Israel out of AU!

We, the undersigned African groups and organizations, welcome the Chairperson of the African Union Commission Mr Moussa Faki’s announcement of the suspension of Israel’s observer status in our union. This is an important first step towards rectifying the terrible mistake of admitting, in any way, the Israeli settler-colonial and apartheid regime into the African Union. Apartheid and Israel’s ideology, Zionism, stand in stark contradiction to our values and principles as enshrined in the African Charter for Peoples and Human Rights and have no place in our union.

We call on the ad hoc committee of heads of state set up by the African Union to revoke Israel’s accreditation or any status allowing for its presence in our union, toward removing it from the continent.

The removal of senior Israeli diplomats from the opening session of the AU Summit should serve as an inspiration for the uprooting of all colonial forces and any racist and colonial presence in Africa.  Apartheid Israel has been expanding in our continent, fueling conflict and corruption, pillaging our natural resources, spreading disinformation and fear by selling and promoting weapons and technologies developed through the dispossession, oppression, and deprivation of the Palestinian people. The removal of apartheid Israel from Africa speaks to the core identity of our African Union and gives it a powerful voice that defies the hypocrisy and double standards with which we and our Palestinian brothers and sisters are treated by the hegemonic global North.

As Africans from across our nations we reaffirm the intrinsic historical link between us and the Indigenous Palestinian People and our shared collective aspiration for justice, freedom, and equality. Inspired by the glimpse of justice we saw at the African Union Summit and in the spirit of the African Charter on Peoples and Human Rights, and recalling specifically its commitment “to eliminate colonialism, neo-colonialism, apartheid, and Zionism”, we call on the African Union and all members states to: 

  • Address Israel’s settler-colonialism and apartheid including by publicly recognizing that Israel is perpetrating international war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the crime of apartheid, against the Palestinian people;
  • Refrain from recognizing any legitimacy of the unlawful situation created by Israel’s settler colonial apartheid regime and ensure that the AU and its member states do not contribute, directly or indirectly, toward the maintenance of Israeli apartheid, in line with their international law obligations;
  • Implement a mandatory and comprehensive arms embargo against Apartheid Israel, including all forms of military and security technology and spyware;
  • Support the adoption of a resolution at the UN General Assembly to reconstitute the UN Special Committee against Apartheid and the UN Centre against Apartheid to address the crime against humanity of apartheid against the Palestinian people as a whole and empower these bodies to proactively pursue sanctions towards the dismantlement of Israel’s settler colonial apartheid regime.

Endorsements:

Justiça Ambiental JA! – Mozambique
Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network
South African BDS Coalition
Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Gauteng, South Africa
Palestine Solidarity Alliance, South Africa
Zimbabwe Palestine Solidarity Council
Friends of the Earth Africa
Kairos Nigeria
Associação da Amizade e Solidariedade com a Palestina, Mozambique
BDS Maroc بي دي آس المغرب
Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Cape Town, South Africa
Kenyans 4 Palestine
Les Amis de La Terre-Togo
Senegalese Coalition for the Palestinian Cause (CSCP)
Socialist Movement of Ghana
Potch For Palestine: South Africa
Zimbabwe Palestine Solidarity Council
Tunisian Campaign For Boycott
South African Jews for a Free Palestine  
Africa Water Justice Network
Khanya College
The Moroccan Front to Support Palestine and Against Normalization
The Moroccan Instance to support the causes of the Oumma
AfricTivistes
Africans Rising
The Egyptian Popular Campaign for Boycotting Israel

Muslim Awareness International Nigeria