Palestinian Prime Minister calls on African Union to withdraw Israel’s observer status
On Saturday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh called on the African Union to withdraw Israel’s observer status as heads of state from the 55-member body convened for a two-day summit.
“Israel should never be rewarded for its violation and for the apartheid regime it imposes on the Palestinian people,” he said.
Relations with Israel are a rare point of contention for a body that values consensus and is expected to dominate the Addis Ababa summit this weekend.
The dispute erupted in July last year when Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairwoman of the African Union Commission, accepted Israel’s accreditation to the bloc.
Powerful AU member states, particularly South Africa, protested the decision, saying they had not been properly consulted and that the measure contradicted many AU statements – including from Faki himself – who supported the Palestinian territories.
Earlier on Saturday, Faki said that the AU’s commitment to the Palestinian pursuit of independence is “unchanging and can only continue to grow stronger”.
However, he defended his decision, saying it could be “an instrument of peace” and called for “a calm debate” on the issue.
The summit may also see a vote on whether Faki’s decision should be supported or rejected.
The accreditation gave Israeli diplomats a victory they had been chasing for nearly two decades, with the State Department describing its previous exclusion as an “anomaly.”
Israel was previously accredited by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), but lost that status when the body was dissolved and replaced by the AU in 2002.
The Israeli government attributed the rejection to the Libyan leader Moamer Gadhafi, who had great power in the AU until his death in 2011.
Seventy-two countries, regional blocs and organizations are already accredited, including North Korea, the European Union and UNAIDS, according to the AU’s website.
(AFP)
