Since the start of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, the African continent has been divided into different sides with some countries choosing to remain silent while others have openly expressed their solidarity with either Israel or Palestine. Kenya, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo are some of the African countries which have openly expressed support for Israel despite condemnation from people around the world. On October 7th, after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, Kenya President, William Ruto, wrote on X, stating that “Kenya joins the rest of the world in solidarity with the State of Israel and unequivocally condemns terrorism and attacks on innocent civilians in the country” “There exists no justification whatsoever for terrorism, which constitutes a serious threat to international peace and security,” He added.

One thing that can be observed however is that those African countries which have expressed support for Palestine did not only do so in words. Some of them went further to show their support by organizing protests and condemning Western countries for supporting Israel. Take for example, Tunisia, a country in North Africa where on October 21st, thousands of Tunisians gathered at the French embassy to demand the expulsion of the French ambassador because France was part of those Western nations who supported Israel. Some of the protesters waved Palestinian flags, while others urged the withdrawal of the French ambassador, and accused France of being one of the Western “allies of the Zionists.”

And now again, this same scenario has happened in another African country, Libya but this time it’s not just the French ambassador that has been asked to leave, the US, UK and Italian ambassadors have also been asked to withdraw from Libya. The Libyan Parliament, the House of Representatives based in eastern Libya, made this known on Wednesday October 26th.

According to the statement posted on it’s official website, the eastern-based parliament, backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar in Libya, which is split between two rival administrations, threatened to suspend energy supply if “massacres” against Palestinians did not stop. “We demand that the ambassadors of the states which support the Zionist entity (Israel) in its crimes leave the territory (of Libya) immediately,” the statement says. “If the massacres committed by the Zionist enemy do not stop, we demand that the Libyan government suspend the export of oil and gas to the states that support it,” it continues.

The parliament denounced “in the strongest terms” the actions of “the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Italy.” It said these nations “support the Zionist entity in its crimes” in the Gaza Strip, while their leaders “lecture on human rights and the right of peoples to self-determination.”

Since the latest war between Israel and Palestine broke out, Libyans have rallied across the country in solidarity with Palestinians. Like Tunisia, Libya’s support for Palestine grew strong after a deadly hospital blast in Gaza in October. 17, which Hamas has blamed on Israel. But the Israeli military said the explosion was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket. According to reports Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip since October 7, when Hamas launched the attack that Israeli officials say killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians. The Hamas-run health

ministry in Gaza says that Israel’s strikes have killed more than 6,500 Palestinians, mainly civilians.

Tunisia and Libya are not alone in showing solidarity with Palestine. South Africa and Algeria have also expressed their support and condemned Israel for the attacks. In South Africa, hundreds of people gathered at the Israeli embassy led by the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighter, Julius Malema on October 26th. During the protests, Malema demanded the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and likened Hamas’s fight against Israel to that of Mandela’s fight against apartheid. He boldly called the President of Israel a terrorist and a murderer who would never know peace and he vowed that if he was elected as President of South Africa in 2024, he would fund Hamas.

Malema also warned that “As long as our children are being killed in Palestine, this place [outside the Israeli embassy] will become our permanent residence,” meaning that the protest on October 26th would not be the last one. In fact it wasn’t the first one either because on October 20th, hundreds of South Africans participated in another picket led by the Ramphosa’s own ruling African National Congress (ANC). “The Israeli embassy… must close, and the ambassador must leave,” ANC first deputy secretary general Nomvula Mokonyane urged picketers, asking South Africans to boycott Israeli goods.

It remains to be seen how everything will play out in all these African countries that strongly support Palestine. Will the ambassadors of the US, UK, France, and Italy truly leave Libya and Will the Israeli embassy shut down in South Africa? Time will only tell.

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