Delano Franklyn | Jamaica, Israel and Gaza

Israel, after 11 days of consistently bombing the people of Gaza, resulting in the death of 233 Palestinians, has finally heeded the call by Egypt for a cease-fire.

Egypt being one of the very few countries whose leadership has direct access to the leaders of both Israel and Hamas, indicated from the very start of the bombing by Israel that it would do everything in its power to bring about a cease-fire. Some countries were very hesitant in calling out Israel for its heavy-handed approach against the people living in Gaza.

There was a time, for example, when Jamaica had a very proactive and progressive foreign policy. One which, while respecting the sovereign rights of others, would support, without hesitation, countries and people that were being oppressed and suppressed by others. It was a foreign policy born out of a social consciousness that recognised the right of a people to self-determination.

In the case of the just-concluded bombardment and brutalisation by Israel of the two million people living in Gaza, Jamaica would have, from very early, as it did in 2014, issued a statement calling for an immediate cease-fire, while condemning the killing of the 233 Palestinians, including women and children, in the indiscriminate and genocidal attacks that were carried out by Israel against the people living in Gaza.

Regrettably, it would appear, that instead of being fully focused on this matter, our goodly minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, Kamina Johnson instead, initiated an unnecessary public entanglement with former foreign affairs minister A.J. Nicholson in what appears to be a tactic to divert the public’s attention from the despicable behaviour of one of her parliamentary colleagues who used a wooden stool to reign several mighty blows on a female, creating the basis for widespread calls for his resignation as MP.

ASSERTED RIGHT TO DEFEND

Israel, and those who defend its policy of aggression, has always asserted the right of Israel to defend itself as if the right of self-defence does not also extend to the Palestinians. It is this right to self-defence why thousands of Palestinians were in the streets every day, resisting the military pressure being exerted by Israel. It is this right to self-defence why rockets were being fired by members of the Hamas Movement in its response to the shock-and-awe approach by Israel.

Yes, Israel has the right to self-defence, but under the guise of exercising that right, Israel has always used its superior military power to disproportionally maim and kill Palestinians. As it did in 2009, 2012, and 2014, when it killed hundreds of Palestinians, Israel, in its recent bombing of the people of Gaza, lost 12 persons to rocket fire in comparison to the 233 Palestinians it killed. This lopsided ratio of death is not self-defence, but rather, a crime against humanity.

Israel, under international law, remains an occupying force in the area. Its apartheid policy, which is the systematic denial of basic human rights of the people of Gaza, is the primary reason for regular frictions as the people living in Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank seek to exercise their right to self-determination and independence.

AMERICA AND PRESIDENT BIDEN

When the American people rid itself of former president Donald Trump, who blindly supported Israel, and elected Joe Biden as president, many persons thought that the approach to dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would have been different. The approach by President Joe Biden, however, to the recent conflict, as was stated by the New York Times, was a ‘stand-back approach’.

During the period of unrelenting bombing by Israel, instead of calling for an immediate cease-fire, Biden and members of his administration blocked the efforts by the UN Security Council to pass resolutions criticising Israel for its indiscriminate use of force.

Biden and his administration, more so than Egypt, are always in the best position to exert pressure on Israel to bring about an immediate cease-fire when Israel turns its military jets against the people of Gaza. This is so because the USA provides Israel with overwhelming military, financial and diplomatic backing. In fact, it provides Israel with over US$4 billion worth of aid annually. A very stern phone call, therefore, from Biden to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during Israel’s attack on Gaza could have made a big difference.

That, however, seems not to have been the approach of President Biden. Shockingly, it was also announced during the crisis that the USA would be selling some US$735 million worth of military weaponry to Israel, thus further rubbing salt in the wounds of the Palestinians.

Regrettably, to date, we have heard nothing from the Jamaican Government decided to take the easy route by being quiet, which, some would argue, is the best form of diplomacy.

JAMAICA AND ISRAEL

Jamaica has had diplomatic relations with Israel since 1962, and hitherto, Jamaica was never afraid to split justice by calling out Israel when necessary.

In 2012, for example, Jamaica voted at the United Nations, despite the objection of Israel, for the Palestinian Authority to become a non-member observer at the UN. Jamaica need not be timid in its response to Israel’s aggression against the people of the Gaza as it can take courage from the fact that for the first time, as demonstrated in the recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict, several members of the US Congress urged President Biden to be far more resolute in reigning in Israel.

The current Jamaican Government, however, seems reluctant to call out Israel because it would appear that both leaders of the respective governments share the same political philosophy and attitude to governance.

In 2017, Prime Minister Andrew Holness visited Israel and declared that he and Prime Minister Netanyahu had agreed to strengthen cooperation in the areas of water, agriculture, the economy, and domestic security. Nothing is wrong with that.

Later, however, after months of silence, and in response to public pressure, it was revealed by our minister of national security that the Government had signed a five-year J$4 billion contract with an Israeli firm versed in the provision of cybersecurity technology. This revelation has led to questions regarding the true role of the Israelis in our Jamaican security apparatus.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness was so cosy with Netanyahu during the visit in 2017 that he extended an invitation to him to visit Jamaica in his capacity as Prime Minister of Israel.

This is the same Netanyahu who, a few weeks ago, was about to be ousted as prime minister of Israel after his repeated failures to form a coalition government. He is also facing serious corruption charges. This is the same Netanyahu who US Senator Bernie Saunders, a Jew, has accused of cultivating “an increasingly intolerant and authoritarian type of racist nationalism” as it relates to the Palestinians.

It is felt by some persons that the recent bombing of Gaza by Netanyahu is a tactic to keep him in power and avoid prosecution for corruption.

Considering what is happening to Netanyahu in Israel, as well as his belligerent attitude towards the people of the Gaza, Prime Minister Holness needs to determine whether or not his invitation to him to visit Jamaica, in his capacity as prime minister of Israel, is in keeping with our expectations.

Finally, Jamaica must continuously and strenuously restate its position that only a politically negotiated settlement will resolve the long-standing conflict between Israel and Palestine and that there must be the establishment of a Palestinian state, within the confines of internationally recognised borders, in which the Palestinians can live, free from the clutches of any dominant state.

- Delano Franklyn is attorney-at-law, a former People’s National Party senator, and former minister of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade. Send feedback to delanofranklyn@gmail.com.