Senegalese Activists Reject Israeli Embassy Aid Ahead of Eid

Coalition denounces sacrificial sheep donations as Gaza “PR stunt”

By Abdullahi Yusuf

As Senegalese Muslims prepare for Tabaski, known globally as Eid al-Adha, controversy surrounds a long-standing charitable initiative by the Israeli embassy.

Since 2006, the embassy has provided sacrificial sheep to low-income families as part of its development outreach.

This year, however, pro-Palestinian groups are calling for a boycott, condemning the donations as a propaganda tactic aimed at obscuring Israel’s actions in Gaza.

The Senegal-Palestine Coalition, a network of activists and student groups, launched their campaign on May 23, urging citizens to reject the embassy’s aid.

“This isn’t charity—it’s a genocidal PR stunt,” said spokesperson Saliou Bocoum in an interview with The New Arab.

He criticized the embassy’s programs, including Ramadan handouts, youth training initiatives, and gifts to imams, accusing them of exploiting Senegalese poverty to deflect attention from the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Since October 2023, when Israel’s genocide in Gaza commenced, over 54,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Humanitarian organizations warn of famine among Gaza’s two million residents. The coalition argues that accepting aid from Israel amounts to complicity in what they describe as genocide.

For many Senegalese, the issue presents a moral dilemma.

With more than half the population living on less than $3.20 a day, the prospect of a free sacrificial animal during Eid offers significant relief. Yet activists contend that solidarity with Palestine outweighs material needs.

“To accept these sheep is to turn our backs on Palestine,” Bocoum said. “It’s collaboration, pure and simple.”

Senegal has a deep-rooted history of supporting Palestine. Since 1975, it has chaired the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. However, like many African nations, Senegal reestablished diplomatic ties with Israel in the 1990s following the Oslo Accords, largely driven by economic interests.

The current boycott campaign reflects growing grassroots resistance to what activists label as “Janus-faced diplomacy.”

The movement gained momentum this week when protesters forced the cancellation of a university event featuring Israel’s ambassador at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar.

The coalition is also demanding Israel’s exclusion from the 2026 Youth Olympic Games, set to take place in Dakar. “Just as Russia was banned from international sports, so should Israel be, for its crimes in Gaza,” Bocoum argued.

Earlier this year, Israel’s new ambassador presented his credentials to Senegal’s newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a move the coalition called “grossly inappropriate” amid ongoing violence in Gaza.

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