Africa's extreme division over Israel and Palestine is a result of the Israel-Hamas war.

 

Mandla Mandela made a bold statement in January of this year when he demanded the liberation of Palestine and the Western Sahara during the opening ceremony of the under-17 African Nations Championship in Algeria.

Mandla was welcomed with derision by Morocco, which controls roughly 80% of Western Sahara and has sought for its sovereignty over the territory to be officially recognized, as he spoke at the recently constructed Nelson Mandela Stadium in Algiers.

The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara), which is recognized by the African Union as a FULL member, is controlled by the Polisario Front, which is aided by Algeria, and occupies the remaining 20%.

Morocco is one of the African nations that backs Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one of the wars that has lasted the longest in history.

Under then-president Donald Trump, the US recognized Morocco's claim to the Western Sahara in 2020.

In exchange for Morocco's acceptance of Israel, the US offered its support.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is thus a two-sided one, with Algeria and Morocco taking a distinct stance.

Algeria denounced the "brutal Israeli attack on Gaza," which resulted in "innocent sons and daughters of the Palestinian people who fell as martyrs under the persistence of Israeli occupation," in a statement in response to the latest attacks. Tunisia, on the other hand, declared: "The right of the Palestinians to reclaim all Palestinian land."

When Moussa Faki Mahamat, the head of the African Union Commission, said that the AU "calls on the international community, and the major world powers in particular, to assume their responsibilities to impose #peace and guarantee the rights of the two peoples" in Israel and Palestine, he put himself in a difficult situation.

When Moussa Faki Mahamat, the head of the African Union Commission, said that the AU "calls on the international community, and the major world powers in particular, to assume their responsibilities to impose #peace and guarantee the rights of the two peoples" in Israel and Palestine, he put himself in a difficult situation.

Africa is actually split on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Israel had observer status in the continental bloc prior to the Organization of African Unity (OAU) changing its name to the African Union in 2002.

As long as they supported the OAU's work, Israel and roughly 90 other OAU partners got access to parts of the continental bloc's documents and meetings.

Most of the League of Arab States (with the exception of Algeria and Tunisia) and the majority of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are at odds with each other at the AU primarily over Israel.

The AU sought a "end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967, [and] the independence of the state of Palestine on boundaries," which prevented Israel from receiving observer status in 2013 and 2016.

Because the AU wanted an "end to the Israeli occupation that started in 1967, [and] the independence of the state of Palestine on boundaries of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital," Israel was denied observer status in 2013 and 2016. Israel once more expressed interest in joining the AU as an observer nation in July 2021. 21 out of the 55 states that make up the AU rejected this proposal. Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa all opposed Israel's reinstatement.