Palestine - The African Mirror

Jan

2024

Reactions to World Court ruling on Israel’s war in Gaza

THE World Court ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide as it wages war against Hamas militants in Gaza and do more to help civilians, but it stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire as requested by South Africa. Following are reactions to the ruling by the U.N.-affiliated International Court of Justice in The Hague: SOUTH AFRICAN FOREIGN MINISTRY "Today marks a decisive victory for the international rule of law and a significant milestone in the search for justice for the Palestinian people. "There is no credible basis for Israel to continue to claim that its military…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

South Africa hopes Gaza truce bolsters efforts to end conflict

NEWS

SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed an agreement for a four-day truce in Gaza and said he hoped the deal between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas would bolster efforts to achieve an outright end to their conflict. Ramaphosa has been one of the most prominent voices on the African continent on the brutal war between Israel and Hamas that has raged for about seven weeks. South Africa's strong support for Palestinians dates back to former President Nelson Mandela's days, with the country likening their plight to its own before the end of apartheid in 1994. Israel rejects the comparison. "It…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Hamas-Israel conflict: Algeria offers to host Palestine’s football matches – the bigger history

FOOTBALL

PALESTINE was about to embark on its 2026 men’s Fifa World Cup qualifying campaign when the latest round of Hamas-Israeli conflict broke out, making Palestine’s national football stadium in the Israeli-occupied West Bank potentially unsafe for matches. As a result, the Asian Football Confederation asked the football-loving nation to stage its home matches in a neutral venue. Algeria in North Africa offered to host Palestine’s games and cover its players’ costs. Mahfoud Amara is a specialist in the intersection of sport and politics with a particular research focus on football in the Arab world. We asked him three questions. MAHFOUD…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Morocco will co-host the 2030 World Cup – Palestine and Western Sahara will be burning issues

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE 2030 men’s football World Cup will be co-hosted by three countries across two continents after Morocco, Spain and Portugal’s successful bid was selected by Fifa, the sport’s world governing body. For the north African country of Morocco, this represents a milestone after five unsuccessful bids. It becomes just the second African and second Arab country to host the prestigious tournament – after South Africa in 2010 and Qatar in 2022. MAHFOUD AMARA, Associate Professor in Sport Policy & Management, Qatar University But there’s a bigger picture. The news can be celebrated as a symbol of reconciliation among three historically…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Analysis: Israel and Palestinians risk deeper conflict in a distracted world

WORLD

HENRIETTE CHACAR and NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI AFTER the bloodshed in Jerusalem and the West Bank and a month since Israel's most right-wing government took office, Israel and the Palestinians risk sliding into a cycle of wider confrontation with pressure on both sides for retaliation, analysts say. A Palestinian gunman shot dead seven people near a synagogue in Jerusalem's outskirts on Friday evening, a day after Israeli forces carried out a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin which killed 10 people including seven gunmen. Israel said on Saturday it was sending army reinforcements to the West Bank and promised…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

Morocco makes history, carries hopes of Africa, Arab world

SPORT

MOROCCO rode a wave of passionate support and kept the World Cup dreams of the Arab world alive as they eliminated fancied Spain in a penalty shootout on Tuesday to reach the quarter-finals. In doing so, they became the first Arab nation to advance to the last eight, ensuring a breakthrough for the region in the first global tournament in the Middle East, and also became the fourth African side to go this far in World Cup history. Their victory will be seen as not only a triumph for Morocco but vindication of the controversial FIFA decision to hand Qatar the hosting…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Gaza battle fought on an uneven killing field’

WORLD

IN most civil wars and military conflicts across the politically volatile Middle East, including in Syria, Yemen and Palestine, the ongoing battles are being fought not on a level playing field but on an uneven killing field. And it is more so in the current fighting between Israelis and Palestinians, described as a “Middle East carnage” where children are among the civilians killed in airstrikes. The fighting is largely a battle of weapons: sophisticated US-supplied state-of-the-art fighter planes vs home-made rockets and mortars. The overwhelming Israeli firepower that continues to be unleashed on Palestinians –which has so far killed 192,…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Israel hails ‘new era’ with Sudan but Palestinians lament ‘new stab in the back’

WORLD

ISRAEL has hailed a new era in its relations with the Arab world after the announcement of plans to normalize ties with Sudan, an agreement the Palestinians described as a "new stab in the back". "This is a new era. An era of true peace. A peace that is expanding with other Arab countries - three of them in recent weeks," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement. Israel reached normalization agreements last month with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. "In Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, the three principles of the Arab League were adopted in…