Solidarity or Indifference? Charting Global South Responses to the Assault on Palestine

Introduction

Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack—which also targeted civilians—has triggered widespread global condemnation. While public opinion in the United States and Europe has increasingly shifted in favor of the Palestinian cause, Western governments have, by and large, strongly backed Israel.

To the extent that vigorous state-level opposition to Israel’s actions has emerged, it has come from the Global South. South Africa led the charge early by lodging a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2023, alleging violations of the UN Genocide Convention. Global South states also repeatedly and overwhelmingly voted in favor of an immediate ceasefire at the United Nations throughout the war.

There is a long history of solidarity with the Palestinian cause in the Global South, including at the landmark 1955 Afro-Asian conference in Bandung, Indonesia, and within the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). This tradition weakened after the Cold War, as NAM was marginalized and attention to Palestine waned following the Oslo Accords in 1993 and the U.S.-led monopolization of the “peace process.”

This paper assesses the recent surge of Global South solidarity with Palestine by charting state responses. It asks how extensive and impactful this renewal is, what drives and constrains it, and what implications it holds for Palestine and the broader global order.