Julius Nyerere was among the first African leaders to recognise the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) under Yasser Arafat. In the same interview for El Massawar, he stated: “Our generation was a generation of the nationalist struggle for the independence of our own countries, but the plight of the Palestinians is very different and much worse… They have been deprived of their own country; they are a nation without a land of their own. They, therefore, deserve the support of Tanzania and the entire world.”
In 1973, Dar es Salaam became home to the first PLO embassy in Africa after cutting all diplomatic ties with Israel.
It is on the shoulders of such giants of African liberation and human solidarity that we stand when we make the clarion call for solidarity with the Palestinian people and all other oppressed peoples of the world. It is the moral clarity, courage of conviction and righteous indignation of Nyerere that inspires activists in organisations like #Africa4Palestine to continue the quest for a peaceful and just world.
Tanzania was part of a group of frontline states that formed the backbone of resistance to apartheid in South Africa. Nyerere was among those that launched the global anti-apartheid movement in 1959 in London when he said: “We are not asking [you] for anything special. We are just asking you to withdraw your support from Apartheid by not buying South African goods.”
If he were alive today, there is no doubt that he would have supported Palestinians’ struggle and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against Israel, just as he did with apartheid South Africa.
We Palestinians are inspired by Tanzania’s liberation struggle and its former leaders. We are determined as ever to achieve our freedom, just as they did. Tanzania’s solidarity – along with the rest of Africa – is a vital pillar in our own struggle against occupation. As such, we urge Tanzania not to veer from Nyerere’s legacy of fighting for global justice.
In 1973, Dar es Salaam became home to the first PLO embassy in Africa after cutting all diplomatic ties with Israel.
It is on the shoulders of such giants of African liberation and human solidarity that we stand when we make the clarion call for solidarity with the Palestinian people and all other oppressed peoples of the world. It is the moral clarity, courage of conviction and righteous indignation of Nyerere that inspires activists in organisations like #Africa4Palestine to continue the quest for a peaceful and just world.
Tanzania was part of a group of frontline states that formed the backbone of resistance to apartheid in South Africa. Nyerere was among those that launched the global anti-apartheid movement in 1959 in London when he said: “We are not asking [you] for anything special. We are just asking you to withdraw your support from Apartheid by not buying South African goods.”
If he were alive today, there is no doubt that he would have supported Palestinians’ struggle and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against Israel, just as he did with apartheid South Africa.
We Palestinians are inspired by Tanzania’s liberation struggle and its former leaders. We are determined as ever to achieve our freedom, just as they did. Tanzania’s solidarity – along with the rest of Africa – is a vital pillar in our own struggle against occupation. As such, we urge Tanzania not to veer from Nyerere’s legacy of fighting for global justice.
