In the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, European countries cast aside Oslo Accords-era commitments to demand Palestinians cease terrorism as a precondition to independence. When Western diplomats condemned Israel for its counterterrorism operations against Hamas, they did not question what it meant that Hamas had siphoned off billions of dollars in assistance to build the world’s most extensive terrorist tunnel network or a military industry superior to countries many times its size.
Nor do polls give much hope for peace this generation as decades of U.N.-funded incitement in schoolbooks have increased Palestinian Jew hatred and rejectionism. By any measure, an independent Palestine would be a failed state on par with South Sudan, the world’s newest state, in terms of corruption and violence.
At the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris also embraced the Palestinian cause, calling for the Palestinian people to be able to “realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.” She has since called repeatedly for a ceasefire without linking it to the disarmament of Hamas and Hezbollah and the release of Israeli and American hostages. Activist students and professors transform elite U.S. colleges and universities, especially in California, New York, and New England, into hotbeds of hate and openly endorse terrorism to advocate Palestinian independence and to oppose anti-colonialism.
If freedom, liberation, and justice matter, though, Somaliland would be a much better case to embrace. Unlike Palestine, Somaliland was once independent. All five members of the United Nations Security Council recognized Somaliland in 1960. Its history as a British protectorate, as a self-governing entity with recognized borders, and as distinct from Italian Somaliland extends back almost a century before that.
Somaliland faced a real genocide between 1987 and 1989 when the late Somali dictator sought to kill the entirety of its dominant Isaaq clan. He succeeded in killing over 100,000 — some estimate twice that. Thirty-five years later, anti-Isaaq hatred remains a staple of Somali rhetoric.
In 1991, as Somalia collapsed into anarchy, Somaliland reasserted its independence. It flourished. It embraced democracy and maintained internal peace. Whereas the U.N., international donors, and the United States have given the Palestinians more money per capita than any other people, Somaliland receives close to zero. What little money the international community earmarks for Somaliland, authorities in Mogadishu embezzle.
Despite getting short shrift from donors and diplomats, Somaliland thrived. It was the first country to secure voter registration with biometric iris scans. Whereas Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is in the 20th year of his four-year term and the Hamas leadership exiled or killed its Gaza opposition, Somaliland has held eight elections, one decided by fewer than 100 votes of more than 1 million cast.
It hosts an international airport, its port exceeds Mombasa in capacity, and it rapidly gains on Djibouti. Once its chief exports were livestock and charcoal. Today, its tech and finance sector is worth billions of dollars. Businesses flock to Somaliland because its economy is far less corrupt and more transparent than that of any other country for 1,000 miles. The Palestinian economy, in contrast, rivals Somalia and South Sudan as the world’s most corrupt. Somaliland is also an environmental leader. It leads the largest cheetah rescue operation in Africa.
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Whereas Palestinians embrace terrorism, Somaliland shuts it down. Weapons smugglers avoid the country, and its coast guard has secured Somaliland’s 460-mile coast.
Somaliland is ready for independence. It has a functioning economy, has government capacity, and demonstrates a multidecade commitment to democracy. It values freedom and, unlike the Palestinians, leans West. Yet the Biden administration remains inexplicably hostile to Somaliland. College students, activists, and self-described anti-racists remain silent. Perhaps behind White House and progressive rhetoric, black lives don’t matter after all?
Michael Rubin is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is director of analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.