Got these two Asks a day apart a couple weeks ago.
Prelude: Colonial Somaliland
Colonial powers ruled British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland:
Colonial rule ended in British Somaliland on June 26, 1960, when it gained independence as the State of Somaliland. It was an indepedent nation for less than a week because the former Italian Somaliland finally became independent on July 1, 1960 and the two territories merged to form the independent Somali Republic.
(This is skipping over a great deal of colonial fuckery, but these few details will matter later.)
Part I: The Isaaq Genocide (1987–1989)
The Isaaq Genocide, a state-sponsored campaign of extermination directed by the Somali dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, is the defining trauma of Somaliland’s history and the primary justification for 1991 declaration of Somaliland's independence from Somalia.
When the Somali National Movement (SNM), formed largely by members of the Isaaq clan in what had been British Somaliland, began a guerrilla insurgency in the north, Barre....didn't care for it.
A 1987 document titled "The Final Solution to the Isaaq Problem" (The Morgan Report) outlined a strategy to depopulate the north through mass killings and the destruction of the Isaaq economic base. There seems to be some debate on whether this document is authentic, but it describes Barre's actions well.
In May 1988, the conflict escalated into full-scale war. Barre's forces used heavy artillery and the Somali Air Force to flatten the region's largest cities.
Hargeisa, the capital of the north, was 90% destroyed.
Somali pilots (and foreign mercenaries) took off from the Hargeisa airport, circled, and dropped bombs on the residential neighborhoods immediately below them.
Civilian deaths are estimated between 50,000 and 200,000. More than 500,000 Somalis fled across the border into Ethiopia, creating one of the largest refugee crises of the decade.
Barre deployed a specialized unit called the "Isaaq Exterminators" (Dabar Goynta Isaaqa) to carry out a "scorched earth" campaign in rural areas
Soldiers poisoned wells with chemicals or carcasses and slaughtered livestock to starve the population.
Barre's army planted over a million landmines in the north, often placing them in civilian homes and grazing lands to prevent refugees from ever returning.
Thousands of Isaaq men were rounded up, tied together, and executed in places like the "Valley of Death" outside Hargeisa.
Despite a 2001 UN report concluding that the "crime of genocide was conceived, planned and perpetrated" by the Somali government, few perpetrators have faced consequences. Some involved in the atrocities later served in Somalia's government or had close ties to its leadership.
Despite the scale of the slaughter, the world was largely silent. (The Cold War wasn't very cold at the time and the US saw Barre as an ally against Soviet-backed Ethiopia.)
This genocide is why the split between Somalia and Somaliland exists.
Part II: Somaliland (1991)
As the central government in Mogadishu collapsed in early 1991, the SNM took control of the north. Clan elders from across the North (does this sound like Game of Thrones?) agreed that the 1960 union of the country was a permanent failure and declared the restoration of The Republic of Somaliland on May 18th, 1991. (If international law interest you, they claim this was not succession, but the dissolving of a union, because they actually we an independent country once...in June of 1960...for five days.
For the last ~35 years, Somaliland has functioned as an independent nation with the institutions of an independent nation...but nobody would recognize it.
This non-recognition is largely sue to the devotion of the African Union (AU) to a doctrine called uti possidetis.
In 1964, African leaders agreed to respect the borders inherited from colonial powers, even though those borders were often arbitrary. Nobody wanted to rock this boat for fear of setting off a chain reaction of wars.
Africa has dozens of separatist movements (in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Cameroon, etc.). The AU feared/fears that recognizing Somaliland would provide a legal roadmap for other groups to break away, potentially leading to a wave of civil wars across the continent.
The AU insists that independence can only be granted if the "parent state" (in this case Somalia) agrees to it. The divorce requires mutual consent which Mogadishu has never granted.
Somaliland has been called the Taiwan of Africa.
Like Taiwan, it has a separate military, currency, and passport. It arguably has the most successful democracy in the Horn of Africa, but lacks a seat at the UN. They are formally an Islamic nation, they are fiercely anti-extremist, and they purged the Al-Shabaab terrorist group from Somaliland.
For decades, major powers like the US and the UK have avoided recognition because for fear of undermining the Federal Government of Somalia....such as it is. They feared that a weakened Somalia would be even more vulnerable to Al-Shabaab.
To punish Somaliland for establishing diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2020, China has used its considerable influence in Africa to help ensure Somaliland remains isolated.
Part III: Israel's recogntion
What's in it for Israel?
By becoming the first UN member state to recognize Somaliland, Israel has signaled that strategic interest (securing the Red Sea against Houthi/Iranian influence) now outweighs the old diplomatic fears of a domino effect in Africa. And that suits Somaliland - like Israel, they're not fans of Islamist extremism. The recognition likely includes agreements for Israel to access the Port of Berbera, which features one of the longest airstrips in Africa, as a logistical and intelligence hub.
Netanyahu explicitly framed the recognition as being "in the spirit of the Abraham Accords." By bringing a 99% Muslim, pro-Western democracy in the Horn of Africa into its diplomatic fold, Israel is expanding the Accords beyond the Middle East. Somaliland, in turn, gains a powerful security partner and help in Washington pushing for US recognition.
It seems like this is a massive strategic benefit to Israel.
Turkey has invested billions into the central government in Mogadishu, effectively making Somalia its primary African client state. By recognizing Somaliland, Israel establishes a rival power base that checks Turkish expansionism in the region...which is important as Erdoğan seeks to restore the Ottoman Caliphate.
Egypt views any foreign military or diplomatic presence near the Suez Canal's southern gateway as a threat to its own national security. Israel's move effectively bypasses Cairo's traditional veto over Red Sea affairs.
Israel's recognition effectively validates the Somaliland narrative: that 35 years of peace and the trauma of a genocide are more "legally binding" than an unratified 1960 treaty. For Somalilanders, Israel's recognition is a profound moral victory. The Israeli government highlighted their shared history of surviving genocide and building stable democracies in hostile neighborhoods. By recognizing Somaliland, Israel has validated the 1991 "restoration" narrative, acknowledging that the 1960 union was legally dissolved by the atrocities of the Siad Barre regime.
Part IV: Everyone (except Somaliland) is Mad at Israel
The African Union is the most vocal critic because its entire foundation rests on the principle of uti possidetis, the idea that the colonial borders inherited at independence are "sacred" and unchangeable. Pffft.
South Africa and Nigeria argue that if Somaliland is recognized for successfully breaking away, it will encourage dozens of other secessionist movements across the continent (from Biafra in Nigeria to the Tigray region in Ethiopia) to launch their own bids for independence
The AU has officially labeled Israel’s move a "dangerous precedent" and an "act of aggression" against the sovereignty of a member state (Somalia).
For nations like Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, the recognition is seen as a deliberate attempt by Israel to weaken a major Muslim state by encouraging its "fragmentation." Which is weird because it's been fragmented for ~35 years.
Turkey views Israel’s move as "overt interference" and an attempt to build a rival power base in the Horn of Africa.
A major source of anger is a controversial rumor (which Somalia’s UN representative has cited) that Israel plans to use Somaliland as a destination for the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza. While Israel frames the recognition as being "in the spirit of the Abraham Accords," many Arab nations see it as a cynical maneuver to trade recognition for a "dumping ground" for refugees. This appears to be conspiracy theory bullshit without a single bit of evidence to support it. Somaliland has explicitly denied it.
At the UN Security Council, several countries (including Algeria and Sierra Leone) have declared Israel's action "null and void."
They argue that under international law, a country cannot recognize a "breakaway region" without the consent of the parent state. By bypassing Mogadishu, Israel is seen as undermining the very concept of "territorial integrity" that the UN is meant to protect.
If Israel can unilaterally decide a region is a country, they argue, Russia or China could argue they have the right to do the same in places like Ukraine or elsewhere, using Israel’s move as a legal justification. This ignores that Somaliland has been a de facto state for ~35 years.
Israel's recognition of Somaliland is a calculated gamble that could reshape the geopolitics of the Horn of Africa. If other nations follow (particularly the United States or European powers) Somaliland's ~35-year quest for legitimacy could finally succeed, potentially forcing a reckoning with the African Union's rigid stance on colonial borders. The AU's uti possidetis doctrine may have prevented some conflicts, but it has also condemned successful, stable democracies like Somaliland to international limbo while failed states like Somalia retain full sovereignty. Which seems like bullshit to me.
It remains to be seen if the international community will continue to privilege theoretical territorial integrity over the reality that Somaliland has functioned as an independent nation longer than many recognized African states have existed, successfully, in peace.
Lastly, there's Ilhan Omar's connection to all this:
Nur Omar Mohamed, [Ilhan] Omar’s father, was, according to Somali journalist Ibrahim Hirsi, an “esteemed senior colonel” in Siad Barre’s army, who led the Somali invasion of the Somali region of Ethiopia in the late 1970s. Nur Omar Mohammed “led a significant role in the war” and “was one of the officers who were recognized for their work.”
ILHAN'S FATHER, SIAD BARRE, & THE ISAAQS GENOCIDE First things first: Ilhan Omar, of course, is not responsible for the potential crime
The Somali-born congresswoman rarely misses an opportunity to attack Israel, yet she has so far refrained from responding to the Israeli ann
Fair warning: I know several Somali-Americans who are absolutely lovely people, so please note that I will react with great hostility to anyone painting all Somalis with a broad, negative brush.
