JAMAICA MUST SUPPORT  THE PALESTINIANS

When the Israelis were promised a homeland in Palestine in 1917 by the British, this was not to be at the expense of the Palestinians “…it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.  In 1947, the United Nations agreed a partition plan for Palestine but without Palestinian support. Conflict ensued and in 1948 Israel declared itself a state, taking more land than the 57%  specified in the plan and displacing 700,000 Palestinians (half the population) in the process.

Since that time, Israel has repeatedly expanded its borders including settlements in and occupation of the West Bank which is the major part of what is supposed to be the Palestinian homeland. The Gaza Strip, the other very small part, is ‘home’ to over a million refugees originally displaced in 1948, almost half the current population of 2.2 million, in an area half that of St. Mary parish in Jamaica. Gaza has been under a blockade by Israel since 2005 – it is described as the largest open-air prison in the world.

Since November 2022, the Israeli government has included far-right politicians, making its approach to the conflict even more intransigent, with no end in sight to the West Bank settlements or the Gaza blockade, with over 19,000 Palestinians killed since the year 2000.   Nearly 80% of people in Gaza live in poverty, and two-thirds are reliant on humanitarian assistance. 

Perhaps in desperation, wanting to break the deadlocked status quo, Hamas launched a bloody attack into Israel on 7 October, killing over 1400 Israelis. The Israeli response has been vengeful and utterly disproportionate, with over 11,000 Palestinians (mostly civilians) dead, half the housing units destroyed or damaged and supplies of food, water, fuel and medical supplies cut off. It has been declared a war crime (or even a genocide) by most observers across the world.  That the USA and other Western countries have given Israel unconditional support is indeed contemptible.  

Given the above, 

1.   We demand that Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica, makes a public apology for Jamaica not supporting the humanitarian resolution by the United Nations General Assembly on  27 October regarding the situation in Gaza. It was a shameful omission given Jamaica’s proud reputation for opposing injustice, including that of apartheid in South Africa. Ten other Caribbean countries voted for the resolution.

2.  We demand that the Prime Minister makes clear Jamaica's support for the statement made by the United Nations General Secretary on 24 October, as follows: "It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished.  Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing."

3.  We demand that Jamaica breaks diplomatic and all other ties with the Government of Israel until such time as it fully complies with all UN Resolutions regarding its abhorrent treatment of the Palestinians for the past 75 years.

4.  We demand that Jamaica makes a public statement calling on the Biden administration in the USA to immediately halt all support for Israel until such time as it fully complies with all UN Resolutions regarding its abhorrent treatment of the Palestinians for the past 75 years.