Ahmad 
The 37th African Summit held in Addis Ababa witnessed a remarkable situation with the African Union rejecting an Israeli request to enter its headquarters, as it planned to hold talks with African leaders on the conflict in Gaza.
The Israeli delegation was prevented from attending the opening sessions of the summit, in a step that reflects the African position in support of the Palestinian cause, and explicitly condemns the aggression on Gaza, and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission described what is happening in Gaza as genocide, stressing support for international justice resolutions and the need to stop the killing in the Strip.
An Israeli team led by Yaakov Plichtin, Director General of Foreign Affairs, and Amit Payas of the Africa Department, arrived in Addis Ababa to participate as an observer in the opening of the African Foreign Ministry, but was rejected by the Union, and the aim of the Israeli delegation’s attempt to reduce African rejection of Israel because of its aggression on Gaza, and to convince countries to support its bid for observer membership in the Union.
Israel had previously tried, through a delegation, to attend the 36th African Summit in Addis Ababa last year, and its participation was rejected with widespread opposition from countries such as South Africa and Algeria, and Moussa Faki, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, announced that the decision to grant Israel observer status should be carefully discussed by a specialized committee.
The summit, titled “African Education in the 21st Century”, issued a final statement strongly supporting the Palestinian cause, condemning Israeli practices, calling for an international investigation into Israel’s use of internationally banned weapons and its violation of international humanitarian law, and welcoming the urgent measures ordered by the International Court of Justice against Israel.
The positions of the African summit come amid developments in North Africa and the Middle East, as the position taken by the United States of America, Britain and Germany on the Palestinian crisis constituted a model for Western dealing that can measure the handling of these countries with the crises of the African continent in general, which generated a sense of alienation and mistrust among the Libyans who saw that these countries are biased and not suitable to play the role of mediator to resolve the Libyan issue or other issues, and it became clear that their diplomatic moves do not go beyond being maneuvers. To achieve vested interests and strengthen influence.
On the other hand, African countries received with increasing interactions the decision of the International Court of Justice, which came in response to a lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel, accusing it of carrying out a “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, so Algeria reacted to the South African move, where Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune issued directives to the Permanent Mission of Algeria to the United Nations, demanding the speedy convening of a session of the UN Security Council to activate the Court’s decisions against Israel.
For its part, the Algerian Foreign Ministry confirmed in a statement that Tebboune’s directives included a request to convene a session of the Security Council, to turn the court’s decisions into executive measures binding on Israel. The ministry stressed that these decisions are a first step towards ending the era of impunity that Israel has benefited from, in which it continues to oppress the Palestinian people and deprive them of their rights, and Tunisia described the court’s decision as “historic”, announcing that it will present an oral argument before the court on February 23, stressing the importance of the decision in upporting the Palestinian cause.
In addition to the Palestinian theme, the summit addressed the security challenges and unconstitutional changes facing the continent, with a focus on education and training as key elements for Africa’s development and transformation, and paid special attention to African institutional reforms, focusing on peace and security, climate change and regional integration through the Continental Free Trade Area.
Written by Nidal Al-Khodari