The same flag, the same cause, the same affection, the same enemy. From Tripoli to Casablanca, from Tunis to Algiers, North African streets have been abuzz with support for Palestine, in the wake of the intense Israeli bombings of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian colors fluttered in huge processions that expressed "solidarity" with the Gazan victims of "genocide" and anger at the "Zionist enemy" and "the complicity of the West." Since the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel on October 7, the peoples of North Africa have been united by the same emotion.

While not unprecedented – crowds also mobilized in support of the Palestinian intifadas of 1987 and 2000, and against the US intervention in Iraq in 2003 – this union of the region's populations around a common vision is in stark contrast to the disunity of their governments, which is deeper than ever. Schism at the top, fusion at the bottom.

The united North Africa is asserting itself in the streets – admittedly more psychologically than politically – for want of being forged at the highest levels. Along with Palestine, football has also been a catalyst for this aspiration to transcend national fractures. During the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the Algerian people cheered the victories of the Moroccan team, even though diplomatic tension between Algiers and Rabat was simultaneously at its peak.

This contrast with the fragmented, rivalry-ridden governments of North Africa is certainly striking. We knew that the utopia of a united region – one early Algerian nationalism organization of Algerian nationalism was called Étoile Nord-Africaine (North African Star) – was well and truly buried in the aftermath of independence, after the common enemy of French colonialism had been removed.

Nevertheless, a number of organizations were put in place, reflecting a desire to maintain inter-state dialogue. Such was the case of the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), created in 1989 by Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania. With a general secretariat based in Rabat, the organization has languished in impotence. Its last summit was held in 1994.

The unity of North Africa at the state level did not survive the great discord between Algiers and Rabat. Initially crystallized around their border dispute (the 1963 "Sand War"), a poisoned legacy of French Algeria, the rivalry has been rekindled since 1975 around the conflict over Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, 80% of which Morocco has taken over.

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