conflicts and insurgencies within the territory. The Israeli War of Independence in 1948, The Six Day War in 1967, The Yom Kippur War in 1973, and the various intifadas or uprisings from the various resistance movements within Palestine are testament to the long-standing feud between Israel and Palestine.

In a territory that had an Arab majority a century ago, Israel has managed to emerge as the majority, quashing Palestine and her Arab allies at every opportunity. Every surge in Palestinian resistance has met with repressive Israeli retaliation, even as Israel moves in to occupy the UN-assigned Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

The reaction to the war from the global community, Africa included, has been to pick sides on the war and defend them vehemently. Many in Africa side with the Palestinian cause, perhaps due to having a shared history of oppression and regression by another race during Africa’s colonial days. However, quite a number of Africans, particularly those with close ties to Israel and the West as well as those that have a predominantly Christian population have chosen to stand by Israel and condemn the invasion of Israel by Hamas.

Despite an attempt by the African Union (AU) to issue a joint statement supporting the Palestinian cause, countries such as Kenya and Ghana have voiced their support for Israel with South Africa and Algeria siding with Palestine.

Geo-Political interests.

If anything, the response and pledges of support to either side of the conflict are proof that African states are motivated by their unique political and geopolitical interests, hence why it is not possible to have a unified stance on the issue as a continent. Only a handful of countries in Africa have declared their standing on the conflict, but judging from diplomatic ties and foreign relations with Israel or Palestine, one can predict what position a country is likely to take.

For example, many if not all of the Arabic African countries will likely choose to side with Palestine due to having a common culture and/or Arabic ethnicity. However, many countries have to tread carefully on what side they choose as their choices could have lasting consequences.

Much of these ‘alliances’ go back to the positions being taken by the global powers. Many of the global powers still favor a two-state resolution, with the establishment of both Israel and Palestine as separate states as was advocated for by the United Nations Partition Plan (Resolution 181) for Palestine in 1947. However, should push come to shove, The West led by The United States and NATO will most probably side with Israel, given the longstanding military alliance between the two. Russia and China, who are openly against the hegemony of the United States will continue to side with Palestine, as they have continually done over the years.

If such a situation arises, African states will have to pick sides as well, to maintain their respective global political alliances. As a divide arises between Africa, as countries are continually driven to look east or side with the west, the Israel-Palestine might be the latest catalyst to force the continent to choose sides.

At the end of the day, the civilian populations in Israel and Palestine are the ones who will suffer most from the conflict despite having nothing to do with it. Let us pray and continue to lobby for a fastidious end to the war and a resolution to the conflict and hope that this situation does not turn out to be like that of Ukraine. War is never a good outcome for anyone and it should be discouraged in favor of adopting peaceful means of conflict resolution.