AA / St. Louis, Senegal / Fatma Esma Arslan Özdel
Located 250 kilometers from the capital Dakar, in the north of the country, on the border with Mauritania, the city of Saint-Louis is considered one of the main fishing centers in Senegal thanks to its 40 kilometers of coastline.
In the fishing village of Guet Ndar, colorful, hand-painted wooden canoes display all manner of flags, hung to be easily visible on the high seas.
Some fishermen opt for the flag of their favorite football team, others choose that of a country they admire or simple pieces of colorful fabric.
Among these canoes lined up waiting to set sail, one stands out: it displays a Palestinian flag fluttering in the wind.
This flag, which displays the colors of Palestine on one side and an image of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the other, immediately captures attention, even from several meters away, in the middle of this explosion of colors.
Wearing the Palestinian and Senegalese flags on his life jacket, and having painted his fuel cans and other fishing equipment in the colors of the Palestinian flag, fisherman Ameth Yama Ba told Anadolu Agency (AA) of his unwavering support for the Palestine.
– “I’m a fisherman, that’s all I can do”
Nicknamed “Mr Weather” among fishermen in the area, Ba said he runs WhatsApp groups where he shares information about weather conditions.
He clarified that through these groups, he reaches thousands of people and sometimes takes advantage of this platform to spread messages of support for the Palestinian cause.
Having closely followed the news in Palestine for a long time, Ba said he was deeply affected by the genocide in Gaza. Inspired by a hadith from the Prophet Muhammad: “If you see an evil, correct it with your hand; if you cannot, correct it with your tongue; and if this is still impossible, disapprove of it in your heart” , Ba thought about what he could do in the face of injustice in Gaza.
“I am a fisherman, so I decided to hoist the Palestinian and Al-Aqsa Mosque flags on my boat. These flags represent our identity on the open sea. Here you see all kinds of flags. At sea, we recognize each other often thanks to them, I wanted to be recognized as the one who supports Palestine,” he confided.
Ba said he raised the Palestinian flag on his boat in December 2023 and painted equipment such as his fishing rods and fuel cans in the colors of the Palestinian flag.
Noting that he has made other fishermen aware of the Palestinian cause, Ba said: “I also share weather information in different WhatsApp groups where there are fishermen from six different countries. These groups have more than a thousand members. I always use photos of the Palestinian flag in my posts. Sometimes I also share news about the situation in Gaza. As a fisherman, that’s all I can do.”
Ba expressed his wish that the entire Muslim community would unite in support of Palestine and that sanctions would be applied against Israel.
– The historic friendship between Senegal and Palestine
Ties between Senegal and Palestine date back to the 1960s, after Senegal’s independence from France.
Known for his unwavering support for Palestinian independence, the first president of Senegal, Léopold Sédar Senghor, participated, with his counterparts from Nigeria, Cameroon and the former Zaire (current Democratic Republic of Congo), in a mission to mediation in Israel on behalf of the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
Since 1975, Senegal has continuously chaired the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
Senegal, which was one of the first African countries to authorize the opening of a Palestinian diplomatic mission on its soil in 1989, is also one of the first states to have issued a diplomatic passport to former Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
It should be remembered that under Senghor’s mandate, Senegal broke all diplomatic relations with Israel after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war until 1992. It is today considered one of the closest allies of Palestine in Africa.
Translated by Adama Bamba
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