As a defender of justice, Barbados must recognise State of Palestine, anti-Apartheid rights group says

Barbados must recognise the state of Palestine and end “continue to accord recognition to the colonialist settler apartheid state of Israel,” Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine has said in an open letter to Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

The letter, issued yesterday, highlights Barbados’ history, including the “brutality due to the enslavement of our ancestors and colonialism”, adding  that this means that it “can never side with those who engage in similar acts of aggression and must always speak up against injustice and oppression.”

“We were in the vanguard of the struggle against South African apartheid. We ought to be in the vanguard against apartheid in Palestine,” the letter added, while quoting South African President Nelson Mandela when he said: “Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

“Palestine and the Palestinian people have endured over seventy-five years of occupation and apartheid policies from the State of Israel,” the group said, adding: “Today, they are facing the greatest threat of extinction, extermination, and degradation at the hands of the Israeli military aided and abetted by various Western Powers.

“Barbadoes must recognise the State of Palestine in the face of all the challenges and attacks it faces. “Nothing less can be expected of our country that stubbornly stands on the side of justice, fairness, and freedom for all peoples.

“It added that Barbados “should not continue to accord recognition to the colonialist settler apartheid state of Israel, especially now that flagrant breaches of International Law are yet again being openly inflicted on the civilian population of Gaza by Israel. All civilian lives matter- whether it be on a slave ship; or in Soweto; or in Kiev; or the Kfar Aza Kibbutz; or in Gaza City.”

CONFERENCE: International perspectives on apartheid and decolonisation in Palestine