Nairobi, Feb. 17 -- A group of civil society organisations on Saturday asked the African Union (AU) to reject Israel's application for observer status at the continental bloc, reviving a two-year debate that remains unresolved.

And ahead of the AU Summit in Addis Ababa, some 151 organisations and individuals from within the continent and representing the African diaspora say denying Observer Status to Israel will send a message that atrocities can be punished even by the weak. They call themselves a coalition of Pan-African civil society organisations.

The argument is about a two-year application Israel made to AU but the context is about Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which the activists argue has allowed Israel to mete out brutal...