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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.

https://www.tni.org/en/article/african-attitudes-to-and-solidarity-with-palestine