On Friday 27 October 2023, Barbados joined 119 other countries at the United Nations in calling on Israel to cease fire and stop its military operation against Hamas, the terrorist organization headquartered in Gaza. This article discusses this UN decision and the wider context in which it is occurring, particularly with reference to the Barbados-Israel relationship.
Ostensibly, the resolution was aimed at securing the passage of humanitarian aid to Gazans, never mind it was the Egyptians blocking the Gaza-Egypt, Raffa Crossing which is a major checkpoint through which such aid would have to pass.
The country-by-country results can be seen here. The resolution was sponsored by Jordan. The Jordanians and some other Arab countries are walking a tight rope because they do not want Palestinians as refugees or immigrants in their countries given that they already have serious problems with their home-grown terrorists. This is a key geo-political/security factor that some analysts and experts often forget.
Looking Back
Interestingly, Israel has had a peace treaty with the Kingdom of Jordan since 1994. The treaty was signed between then Israeli Prime Minister, Yitzak Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan under the auspices of Bill Clinton who was the USA President at the time.
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[wpdiscuz-feedback id=”r0zja1u107″ question=”Any thoughts on this?” opened=”1″]It is not that Israel does not want peace with the Palestinians[/wpdiscuz-feedback]. In 1993 it signed the Oslo Accords, also under the auspices of President Clinton. These accords were supposed to pave the way to a so-called two-state solution, a solution which had its own problems. In any event, this was rejected by the Palestinians, for one reason or another, on almost every round of negotiations with Israel. |
As someone has said, “The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity”.
For its part, Israel’s chief objection was the fact that the Palestinians refused to recognize Israel as the Jewish state and that Gaza was militarized, posing a direct threat to the existence of Israelis.
So, one has to be careful to place this latest round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and this subsequent (non-binding) UN resolution in its historical context to avoid a strain of anti-intellectualism sweeping society and including, of all places, university campuses.
By intellectualism we mean the deliberate, rational consideration of all sides of an issue before making a decision or passing a judgment. This is in contrast to emotionalism and prejudice which are based on feelings and pre-conceptions respectively. Surprisingly to some, even the Christian scriptures support what we are labelling as intellectualism:
He who answers a matter before he hears it—this is folly and disgrace to him. Proverbs 18:13 Berean Standard Bible.
But how far back should we go?
On Saturday October 07 (Jewish Sabbath), Hamas terrorists entered Israel in the early hours of the morning and slaughtered over 1,400 Israelis living in border towns, kibbutzim (farms) and many young people attending an open-air peace concert. They also took as hostages, tourists and workers from several countries including Germany and Thailand.
| As Israelis recovered from the surprise attack, described by some as Israel’s 9-11 and the worse slaughter of Jews since the Nazi Holocaust, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu declared war on Hamas and vowed to eliminate them from the strip of land in Israel known as Gaza. |  |
Non-State Actor
Gaza is not a country or a state but a region in Israel. Neither is Hamas a recognized government at the UN. It is a so-called “non-state actor” which both the USA and the EU have designated as a terror group. In 2005, the Israeli government withdrew from Gaza, forcibly expelling its own citizens from the area thus leaving the Palestinians to govern the territory. In 2006, Hamas won elections against Fatah, another Palestinian group in Gaza.
As is well documented, Hamas then proceeded to transform the area into a terrorist hotbed, aided and abetted by Iran, the reincarnation of the biblical Persia. For the record, Iranians are not Arabs and they speak Parsi, not Arabic.
The clearly expressed charter of Iran, echoed by Hamas, is to wipe every single Jew, whether in or outside Israel, off the face of the earth. Even as the war continues, Hamas has declared that it intends to create more October 7s before this it is all over!
Dangerous Hypocrisy
In effect, the UN resolution is asking Israel to do nothing against a vicious terror attack, something which it did not do when the US went into Afghanistan to pursue Ben Laden, the mastermind behind the 9-11 attacks on the Twin Towers in the United States.
[wpdiscuz-feedback id=”veijtxyzuv” question=”Is this a fair comment?” opened=”1″]It follows that the Barbados Government, through its ambassador at the UN, is condoning and legitimizing terrorism, something to which thinking Barbadians need to pay attention.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]
Commentators on the wars of Israel-Palestinian conflict frequently cite the Geneva Convention as International Law against Israel, usually AFTER enemy combatants have committed acts of violence on Israelis. What we are interested in finding out is whether the Barbados ambassador is aware of the details of Article 3 of the Fourth Geneva Convention 1949 cited below.
Our question is this: Are we at some time then going to have a resolution sponsored by Barbados against Hamas for violating Article 3, specifically paragraphs (a) (b) and (c)?
Barbados Israeli Relations
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In case the ambassador is unaware, the Barbados Government has long standing relations with the Israeli Government. Among other things, Israel has provided scholarships and technical assistance, especially in agriculture which is an area of expertise in Israel. |
According to the PM, Barbados is currently seeking assistance from Israel with the management of its water resources, cyber-security and other economic endeavours. You can read the full GIS release here.
During World War 2, Barbados offered shelter to Jews fleeing from the Hitler’s Nazi regime. Evidence of the Jewish heritage in Barbados is the Jewish synagogue and cemetery at the aptly named, Synagogue Lane, in Bridgetown, Barbados.
According to both the Hebrew and Christian Bible, the God of Israel and Christianity has promised to “bless those who bless you [the Jews] and curse those who curse [them]” and “and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you [Jews]” Genesis 12:3.
Like many other countries in Africa and other parts of the world, we have experienced this blessing. This is not to say that we condone every single act by the Israelis. But we really must wonder why the Barbados delegation choose to support the UN resolution. They easily could have abstained, as 45 other countries did.
Those awake in the Christian community in Barbados need to take note of this development and take the same stand by millions of other Christians around the world.
Barbados has had two “close calls” with terrorism already: the bombing of the Cubana Airlines off Barbados on October 06, 1976 and the issuance of ISIS fighters from our close neighbour Trinidad & Tobago. One wonders how we are going react if and when terrorists make a direct strike on this country. God forbid!
Barbados Uncensored would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the new Israeli ambassador to Barbados, Itai Bardov, and the citizens of Israel on behalf of all Barbadians
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