By Dawan Africa - Reporter
Riyadh(Mogadshu24)-The President of the Federal Government of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, reaffirmed Somalia’s firm stance on the conflicts in Palestine on Monday, asserting that Hamas is not a terrorist group but a popular uprising.
In an interview with Arab News after his attendance at the Saudi-African Summit, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud emphasized the importance of an extensive analysis of the root causes of conflicts.
“What’s happening in Palestine, particularly in Gaza today, is a special case, contrary to all human values in the moral sense. It’s not about religion only; it’s not about Arabs only; it’s not about regionalism. This is humanity. Children are dying. Mothers are suffering. Innocent civilians are suffering,” President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud expressed.
He underscored the distinction between Israel and Hamas, highlighting Israel as a state with regional power and Hamas as a popular uprising with diverse global perspectives.
“Israel and Hamas are not comparable: Israel is a state, a regional power, and has all means to remain in power. Hamas is a popular uprising that someone can categorize – the world has no agreements,” he added.
The president urged the international community to focus on fundamental facts and realities to comprehensively address the situation rather than relying on simplistic characterizations.
“The hero of someone is a terrorist to another; the terrorist of someone is a hero to another. These are the controversies that exist in the world. So, it doesn’t help whether we say Hamas is a terrorist or whether we say Israelis are terrorists; that will not solve the problem. We need to delve into the fundamental base, the facts, the realities that brought this situation up to this level.”
“The violence in Palestine didn’t start today; it has a precedence of the past, and we need to solve it. The Arab League, the UN, African Union, and the OIC – we need to be realistic and pragmatic and face the hard challenge. We need to solve the issue, the cause of Palestine; that is the fundamental issue. And the world has an agreement; the implementation of that global understanding is what makes the problem,” he added.
President Hassan outlined the need to establish a two-state solution as the only solution to de-escalate the violence in Gaza, as well as acknowledging the existence of the State of Israel.
He said: “As Somalis, we have been in an environment of violence for a long time. We know where violence ends up, and the consequences, and the result at the end of violence. No one can reach a political end by means of violence. It cannot happen.
“There is a worldwide accepted solution. Two states, Palestine and Israel, living together side by side, peacefully. And it can happen. It’s possible. Why don’t we go ahead with that?”
“The denial of the rights of someone is what makes people go to the extreme and do everything. So, we cannot deal with the consequences; what we deal with is the origin of the problem. The origin of this problem is the denial of rights to a whole nation called Palestine, existing and living in a dignified manner as any other nation in the world lives,” President Hassan stated.
“We are not claiming that Israelis have to be killed or terrorized, but we want Palestinians to live like any other person in the world. We do recognize and accept the existence of Israel as a state, but what we are saying is that let the Palestinians exist as a state as well. And that is a basic fundamental right that no one can deny,” he added.
Earlier this month, Somalia’s Prime Minister, Hamza Abdi Barre, strongly condemned the bombardment and war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza, categorizing the Hamas group as a liberation movement, not a terrorist group.
The Prime Minister’s statement elicited mixed reactions but received support from the majority of Muslim countries.
Israel has been conducting air bombings on innocent civilians in Gaza since Hamas launched the deadliest attack on Israel in thirty years, killing at least 1400 Israelis and taking 240 hostages.
The bombardments have targeted civilian homes, schools, hospitals, and other public institutions, such as banks and markets, killing more 11,000 Palestinian civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and the displacement of more than half the population of Gaza.
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