A pro-Palestinian campaign group has urged Barbados to reexamine relations with Israel and recognise Palestine as a state.
Barbados is among four members of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM) bloc, including Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas and Jamaica, yet to recognise the State of Palestine. Since November 2012, the United Nations General Assembly has accepted Palestine as an observer state. So far, 139 of the UN’s 193 member states have recognised Palestine.
At a news conference called to make the plea, Lalu Hanuman, the secretary of the Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine (CAAP), told reporters there is precedent for Bridgetown recognising nations that are not sovereign states like Barbados.
“None of the CARICOM states would have considered having diplomatic relations with apartheid South Africa in the days of apartheid . . . but yet, we quite happily maintain strong and close diplomatic relations with the state of Israel . . . and yet we maintain strong links. Barbados has recognised Kosovo, which is a breakaway province of Serbia, which is not recognised by the United Nations, but so far, it has refused to recognise Palestine.
“And speaking for myself, not for the organisation CAAP, I find this utterly appalling and disgraceful. We claim to be friends of all and satellites of none, yet it would appear that we are satellites of both London and Washington. It’s time we stand on our feet and do what needs to be done. Our Prime Minister has been making statements about televised genocide. We fully support and endorse those statements, but more needs to be done. Talk is cheap. Action is what we want. We want immediate recognition for Palestine.”
Noting that to date, over 30 000 Palestinian men, women and children have been killed since the Israel-Hamas War broke out five months ago, Hanuman suggested Barbados follow other nations, such as Belize which suspended diplomatic relations with Israel, and Bolivia and Venezuela which severed ties entirely. He suggested that at minimum, consideration be given to suspending diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv.
“Cuba since the 1970s – the early 1970s, around about 1972, 1973 – they broke diplomatic relations with Israel. We are calling on the Barbadian government, firstly, to recognise the state of Palestine immediately, and secondly, to at the very least, suspend diplomatic relations with Israel. . . . That applies across the board, in terms of Trinidad, Jamaica and The Bahamas as well, in particular in terms of the recognition issue, and generally in terms of breaking diplomatic relations,” Hanuman said.
“CARICOM has issued a statement calling for the United Nations General Assembly to discuss the possibility of a mass suspension of diplomatic relations. We endorse that. We support that. But they should be setting an example. Why call upon the United Nations General Assembly to pass such a resolution if they are not doing so? They should be setting the precedent, and they should immediately suspend diplomatic relations.”.
The prominent lawyer suggested that failure to cut ties could be seen as a double standard on the part of CARICOM.
He said: “I noticed the prime minister is trying to draw a difference, a differentiation between Netanyahu and Israel. It’s a difference without a distinction. In Israel, everybody goes into the army at the age of 18, except for the Orthodox Jews who are exempted, and they’re all just as responsible for the genocide that’s happening in Palestine.
“The state of Israel is not Netanyahu only. It’s the state of Israel that has blood on its hands.”
(RG)
