Local NewsNews Pro-Palestine group wants Barbados to suspend all diplomatic ties with Israel by Barbados Today 19/11/2023 written by Barbados Today Updated by Desmond Brown 19/11/2023 2 min read A+A- Reset Share FacebookTwitterLinkedinWhatsappEmail 581 A local pro-Palestine group took to the streets on Saturday calling for Barbados to suspend all diplomatic ties with Israel. More than 300 people took part in a demonstration calling for Israel’s siege on Gaza to come to an end. Secretary of the Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine, Lalu Hannoman said Barbados should suspend or sever ties with Israel until international humanitarian law is protected. “We are still calling for Barbados to suspend its relations with Israel, Belize has done that and there are other countries who followed suit like Bolivia where they have broken off diplomatic relations, and Venezuela since 2009. So, we are calling on CARICOM countries [to do so ] and I’ve written a letter to the CARICOM Secretary General asking that we suspend our diplomatic relations until human rights are protected in the Palestinian Territories,” he told members of the media. The fighting erupted when Hamas launched a series of attacks in southern Israel on October 7. The Israeli government now says some 1,200 people died in the sudden violence and 240 people were taken hostage. In response, Israel declared war on Hamas. An ensuing bombardment of Gaza and eventual ground campaign followed. Authorities in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday the death toll has reached 12,300. Political scientist Peter Wickham, who joined the March from its start at the British High Commission along upper Collymore Rock, said that for him it was critical to lend his voice and influence to the cause like many other pro-Palestine Barbadians.“I think that it’s important that people like myself, non-religious Barbadians, stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Palestine. It is clearly a level of oppression that is going on,” he said expanding on the point by Prime Minister Mia Mottley that the ongoing war is a clear sign of ‘televised genocide’. “Ordinary Barbadians are sending a clear signal here that we are in solidarity with the people of Palestine. It is not okay that we are seeing the mass slaughter of women and children, which is clearly an organized response that is highly disproportionate and collective punishment,” he said responding to a question by Barbados TODAY. Coordinator of the group Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine, Suleiman Bulbilia, took to the stage at Independence Square at the climax of the protest walk saying that Palestine and the war on its people is similar to acts against people of Colour. He said that just like Barbadians stood for the people of South Africa against the apartheid regime in the 1980s and Barbadians marched under the Black Lives Matter Movement, so too Barbadians demonstrate today for Palestine, for humanity. “Generations before us stood against colonialism and they stood against problems and injustice in our land. We stood against enslavement and we want no doubt why we are here this evening,” he told a riled up crowd. (MR) Barbados Today Stay informed and engaged with our digital news platform. The leading online multimedia news resource in Barbados for news you can trust. You may also like Barbadians urged to embrace consumer rights, sustainable living 15/03/2025 BCEN pushes for inclusivity, fairness in virtual tribunal rollout 15/03/2025 Fisheries getting smart with tech 15/03/2025
