Gaza and the ghosts of African internationalism

Gaza and the ghosts of African internationalism Suraya Dadoo, a prominent activist and scholar, has compiled an anthology titled Rising for Palestine: Africans in Solidarity for Decolonisation and Liberation, which explores the fading legacy of African internationalism in the context of the current conflict in Gaza. According to Dadoo, the war in Gaza has not only reignited global solidarity with Palestine but also revealed a deepening loss of a once-powerful tradition of pan-African solidarity. This tradition, rooted in the era of decolonization, connected African liberation movements with struggles in Palestine, Namibia, Algeria, and other regions. Over the last three decades, this network has weakened, giving way to economic ties, security alliances, and pragmatic diplomacy. The anthology, co-edited by Dadoo and Algerian researcher Raouf Farrah, brings together scholars, activists, diplomats, and movement leaders from across Africa and Palestine. Its goal is to explore what remains of Africa's anti-colonial political imagination. Dadoo emphasizes that the genocide in Gaza sparked renewed mobilization across the continent, serving both as a reaction to the ongoing atrocities and as a revival of a suppressed legacy of African internationalism. The work challenges the dominant narrative that frames the Palestinian struggle primarily through the lens of South Africa’s anti-apartheid movement, instead seeking to center Africa itself in the discussion. The anthology highlights contributions from countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Namibia, Tunisia, and Nigeria, alongside Palestinian voices. These accounts aim to document a historical tradition of solidarity that extends beyond South Africa and positions Africa at the core of the narrative rather than on its periphery. One of the anthology’s key contributions lies in its effort to situate Palestine within a broader African history of dispossession, extraction, and resistance. Contributors draw parallels between the Palestinian experience and some of Africa’s most profound wounds, including the genocide of the Herero and Nama in Namibia, the unresolved issue of Western Sahara, decades of violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the ongoing crisis in Sudan. While these experiences are not identical, the anthology suggests they share common patterns, occupation, racial domination, resource exploitation, and international indifference. Dadoo explains that what connects Palestine to Africa is a shared present shaped by borders designed to divide, militaries trained to suppress, and lives regarded as expendable. She argues that viewing Palestine through an African lens does not mean appropriating suffering but clarifying its geopolitical coordinates. This perspective forms the central thesis of the book. Dadoo attributes the decline of African solidarity to shifts in political and economic dynamics following the end of the Cold War. The radical internationalism that fueled many liberation movements gradually gave way to a foreign policy driven by economic partnerships, security cooperation, and diplomatic pragmatism. She notes that the neoliberal turn of the 1990s, the global retreat from radical politics, and the Oslo Accords, all contributing to the formation of the Palestinian Authority, shifted African foreign policy toward prioritizing bilateral trade, security alliances, and development aid over international solidarity. In the anthology, several contributors examine how Israel has expanded its influence across parts of Africa, leveraging economic and military ties to deepen its presence. This growing alignment reflects a broader trend in which African nations increasingly prioritize pragmatic engagement with external powers over ideological commitments to anti-colonial solidarity. As the anthology makes clear, the challenge ahead is not just to revive a forgotten tradition but to reimagine a future where African internationalism can once again play a meaningful role in global justice movements.