‘Pragmatic’ decision to back Palestinian statehood

Barbados’ decision to recognise Palestinian statehood while maintaining relations with warring state Israel has been described by an international relations academic as a practical and pragmatic move.

University of the West Indies lecturer Dr George Brathwaite based his comment on the famed foreign policy declaration of Prime Minister and National Hero, the Right Excellent Errol Barrow, that Barbados would be “friends of all and satellites of none”. The Cold War era statement in Barrow’s speech to the United Nations on Barbados’ admittance to the world body on December 9, 1966, was one of the first acts of a newly independent nation. 

“Barbados continues to be friends of all and satellites of none, and standing on principle,” the lecturer in political science and international relations told Barbados TODAY. “Barbados, as far as I am aware, believes in the two-state policy for that area, Palestine. So, that is why they are going to recognise Palestine, and at the same time, they oppose what . . . happened on October 7, the terror that Hamas carried out on Israel.

“But at the same point in time, Barbados along with other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states have been coming out for peace, and they have been coming out against some of the things that Israel would have perpetuated in the name of its own defence.”

Dr Brathwaite also argued that Barbados’ decision demonstrates that the two-state option was the best.

“You have to give the Palestinian people their dignity. They have been fighting for years just to be acknowledged as a state, and now you are pummeling them into the ground with over 35 000 people dead, many people displaced. AlI it is doing is destabilising. In fact, I think there should have been a cease-fire already.”

Dr Brathwaite dismissed any notion that Barbados’ position would result in Washington pushing back against Bridgetown. 

He said: “There are up to 140 countries that recognise Palestine. You also have, I think [as of] yesterday or today, Jamaica accepting, which makes it the 12th CARICOM country to recognise Palestine as a state. So, you can say, largely, this is one area in which CARICOM countries appear to speak in unison. So, no, I do not see the US as combative against CARICOM or Barbados on these positions.”

Dr Brathwaite emphasised that the recognition stance is rooted in principle and based on the preference of Barbados and the rest of the region for peace.

Conversely, he said he does not anticipate recognition affecting Barbados-Israel relations.

“Barbados has come out and condemned the act of terrorism that took place on October 7. They have also been forceful, via the CARICOM statement, that they would like to see a ceasefire, and the fact of the men, women and children that are being killed in Gaza. So, Barbados is very consistent,” the international relations lecturer asserted. “They are pragmatic. I think that the global perception is that Israel has gone too far, and the Palestinians are the ones being hurt now in this conflict as opposed to you defeating Hamas, which are two different elements.”

Last Friday, Foreign Minister Kerrie Symmonds told journalists that Cabinet has “made the determination that the time is ripe for us to have a formal diplomatic recognition of the State of Palestine”.

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, based in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has welcomed both Barbados’ and Jamaica’s decision to recognise the State of Palestine.

It said Barbados’ decision reflects its keenness to support the Palestinian people and their inalienable and legitimate rights in their land.

emmanueljoseph@baradostoday.bb