Photo: (l to r) Former Prime Ministers Dr. Said Musa and Dean Barrow
Former PMs Barrow and Musa ask for ceasefire in Gaza; UDP yet to condemn Israel war crimes
BELIZE CITY, Wed. Nov. 1, 2023
Moved by the horrific scenes emerging from Gaza in Palestine, former Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow says he reached out to his PUP counterpart and erstwhile rival, Rt. Hon Said Musa, so they could jointly decry the carnage Israel continues to mete out in Gaza, which is, in the eyes of many, rapidly becoming a mass burial site. The Gaza strip (25 miles long with a total area of 141 square miles) is one of the most densely populated places on earth, with latest data putting the population at 2.2 million (47.3% being under 18 years of age, according to NPR, based on data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health).
The two Belizean statesmen, in a joint statement, first make clear that the initial, surprise strike by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on the morning of October 7, which left an initial death toll of 1,400 people, is to be condemned, after which they demand an immediate ceasefire. They wrote on Monday, October 30, “Hamas’s killing of Israeli civilians was wrong.” At the same time, they affirm that Israel cannot use self-defense as an excuse for its sustained assault on Gaza—an unrelenting operation which entered its third week this Wednesday. Musa and Barrow affirm, “In any case, no so-called ‘right of self-defence’ can excuse Israel’s pitiless siege and unrelenting bombing of Gaza. This utter inhumanity is compounded by the inclusion of hospitals and other civilian targets. Latest estimates are of 8,000 killed, many of whom are women and children.”
Belize’s only two living former Prime Ministers also provided some context for the latest developments, saying that as the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres has acknowledged, Hamas’ attack “did not happen in a vacuum. It is in the context of Israel’s years-long blockade of Gaza, its displacement of Palestinians and seizure of their properties, its arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of citizens in both Gaza and the West Bank, and its annihilation of human rights, that Hamas’s actions must be understood.”
During the last meeting of the House of Representatives (October 13) and of the Senate, current Prime Minister, Hon. John Briceño and Senator Eamon Courtenay as leader of Government Business in the upper chamber of Parliament also outlined what has traditionally been Belize’s position on Israel and Palestine at the same time that they condemned Hamas’ surprise attack. Briceño said Hamas did commit a terrorist act, massacring innocent people. However, he noted that it did not justify the response by Israel. He commented, “We recognize that Israel has every right to defend itself, but when you start to do these random – or just bombing out of cities in Gaza, and possibly thousands of innocent people have been killed, I don’t think that kind of response is justified.” Briceño noted that as Israel has pushed more and more into the West Bank and taken more and more land, “in many instances the Palestinian people feel helpless that the world is just sitting by and allowing a form of apartheid to take place between Israel and Palestine.” At the Senate meeting on October 26, even as Senator Courtenay condemned the mayhem that Hamas wreaked on Israel and called for the immediate release of hostages, he held that Israel’s declaration of war on Hamas obliges Israel to “respect the laws of war [international humanitarian law]…”. He went on to note, “The amount of explosives that has been dropped on Gaza exceeds 12,000 tonnes. That is equivalent to the size of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Our collective conscience is shocked…The collective punishment of Palestinians by Israel is a war crime…Israel is not above international law…”
The traditional position of both mass political parties has been in support of a two-state solution leading to Palestinian self-determination with a right of return. In this case, the United Democratic Party, currently under the leadership of Hon. Moses “Shyne” Barrow, issued an initial statement professing views along the traditional line, but which has not been followed up by any other release openly condemning Israel for its war crimes. This lack of open condemnation is in alignment with the stance of the United States, which considers Israel a major ally. The release on a UDP letterhead, emitted the day after the Hamas attack when Israel had already started its retaliatory strikes after declaring war and vowing to destroy Hamas, was very nuanced in the views presented – seemingly attempting to strike a balanced position. The release, which was very measured in its comments regarding Israel, stated, “The United Democratic Party and the people of Belize condemn the despicable murderous acts of war by terrorist organization Hamas that has led to over 600 Israelis murdered and regrettably 350 Arabs killed in retaliatory strikes. While we pray for a two-state solution that sees a Jewish State and Arab State living side by side in peace, the means by which this is achieved must never be murder and terrorism. Israel has a right to exist, a right to defend herself using great restraint and regard for loss of civilian life while targeting terrorists employing strategic but proportionate military action. In order for Palestinians to achieve self-determination in an Arab State there must be the acceptance of the Jewish State.”
The elder Barrow has been clear that based on unequivocal facts, he cannot support Israel laying siege on Gaza. However, he noted that he understands that his son would hold the position he does as a convert to Judaism, and so he said he would not indict him for any illegitimate position he takes in this case. He did firmly state that he finds the younger Barrow’s position to be completely and utterly unacceptable, saying to 7News that “it flies in the face of the horrific facts of what’s happening currently in Gaza.” In their joint statement, the elder Barrow and Musa expressed being horrified at the fact that “the clear expressions of intent and incitement to genocide by Israel’s leaders have not been condemned. The failure of the United Nations to stop an ongoing genocide, played out on the world’s media screens as some macabre horror serial show, is profoundly disturbing and could seriously affect its relevance to achieving world peace.”
We reached out to the Opposition leader’s parliamentary colleagues, Hon. Tracy Panton and Hon. Patrick Faber, to confirm that they are in agreement with all the views contained in the UDP October 8 release, but neither has responded.
Former foreign ministers Assad Shoman and Godfrey Smith have also added their voice of condemnation against Israel’s continued siege on Gaza. They provided even more historical context that speaks to Israel’s illegal blockade spanning 17 years that has seen it carry out several indiscriminate bombings on Gaza before October 7, 2023. They list Operation Cast Lead from 2008-2009 that killed 1,400 Palestinians, including 350 children, and destroyed 6,000 homes in 22 days; and Operation Protective Edge in July and August 2014 that killed 2,200 Palestinians, including 550 children.
The Bar Association of Belize has likewise condemned the non-stop shelling that Israel continues to rain down on Gaza as well as the killing by Hamas of Israelis. It demands an immediate and total ceasefire in Gaza. In its statement on October 30, the Bar also reaffirmed its commitment to the principles of territorial integrity and the right to self-determination “which were instrumental in Belize’s own journey to independence…” and denounced “the acquisition of land by force, destruction, dispossession and/or permanent subjugation or forcible removal of people from lands traditionally occupied by them.”
Internationally, states are beginning to take diplomatic action against Israel. Amid increasing alarm over the war, the Arab state of Jordan, which is a key U.S. ally, recalled its ambassador from Israel on Wednesday. Bolivia became the first Latin American country to cut diplomatic ties with Israel, which had just been restored in 2020 after that country severed ties in 2009 in protest of Israel’s actions in Gaza. Chile and Colombia have followed suit, saying they are recalling their ambassadors from Israel.