by Colin Hyde

Like it’s hard, real hard to accept this blank sheet of paper some Belizeans give to Israel, to do what they want with men, women, and children in Palestine. They do it in the name of religion, Judaism. Many of these Belizeans are Christians too, but that blank sheet for modern Israel is not of Christ; that is straight from the books of Moses and the other Old Testament prophets.

There’s a lot of killing in the Old Testament, a lot. Much of that story is a historical report of the Jews, how they survived in hostile situations. The wars they won, God was on their side, because they were good. The wars they lost, God wasn’t on their side, because they were bad.

It’s important to know history. It is so that a good understanding of the past helps us to better deal with the present, and it is a great help in preparing for the future. But sometimes great knowledge of the past is just a discussion piece, absolutely worthless. That happens when people refuse to grow, when people are locked in the past, so locked into it they don’t have the inclination or energy to help address present ignorance. These are good people, better people than I am for sure, and it’s hard to understand how they can think that God is punishing Palestinian children because their parents are sinful, just like they were in the BC days, before the coming of Jesus.

There is a lot of good about religion. But it strays when we lose the love for any of God’s creations. Sometimes I understand why Henry Young does not allow any religious discussion on his Big Bird’s Isle. By the way, that gentleman might be in for a very pleasant surprise when he enters the hereafter, because he is some kind of Abou Ben Adhem. Bah, he says to religious talk.

I apologize if I was out of place in my preamble. But these comments by Mr. Smotrich, no Belizean should try and justify them. It’s just flat-out incredible to read that Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said that a Palestinian town should be “erased”, and that there is no such thing as “the Palestinian people,” because they have no history or culture. I expect our religions to call him out, put him right.

Our governments have made it known that we stand with the United Nations and with Jimmy Carter on this Israel/Palestine matter. The Amandala, in 2011, reported on what our leaders had to say re: formal recognition by the United Nations (UN) of Palestinian statehood. The GoB said: “Belize joins more than a hundred and twenty other members of the United Nations who have formally recognized the State of Palestine”, and we support the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. CEO Alexis Rosado said: “Every year, we have voted consistently for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people”, and that that is not an anti-Israel position.

In 2018, the GoB, via a press release, said it condemned violence in the Gaza strip, and reaffirmed its support “for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination in an independent, contiguous and viable State of Palestine; living side by side with Israel, within secure and mutually recognized borders, and in peace and security with its neighbors.”

In 2021, the GoB, via a press release, expressed concerns about tensions in East Jerusalem and violence against civilians at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. GoB said Israel should desist from its expansionism, from its assault of the fundamental human rights of Palestinians, and reiterated our “support for the Palestinian people and their right to establish an independent state based on the 1967 borders.”

Where does Mr. Smotrich come off with this hate, this intransigence? We shouldn’t leave everything to our political leaders. This is largely a religion thing, and our religious leaders should call him out. Mr. Smotrich isn’t Christian, and he needs to get some of those values.

Going with simple facts, after WWII the winners carved out a piece of Palestine for the Jews. Now, the Jews and Palestinians go back to the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. The first is the father of Judaism, and the latter is the father of the Muslims. The two can’t “agree,” and over time the Jews were dispersed. After WWII the winners brought the Jews back to the land of their birth.

The winners carved out a piece of Palestine and gave it to the Jews. The Jews were overjoyed. The Palestinians who were removed from their homes were not. Naturally, there was hatred in the land. The Palestinians and their friends went to war with the Jews. The Jews, with the assistance of the WWII winners, defeated them. The Jews then took a piece of Palestine and added it on to what they had been given. This made the Palestinians even angrier. The Jews, empowered by the WWII winners, keep beating back the Palestinians, and taking more of their land.

A great champion arose out of the winners. His name is Jimmy Carter. The Carter Center supports a two-state solution in Palestine. The Carter Center says a major obstacle is “the continued presence and expansion of Israeli settlements and outposts in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.” Amnesty International says that since the 1967 war 600,000 Israeli settlers are occupying Palestinian land, Israel has taken 247,000 acres of land, and the Jews have destroyed 50,000 Palestinian homes.

The Carter Center sees the divisions between Hamas and Fatah, the two largest political parties in Palestine, as an obstacle to the objective.

Zena Al Tahhan, in the 2017 Al Jazeera story, “Hamas and Fatah: How are the two groups different?” says ideologically Hamas is Islamist while Fatah is secular; in strategy Hamas is pro armed resistance, while Fatah is for negotiations; while Hamas does not recognize Israel it “accepts a Palestinian state on 1967 borders”, and Fatah “recognizes Israel, wants to build a state on 1967 borders.” 

Al Tahhan said Hamas announced that it would “accept a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with the return of Palestinian refugees”, and that provoked fear in the party’s loyalists that “it was giving up on the Palestinian cause.” This prompted Hamas to follow that up with the statement that it “rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea”, and that Israel is an illegal state.

Tahhan said that West Bank political analyst, Nashat al-Aqtash responded that the reality is that Hamas had accepted political compromise and they couldn’t go back. The analyst said: “All Palestinians dream of liberating historic Palestine, but today, they are working on a realistic solution…what they can achieve as opposed to what they hope of achieving”.

There are Belizeans who will not let go of their 100% support for Israel’s aggression, because of this dream the Palestinians have of their old homeland, the part that the WWII winners excised to give to Israel. Get real. Be honest. It is total pie in the sky to expect Palestinians to give up in their hearts what they fought for in 1967. That will never go away, at least not for a very long time. All Belizeans should get the sense of that fully, because there were, still are Guatemalans who would fight us, and they have never owned here. Despite never owning any part of Belize, all because of some unjustified ambitious leadership, some of them act like we offended them.

It is fact that the Palestinians were routed from their homes. Where on earth can you find human beings who wouldn’t be aggrieved by that? I am saying, the Jews should be defending, not attacking and taking away more Palestinian land.

Belizeans should never support the aggression of Israel. Our sympathies must be with Palestine. The world would have been a better place if the winners hadn’t colluded and wild Arabian elements hadn’t joined them, to bring down Jimmy Carter. Come on, religious leaders in Belize, step up to the plate and chastise that “heathen” Israeli finance minister.