Hamas’ offensive against Israel has caused uproar around the world. While the majority of countries agreed to strongly condemn these attacks, others qualified their statements. Some have even gone so far as to blame Israel.
Unequal sentences. Three days after Hamas’ deadly offensive against the State of Israel, many countries appear divided over condemnation of these terrorist attacks. In Africa, the Middle East and even South America, some countries were content to call for a ceasefire, while others categorically refused to condemn the attacks.
Historical allies in the Middle East
Several Islamic regimes in the Middle East, historic allies of the Palestinian people, have consciously refused to condemn the barbarism committed by the armed wing of Hamas, citing the banner of “resistance” against the “Hebrew colonialist oppressor.” The first example is the Iranian regime, which supports Hamas financially, materially and politically. Although Iran is suspected of having played a role in these attacks in order to undermine the Israeli-Arab normalization process that would have isolated the country and weakened its territorial dominance, Iran stands out above all for its clear support for the terrorist organization.
The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated in particular that Iran defended Palestine and its “struggles,” recalling that his country “embraces the foreheads and arms of the initiators (of this attack) and the brave young Palestinians.” and added: “Those who say that the work of the Palestinians was started by non-Palestinians do not know the Palestinian nation and are making a mistake.”
Almost as clearly, several countries in the region, such as Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, but also Sunni powers in the Middle East such as Qatar, Oman and Kuwait, showed their support by expressing their “total and unconditional solidarity” with the Palestinian People.
Support in Africa
In Africa the continent is divided. Recognized by 46 of 54 African states, Israel has never had so many allies on the continent. Its diplomats have made numerous trips and established important connections as far away as Sudan. And yet, on Saturday October 7, the African Union (AU), through the voice of its Commission President, Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat, called for a halt to the escalation between Hamas and Israel without eliciting strong condemnation or terrorist acts. A position held by several members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, including Senegal, which currently chairs the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
South Africa was also distinguished by its clear position in favor of the Palestinian people. Although its President Cyril Ramaphosa has not spoken publicly, the ruling party (ANC) estimates that “South Africans see themselves as comrades in arms with the Palestinian Arabs in their struggle.” He also denounced Israel’s responsibility for the attacks: “This new conflagration is the consequence of the continued illegal occupation and colonization of Palestine.” The African National Congress sees the raid by the Islamist movement as “a decision that is expected by the Palestinians, which is based on the “React to the brutality of Israel’s apartheid and colonial regimes.”
The delicate case of the Maghreb
In the Maghreb, support for the Palestinian people and, indirectly, for Hamas’ attacks was not long in coming. Tunisia thus expressed “complete and unconditional support for the Palestinian people” and its President Kaïs Saïed, who is regularly criticized for anti-Semitic riots, recalled that the Gaza Strip “is a Palestinian land that has been under Zionist occupation for decades and that the…” The Palestinian people have the right to reclaim the entire land of Palestine.
The Ministry of Education even ordered all schools to fly the Palestinian flag alongside the national flag and to have students and their teachers sing the Palestinian anthem every morning as a sign of support. Several demonstrations in support of the Palestinians were also organized in Tunis on Saturday and Sunday.
On the Algerian side, President Ibrahim Boughali and some MPs appeared with scarves that read “Jerusalem is ours” to support Palestine. “Algeria is following with great concern the escalation of the barbaric Zionist attacks on the Gaza Strip, which have cost the lives of dozens of innocent children of the Palestinian people who have suffered martyrdom in the face of the stubbornness of the Zionist occupation policy in its policy of oppression and persecution.” “It will imposed on the brave Palestinian people,” the State Department said in a statement.
Algiers therefore called on the international authorities to intervene “to protect the Palestinian people from the brutality and criminality that have become the hallmark of the Zionist occupation of the Palestinian territories,” believing “to put an end to the horrors and tragedies of this conflict “. undoubtedly requires respect for the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of their independent state on the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.
Morocco is the Maghreb country that has the closest relations with Tel Aviv. The country normalized diplomatic relations with the Jewish state in 2020 under the Abraham Accords. A closeness that today puts the kingdom in a delicate position and forces its leaders not to take sides.
In the rest of the world, several countries, in Central and South America and Asia, have shown “unconditional support for the Palestinian people.” This is particularly true in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and even Malaysia.