Version imprimableUnder the guise of fighting terrorism, organisations hoping to retain their authorisation must now provide the identities of their employees. This requirement comes at a time when the Israeli army is targeting and violently attacking anyone who criticises its expansion plans.
A strategy of cleansing
Humanitarian action is a central pillar of the discourse of the ‘international community,’ which presents itself as the defender of oppressed peoples. As such, this action is difficult to erase without provoking outrage. Yet it remains easily circumvented.
Independent and recognised organisations are thus replaced by structures selected by the colonial authorities, in line with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The rallying points set up by this foundation led to the assassination of 1,400 Gazans.
Among the so-called ‘humanitarian’ structures that meet Israeli standards, the name of the evangelical Christian organisation Samaritan’s Purse stands out. This NGO carried out religious conversion operations alongside its ‘humanitarian actions’ in El Salvador in 2001 and, under the guise of offerings, distributed Bibles in several Muslim-majority countries in 2018. It thus combines explicitly anti-Muslim proselytism with outspoken support for the Israeli project, which it describes as a ‘war of good against evil’.
Rewriting history
This reconfiguration of ‘humanitarian action’ is part of a colonial continuum. In the short term, it facilitates the expulsion or assassination of Palestinians; in the long term, it helps to shape the memory of the current sequence in line with the Israeli narrative.
Humanitarian action is not limited to the distribution of aid. It is also a central place for the production of narratives, through the presence of direct witnesses. Thus, alongside the danger to the bodies of Gazans, it is also the memory of their massacre – and their resistance – that is under threat. The colonisation of narratives therefore appears to be a fundamental issue, reminding us of our duty to listen, pay attention and pass on information.
Somaliland and the expulsion of Palestinians
While contesting the legitimacy of internationally established humanitarian organisations, Israel was quick to recognise Somaliland, a state that is not recognised by the international community.
The Mossad held direct talks with Somaliland independence activists with the aim, according to some researchers, of acquiring a stable base close to the Houthis in Yemen. Beyond the upheaval of the regional order, this recognition opens a breach allowing for the expulsion of Palestinians, as acceptance of this population transfer seems to have been a condition for the recognition of the state.
In their imperial symbiosis, Israeli and American leaders have been searching for several months for a territory capable of accommodating a significant portion of the Palestinian people in order to bring the Palestinian question to a definitive close. The recognition of Somaliland, coupled with promises of financial transfers, could encourage independence activists to accept this colonial project, although Al-Shabab militiamen are reminding them of the importance of preserving national unity and the duty of loyalty to the Palestinian community.
8 January 2026
Translated by International Viewpoint from l’Anticapitaliste.
