As the first-ever Olympic event hosted on African soil, the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games, running from October 31 to November 13 with nearly 2,700 global athletes in attendance, has become the backdrop for a growing free expression advocacy campaign following the arrest of a 27-year-old Senegalese pro-Palestine activist. Amadou Sarang Diallo was taken into custody roughly 88 kilometers outside the capital Dakar last Friday, shortly after he shared a TikTok video condemning Israel’s participation in the international youth sporting competition, according to statements from local activist networks to Middle East Eye. Eleven Israeli athletes are competing across eight disciplines including boxing, athletics, judo, artistic gymnastics, fencing and archery at the games, and were met with widespread boos from onlookers during the opening ceremony parade. Local civil society organizers argue that remarks Diallo made in the local Wolof language, which were interpreted by authorities as a call for violence against Israeli nationals, have been severely misrepresented. Amidou Sidibe, coordinator of civil society group Club Intermediaire, clarified that Diallo’s line stating Israeli citizens would “never get peace in Senegal” carried no violent connotation in its original linguistic context, and that law enforcement found no incriminating materials during a subsequent search of his home. On November 2, the National Alliance for the Palestinian Cause released an official statement voicing deep alarm over Diallo’s detention, reaffirming the group’s commitment to Senegalese national laws while emphasizing that freedom of expression is a foundational right of all democratic societies, noting that peaceful articulation of political or activist beliefs can never justify arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Seydi Gassama, executive director of Amnesty International Senegal, amplified the calls for Diallo’s release in a public post on X, confirming the activist’s long track record of nonviolent protest: “Respect freedom of expression! Amadou Sarang Diallo is not violent. He has participated in several peaceful actions denouncing the genocide in Gaza, at Abdoulaye Wade Stadium during the national team’s matches.” Local Senegalese pro-Palestine advocates have framed the arrest as a departure from the nation’s longstanding, publicly documented support for Palestinian sovereignty, a stance that led Dakar to become a founding member of the Hague Group in 2025 – the international coalition formed to coordinate legal and diplomatic action to hold Israel accountable for documented violations of international law. Since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict in October 2023, Senegal has seen sustained grassroots pro-Palestine mobilization: in February 2026, a collective of local artists and cultural workers penned an open letter urging the Senegalese government to sever all formal ties with Israel in response to the death toll of more than 74,500 Palestinians in Gaza, noting that Africa’s own history of enduring slavery, colonialism and apartheid imposes a moral duty to reject global injustice. In May 2025, Israeli ambassador to Senegal Yuval Waks was forced to abandon a planned speaking engagement at Dakar’s Cheikh Anta Diop University after hundreds of protesting students gathered outside the venue chanting slogans including “Free Palestine,” “Free Gaza” and “Israel is a war criminal.”
Senegal arrests activist for protesting against Israeli participation at Youth Olympic Games
