{"id":30184,"date":"2023-06-17T11:24:32","date_gmt":"2023-06-17T11:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status"},"modified":"2023-06-17T11:47:25","modified_gmt":"2023-06-17T11:47:25","slug":"lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status","title":{"rendered":"Lesotho slams AU decision to grant Israel observer status"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>LESOTHO has joined South Africa and Botswana in condemning the African Union (AU) Commission\u2019s decision to grant Israel observer status at the African bloc.<\/p>\n

Israel obtained AU observer status two weeks ago after 20 years of diplomatic efforts.<\/p>\n

It had previously held the role at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) but was long thwarted in its attempts to regain it after the OAU was disbanded in 2002 and replaced by the AU.<\/p>\n

According to the Israeli foreign ministry, the new status could enable Israel and the AU to forge stronger cooperation on various aspects, including the fight against the coronavirus and the prevention \u201cof the spread of extremist terrorism\u201d on the African continent.<\/p>\n

But in its confidential 30 July 2021 letter to the AU chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Lesotho\u2019s embassy to Ethiopia and the AU \u201cregisters its objection to the decision to grant Israel observer status and requests that that the matter be rescinded forthwith\u201d.<\/p>\n

The embassy said that previous attempts by Israel to obtain observer status were rejected due to the fact that Israel had occupied Palestinian territories. It accused Mr Mahamat of acting unilaterally without consulting member states before making the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Kingdom of Lesotho rightfully expected that the chairperson of the African Union Commission would have informed the member states of the African Union about the resubmission of the Israeli request for accreditation,\u201d the embassy states in its letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis issue is sensitive and consultation with member states should have been undertaken before a decision was made.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Kingdom of Lesotho notes that there are both political and legal considerations which in previous attempts by Israel to be accorded this status let to rejection by the Union.<\/p>\n

Foremost has been the conduct of Israel on the rights of the Palestinian people which are not in line with both with both international law and the values enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union.<\/p>\n

\u201cLesotho recalls that the Union has consistently reiterated its support for the Palestinian people in securing an independent and sovereign status with East Jerusalem as its capital.<\/p>\n

Lesotho has on several occasions called upon Israel to respect its international law obligations on the Palestinian issue and asserted the right of the people of Palestine to full statehood in line with several United Nations resolutions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho therefore requests the Chairperson to rescind this decision in line with the advice of the Legal Counsel in both 2013 and 2015\/16 on the same issue. Lesotho further notes that here are no new facts now which would make the decisions made earlier to be reviewed,\u201d the embassy further states.<\/p>\n

Deputy Foreign and International Relations Minister, Machesetsa Mofomobe, yesterday backed the Lesotho embassy\u2019s stance, saying the current government could not support any decision that favoured aggressor countries like Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw a very disturbing trend during former Prime Minister Thomas Thabane\u2019s regime when the government deviated from its original position of standing against occupying states.<\/p>\n

The (Moeketsi) Majoro administration has changed this trend and has gone back to Lesotho\u2019s original policy of supporting states like Palestine. \u201cIt is clear that Israel is an occupying power which has demolished Palestine in all possible ways.<\/p>\n

It would therefore defy logic if we were to support them in the AU. \u201cIf we were to agree to that, I am sure Lesotho would be the only SADC country to stand by the decision to grant Israel observer status.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t do that. Most African countries are against this decision except for some sell-outs,\u201d Mr Mofomobe said. South Africa and Botswana have also issued statements condemning the decision. South Africa said it was \u201cappalled\u201d by the move while Botswana said it the decision was unilaterally made without any consultation.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. LESOTHO has joined South Africa and Botswana in condemning the African Union (AU) Commission\u2019s decision to grant Israel observer status at the African bloc. Israel obtained AU observer status two weeks ago after 20 years of diplomatic efforts. It had previously held the role at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":30183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[233,246,314,245],"class_list":["post-30184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-african","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nLesotho slams AU decision to grant Israel observer status - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"LESOTHO has joined South Africa and Botswana in condemning the African Union (AU) Commission\u2019s decision to grant Israel ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lesotho slams AU decision to grant Israel observer status\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LESOTHO has joined South Africa and Botswana in condemning the African Union (AU) Commission\u2019s decision to grant Israel ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-17T11:24:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-06-17T11:47:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1686986132.291608.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Lesotho slams AU decision to grant Israel observer status\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-06-17T11:24:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-06-17T11:47:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status\"},\"wordCount\":645,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/06\/sm_1686986132.291608.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"African\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/lesotho-slams-au-decision-to-grant-israel-observer-status\",\"name\":\"Lesotho slams AU decision to grant Israel observer status - 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