There are moments in history when silence becomes a position.
And moments when recognition is not diplomacy — but alignment.
Israel’s decision to recognise Republic of Somaliland on 26 December 2025, framed as “Abraham Accords–style pragmatism,” has triggered celebrations in Hargeisa — and condemnation across the Muslim world.
This is not a post written to deny Somalilanders their pain.
Nor to erase their struggle for self-determination.
It is written to ask a harder, adult question:
At what cost does recognition come — and who pays it?
Somalia vs Somaliland: A Necessary Distinction (Not a Convenient One)
Let’s be precise.
Somalia (Federal Republic)
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Internationally recognised UN member state
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Long history of centralised violence
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Responsible for the Isaak genocide (1960–1991), documented by Yale Genocide Studies Program
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Consistently pro-Palestine, anti-Israel in state policy
Somaliland
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De facto independent since 1991
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100% Sunni Muslim society
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Built relative stability without international recognition
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Victim — not beneficiary — of Somalia’s past crimes
- Anti-Al-Shabaab
These facts can coexist.
Acknowledging Somalia’s crimes against Somaliland does not require shaking hands with an occupying power elsewhere.
Two injustices do not cancel each other out.
The Genocide That Suddenly Doesn’t Matter
Between 1960 and 1991, the Somali state carried out a systematic campaign of mass killing, displacement, and aerial bombardment against the Isaak population in what is now Somaliland.
Hundreds of thousands killed.
Cities levelled.
Identity targeted.
This record is not disputed by scholars.
Yet today, many voices suddenly discover “territorial integrity” — only when Israel is involved.
That hypocrisy is real.
And Somalilanders are right to call it out.
But hypocrisy elsewhere does not cleanse moral compromise at home.
