New anthology argues Gaza war exposed Africa's drift from radical solidarity

South African anthology 'Rising for Palestine' charts how decades of trade and security partnerships replaced the continent's liberation-era internationalism.

A new anthology published in South Africa contends that the war in Gaza has revealed how far African governments have moved from the radical internationalism that once linked the continent's liberation movements to Palestine and other anti-colonial struggles. 'Rising for Palestine: Africans in Solidarity for Decolonisation and Liberation,' co-edited by South African writer Suraya Dadoo and Algerian researcher Raouf Farrah, traces what the editors describe as a three-decade erosion of solidarity, replaced by trade relationships, security partnerships, and diplomatic pragmatism. The 22-chapter work draws on contributors from Kenya, Ghana, Senegal, Namibia, Tunisia, Nigeria, and Palestine, connecting the Palestinian experience to African histories including the Herero and Nama genocide in Namibia, the unresolved Western Sahara question, and ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. The anthology does not claim these experiences are identical, but argues they reveal recurring patterns of occupation, racial domination, resource extraction, and international indifference. Dadoo notes that while Christian Zionism has influenced diplomatic behavior in some African countries, evangelical support for Israel in Uganda, Nigeria, and Ghana has not always been reflected in voting patterns at the United Nations or African Union. South Africa has maintained its own high-profile position on Gaza, filing a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in December 2023, with hearings ongoing through 2026.

How could this affect you

Traced by who's actually in the path of this — not everyone is.

Possible

If you study African foreign policy or Pan-Africanism

The anthology's framing could shape how academic and policy circles interpret the gap between African governments' current positions and the continent's liberation-era solidarity rhetoric, potentially influencing how researchers and activists assess contemporary African diplomacy.

Likely

If you work in African civil society organizations focused on Palestine

The book provides a documented framework connecting Palestine to broader African struggles, which could serve as a resource for advocacy organizations making the case for sustained solidarity despite government pragmatism.

Off-Lens

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Chanakya's Move

Whose move this was, what they're betting on, what could counter it.

The anthology is itself a strategic move: by recovering suppressed histories of African internationalism, the editors are building an ideological counter-narrative to the trade-and-security partnerships that now define many African governments' relationships with Israel. The timing matters—it arrives as South Africa's ICJ case proceeds and as some African states deepen ties with Israel while others maintain rhetorical support for Palestine. The editors are betting that documenting what was lost could create political pressure on governments by appealing to citizens and civil society who remember or romanticize the continent's liberation-era principles. The vulnerability: if the anthology remains an academic exercise rather than catalyzing grassroots mobilization, it becomes another lament about erosion without reversing it. The counter-move would be for governments to explicitly argue that pragmatism serves African interests better than symbolic solidarity—a case some are already making quietly by not making it at all.