Seeking Ghana’s leadership, guided by African liberation spirit, for justice in Palestine.

Read Time: 5 minutes

Authors: Saleh Hijazi, Palestinian BDS National Committee, and Lyla Adwan-Kamara, BDS Ghana

We are two Palestinians working to advance Palestinian liberation as it intersects with other struggles for freedom, justice, and equality, including in Africa. We, as the vast majority of Palestinians, have been inspired by national liberation and anti-colonial struggles in Africa, and we continue to rely on the long standing solidarity of the people of Africa.

Both of us, along with partners across Africa and Palestine, welcome Ghana standing in solidarity with the struggle for justice in Palestine. This speaks to the heart of the ongoing struggle against foreign oppression and colonialism which Ghana has championed. Israel continues to escalate its live-streamed genocide, supported by the U.S and other Western colonial powers, against 2.3 million Palestinians in occupied and besieged Gaza. At this time, Ghana’s role, based on the values and principles of African liberation, is ever more crucial.   

Since independence, Ghana has been a champion of anti-colonial and anti-apartheid struggles, reflected in the support for Pan-African unity and positions at multilateral fora. Ghana has ratified both the Genocide Convention and Apartheid Convention and this is reflective of the values and principles that are at the foundations of the nation.

Ghana’s position with regards to the Palestinian struggle for national liberation has been consistent with such a tradition. In September 2024, Ghana voted in support of the historic UNGA resolution adopting the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion finding Israel’s occupation illegal, finding it guilty of apartheid, and calling on states to act on their obligations under international law to hold Israel accountable. At the 80th United Nations General Assembly, President Mahama made it clear that the “crimes in Gaza must stop”. In an OpEd in The Guardian newspaper on the theme of justice earlier this year, he wrote that: “If we want to solve injustices in Africa today, we cannot forget the injustices that shaped our shared history”. He called on us all to confront the fact that “real genocides are happening.” Indeed, this applies to Palestine and the Palestinian people, who share Ghana’s history of national liberation struggle and are today victims of Israel’s apartheid and the world’s first live-streamed genocide.

In September 2025, The UN Human Rights Council Commission of Inquiry has determined that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Numerous genocide scholars, including the International Association of Genocide Scholars, and international humanitarian and human rights bodies had reached the authoritative determination that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. This was also  recently highlighted by Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Samuel Ablakwa.

Such political, ethical, and legal positions from Ghana are welcomed and the path to translate them into action is clear. In November 2024 the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights passed a resolution on Palestine in which it cited the International Court of Justice rulings with regards to Israel’s genocide, illegal occupation, and apartheid. The resolution called on “State Parties to act on their responsibility to prevent genocide and not to aid and abet the commission of crimes against humanity, including apartheid.” Ghana has the leading voice and position to show how such calls based on obligation under international law can be translated into determined action. It starts with the end of complicity as demanded by dozens of leading UN human rights experts. The experts had issued a statement in September 2024  that laid out clearly that in order for Third States to comply with the ICJ’s Advisory Opinion of July 2024 they must “Cancel or suspend economic relationships, trade agreements and academic relations with Israel that may contribute to its unlawful presence and apartheid regime in the occupied Palestinian territory,” and “Impose a full arms embargo on Israel.”

Earlier this month we experienced the Israeli Film Festival at Silverbird Cinema in Accra Mall, which was roundly rejected by Ghanaians. However, the Israeli ambassador continues to criticise the Ghanaian government, and in this he is shockingly supported by some Ghanaian politicians. Not only did Silverbird Cinema host an Israeli Film Festival in the midst of a genocide, a supporter of the festival included Unimac, a state university.

Indeed, Ghanaians may be seriously concerned to learn about the ongoing linkages between Ghana and Israel, and whose interests these serve. Israeli companies have sold dangerous spyware and disinformation services in Ghana, putting liberties at risk and undermining democracy. Such reports are compounded by news that Israeli misinformation companies are involved in the spread of fake news through social media in Ghana. In 2021, the Pandora Papers revealed extensive plundering of Ghana’s resources by Israeli corporations that are hiding in tax havens. In July, reports emerged of disturbing developments in Ghana’s education sector as the Ghana Society for Education and Technology (GSET) partnered with the Israeli embassy and Israeli company Centre for Education Technology  to hold the 2025 Edtech event in Accra, subsequent press reporting emphasised the deepening educational technology ties between Israel and Ghana. In 2022 President and Chair of GSET, former MP Dr Augustine Tawiah spoke passionately about the need to build moral principles in schools – where are those principles now? Israel has destroyed the education sector in Gaza with all of the 625,000 students unable to go to school and almost all school buildings either entirely or partially destroyed following Israeli military strikes. The Ministry of Education has serious questions to answer in this case.

Such links of complicity work not only to support Israel’s systematic atrocity crimes but also reproduce colonial dynamics in Ghana itself. Recently the Israeli ambassador to Ghana, Roey Gilad, insisted that Israel’s investment in Ghana should be reflected in voting at multilateral forums. He had to be reminded by Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs that Ghana can make its own sovereign decisions. Since then Israel has made significant public relations efforts to persuade Ghanaian’s to turn a blind eye to genocide, apartheid and oppression.

Call to action for Ghana

On 21st September Ghana celebrated Kwame Nkrumah’s birthday, and Ghanaians know very well what a liberation struggle against oppression and colonialism looks like. Acting to hold Israel accountable for its crimes is an ethical and legal obligation; Ghana’s much needed action will speak to its long tradition standing up for justice. Every state, and every business, organisation, or institution has a legal duty, under international law not to support apartheid in Israel and to work to prevent genocide. In line with the statements by President Mahama, the resolution by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the calls by the UN Independent experts on states, we encourage Ghana to urgently review and end all partnerships with Israel including all diplomatic, political, academic and economic relations.

A next crucial step, building on Ghana’s condemnation of crimes and genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, would be for Ghana to consider joining the Hague Group which was first established in January 2025, and aims to coordinate a global strategy to end Israel’s impunity. Ghana would add great weight and momentum to the growing movement by states to end complicity in Israel’s crimes and hold it accountable.

As Palestinians we look at Ghana’s critical role in the struggle for freedom from colonialism on the continent and we believe that the Ghanaian people recognise the intrinsic link with Palestine. Ghana’s role is much needed at this crucial moment in the history in the fight against colonialism, apartheid and genocide. We trust that Ghana will translate its principled positions and obligations under international law into effective action, and end complicity in Israel’s systematic atrocity crimes.