Namibia Condemns 'Israel' Observer Status in African Union

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The Namibian government has objected to "Israel's" observer status of the African Union.

The Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation in Namibia stated that the government is deeply concerned and disappointed about accepting the decision to grant 'Israel' the status of an observer member in the union.

In addition, granting 'Israel' the status of an observer member coincided with the increase in 'Tel Aviv's' pressure on the Palestinians and its violation of human rights in Palestine.

It also pointed out that the decision to grant 'Israel' the status of an observer member "contradicts the objectives and principles of the African Union," stressing "Namibia's firm support and solidarity with the Palestinians against Israeli violations."

It is noteworthy that the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on July 22 that its ambassador to Addis Ababa, Aline Admaso, presented her credentials as an observer member of the African Union for the first time since 2002.

On Sunday, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the decision of the African Union Commissioner to include 'Israel' as an observer member of the organization was "taken without the benefit of broad prior consultations with all member states." The ministry contends, "This decision has neither the vocation nor the capacity to legitimize the practices and behaviors of the said new observer which are totally incompatible with the values, principles, and objectives enshrined in the ‘Constitutive Act of the African Union."

“The recent decision of the President of the Commission of the African Union (AU) to welcome a new observer who falls under its administrative prerogatives is not likely to alter the constant and active support of the continental organization to the just Palestinian cause,” declared by a press release by Algerie Presse Service. 

'Israel' had previously obtained observer status in the "Organization of African Unity," but after its dissolution in 2002 and its replacement by the African Union afterward, 'Isreal's' attempts to restore this status was thwarted over two decades.

The Head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, sent a letter to the African Union yesterday which denounces this decision; he considered the decision "contrary to all the values ​​and principles on which the African Union was founded."

Haniyeh also called on the Chairperson of the Commission to reverse the decision which shocked the Palestinian people and Africans in support of the Palestine cause, indicating that it does not express the truth of the historical positions of the Union towards the Palestinian cause.