\u201cWe were waiting for recognition for 35 years. This is the product of our grandparents who fought in the war,\u201d said Ahmed Abiib Ibrahim, a 20-year-old student in the square.<\/p>\n
\t \u201cIt is the first Ramadan when the world knows us,\u201d added 22-year-old Muna Ali, finishing her day at a nearby travel agency.<\/p>\n \u201cI love Israel so much,\u201d she said, smiling in her head-to-toe black abaya.<\/p>\n Filling his water tank at a petrol station outside the city, truck driver Abdilrashiid Adam Jamac told AFP he now had an Israeli flag hanging in his home.<\/p>\n \u201cI will think of Israel during Ramadan\u2026 The Jews are my friends. Are Muslims helping us? No!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \t Shortly after Somaliland\u2019s recognition at the end of December, social media was flooded with photos of men and women displaying the Israeli flag, one of them even using it as a hijab.<\/p>\n Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, on the other hand, denounced it as \u201cthe greatest violation of Somalia\u2019s sovereignty\u201d and a \u201cthreat to the security and stability of the world and the region.\u201d<\/p>\n Strategic battleground<\/p>\n The government in Mogadishu still considers Somaliland an integral part of Somalia, even though the territory has run its own affairs since 1991, with its own passport, currency, army and police force.<\/p>\n Somaliland also stands out for its relative stability compared to the rest of the country, which has been plagued by Islamist insurgencies and clan conflicts for decades.<\/p>\n No Muslim country has followed Israel\u2019s lead for now, many fearing it could provoke secessionists in their own lands.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael\u2019s recognition of Somaliland benefits neither Somaliland nor the Horn of Africa,\u201d Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during a visit to Ethiopia on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \t The Horn of Africa, situated between the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal on one of the world\u2019s busiest trade routes,\u00a0has become a strategic battleground for regional powers in the Gulf and beyond, forcing many to look beyond their previous concerns.<\/p>\n Many see the United Arab Emirates, which operates a major port in Berbera in Somaliland, as a key player behind Israel\u2019s recognition. The UAE was one of four Muslim nations that normalized relations with Israel in 2020 as part of the US-brokered Abraham Accords.<\/p>\n A Somaliland official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that Somalilanders had raised $2 million for Palestinians during last year\u2019s Ramadan, but they had to focus on their own concerns.<\/p>\n \u201cPalestinians, we feel for them, but\u2026 it\u2019s our brothers from Somalia who want to kill us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Times of Israel contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tMuslims pray along a market street before breaking their fast as they commemorate the holy month of Ramadan in Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, on February 19, 2026. (Tony KARUMBA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AFP__20260220__989K8Q4__v2__HighRes__TopshotSomalilandReligionRamdan-e1771586319265.jpg\")
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\n\t\tSomalilanders in Hergeisa are seen near a memorial featuring an old Soviet MiG used in a Somali government bombing campaign that destroyed 70 percent of the Somaliland capital in 1989-1989, February 19, 2026. (Tony KARUMBA \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AFP__20260217__97WB39E__v1__HighRes__TurkishPresidentVisitsEthiopia-e1771586898417.jpg\")
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\n\t\tThis handout photograph, taken and released by the Turkish Presidency Press Office on February 17, 2026, shows Turkey\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reviewing a guard of honor during a state visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (Handout \/ Turkish Presidency Press Office \/ AFP)<\/p>\n
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