(Dakar) Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko on Saturday accused his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu of continuing the war in Gaza for his own political survival and advocated isolating Israel to put an end to this “barbarity”. […] supported by certain Western countries.”
“We have a prime minister [israélien] whose power depends on this war, [dont] “Political survival depends on this war, and who is ready to walk over thousands of corpses to remain prime minister and not face justice in his country,” said Mr. Sonko during the gathering of several hundred people in support of the Palestinians at the Grand Mosque of Dakar.
“We must bring together all those who denounce this injustice, work towards a political solution which is a solution of isolation of the State of Israel, [une solution] “political isolation,” he said, wearing a Palestinian-colored scarf around his neck.
It is about “stopping this human barbarity, validated and endorsed by certain Western countries,” added the head of government, who claims to be a left-wing pan-Africanist.
He called the ongoing Israeli operations in the Palestinian Territories “extermination” and denounced the “injustice” suffered by the Palestinians since the creation of Israel in 1948.
Mr Sonko noted the “multiple divisions” that prevent Muslims and Africans from “speaking with one voice” in the face of the crisis.
Muslim countries have remained “voiceless” and, “since the beginning of this crisis, the most visible actions [en soutien aux Palestiniens] were initiated by South Africa,” where Muslims are a small minority, and by some Latin American countries, he said.
On the contrary, “all those who sing to us about democracy and human rights are those who support Israel, who arm it,” he insisted.
A West African country that is nearly 95% Muslim, a historical supporter of the Palestinians on the international scene, close to the Arab world, Senegal has chaired the UN Committee for the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People since the 1970s.
Senegal supports a two-state solution and has relations with Israel, one of the first countries to recognize its independence in 1960.
Relations between Senegal and Israel have fluctuated over the course of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In December 2016, Senegal co-sponsored Security Council Resolution 2334 condemning Israeli colonization in the Palestinian Territories.
This resolution had angered the Israeli government, which had taken diplomatic and economic sanctions against Senegal.
The two countries announced the normalization of their relations in June 2017 at the summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Liberia, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited.
Mr Sonko had announced on social media on Saturday that he would attend the pro-Palestinian rally planned for the afternoon, to which, he said, he had not been invited.
He said he had informed President Bassirou Diomaye Faye of his participation, who told him that he “imperatively” had to represent his country there.