The potential deal between Israel and Somaliland will ‘open a box of evils’

Israel formally recognised the breakaway Somaliland as a state during the Christmas break, to outrage among Somalis and the Somalian government. No doubt, as with its bombing of Gaza and Lebanon, Israel knew much of the Western world would be distracted.

Somaliland: now another colonialist outpost

Western press have, to an extent, covered the fact that Somaliland’s rulers agreed to host an Israeli military base. The base will only be a narrow stretch of water from Yemen, allowing Israeli bombers easy access to attack targets there. Yemen has been one of the very few countries to treat seriously its legal obligation to do everything it can to stop genocide. In 2024, the resultant blockade of Israel-bound shipping bankrupted Eilat, one of Israel’s top three seaports, and Yemen forced Trump into a humiliating retreat after US forces tried to support Israel.

But there was much less ‘mainstream’ coverage of another of the three conditions the Somalilanders accepted to secure Israel’s recognition. Local sources reported early that Somaliland had agreed to accept 1.5 million Palestinians when Israel, as it clearly plans, expels them from Gaza. Somalian president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud subsequently confirmed the agreement to Al Jazeera. Unsurprisingly in the face of widespread disgust at this collaboration in genocide, Somaliland then denied it.

Mohamud told Al Jazeera:

Somaliland has been claiming the secession issue for a long time, over the past three decades, and not one country in the world has recognised it. For us, we’ve been trying to reunite the country in a peaceful manner. So after 34 years, it was very unexpected and strange that Israel, out of nowhere, just jumped in and said, ‘We recognise Somaliland.’

Mohamud added that Israel’s plan to “export its problem in Gaza” to Africa would “open a box of evils in the world”.

What ever Israel wants, Israel gets

The third condition agreed was that Somaliland will accept the 2020 so-called ‘Abraham Accords‘ brokered by Donald Trump in his first term. Under the ‘accords’, collaborating Arab governments agreed to ‘normalise’ relations with Israel without Israel ceasing its oppression of the Palestinians. Israel then continued its slaughter of the Palestinians, escalated to full-scale genocide and now wants to expel those who still cling on. Somaliland’s acceptance of this betrayal will rightly infuriate Somalis and the people of other North African states.

Top former army officers have this week called for a complete arms embargo on Israel for its mass murder in Gaza. Complete sanctions and boycott of the genocidal colony were already long overdue. This manoeuvre against the Palestinians means that the need is even greater, but the UK media are only partially even acknowledging it. Western governments will never do the right thing unless their populations make them.

Featured image via the Canary