Islamic scholar urges African people to support Palestine

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) – Kuwaiti Islamic author and orator Tareq Al-Suwaidan has called on the African people to support justice and freedom for the Palestinians.

He said Africa is the origin of humanity and has an abundance of natural resources.

“I would like to send this message to our brothers and sisters in Africa, and especially in Uganda. After being liberated from colonization and injustice that happened for a long time, now that you are free, you should also support those who are not yet free, like Palestine,” he said.

He said people of Africa can play an important role in the Palestinian cause, both financially and through their media presence.

“Africa is the origin of humanity, with an abundance of natural resources. Use them to better yourselves. You cannot support our Muslim causes if you are weak, so the best thing that we require from you is to be strong, to be advanced, to be effective,” he added. 

Al-Suwaidan stressed that the Arab world is not divided on the Palestinian issue, even though some leaders are normalizing their relations with Israel.

“Unfortunately, in the Arab world itself, we have some of our leaders who are traitors. They have normalized relations with our enemies. This is not the position of the masses, even in their countries. Many people in those countries refuse the relationship with the unjust regime of Israel,” he said.

He said relations between Africa and Israel are complex.

Israel has established close relations with many African countries to counter the isolation and hostility of its Arab neighbors.

Israel hosts 32 embassies of the 41 independent African states.

However, Israel remains excluded from the African Union, and the vast majority of the 54 African countries vote for Palestine in the U.N. General Assembly.

Al-Suwaidan is the author of 54 books and was included in the 2022 list of the 500 most influential Muslims.