MSJ head to Government: Suspend all relations with Israel

As the deadly conflict between Israel and the Palestinians intensifies, the political leader of the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) has called on the Government to immediately suspend all economic, military and other co-operation with the Israeli government until it abides by UN resolutions.

On Thursday, a media statement from David Abdulah said the movement unequivocally expressed its solidarity with the Palestinians. Speaking on behalf of MSJ, Abdulah condemned what he considered Israel’s continued oppression of the Palestinians.

Abdulah also called on the UN to begin to enforce resolutions that have been passed. He believes the resolutions would see Israel respect the right of Palestinians to establish their own state within the borders of Israel returning to that of the pre-1967 war.

Abdulah added, "We call on the UN Security Council to take steps to bring about peace.

"In particular, we wish to see CARICOM support our member state of St Vincent and the Grenadines, which is currently a non-permanent member of the Security Council, taking the lead in this matter since the western powers such as the US have become so compromised over the years by their biased support for Israel."

He said there would be no peace in the "so-called Middle East" until the Palestinians obtain justice.

"Let us never forget the history – the modern state of Israel was artificially created by the western powers in May 1948 following the Second World War and the horrors of the holocaust," Abdulah said.

"To enable this state of Israel, it had to be established within a geographical space and that space was Palestine."

Palestinians who occupied that space suddenly became stateless, homeless, and landless.

The MSJ political leader said by an act of US and British imperialism, millions of Palestinians became refugees.

In 2019 the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported that of the estimated 5.6 million Palestinian refugees, 1.5 million live in UNRWA refugee camps.

In total, there are more than 60 refugee camps located in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank and the Gaza strip. He said the actual number of Palestinian refugees is likely to be much higher than the 5.6 million.

Israel has been continuously expanding its land and reducing the areas in which Palestinians have been living.

"This has been done through Israel’s so-called settler policies where Israeli Jews seize lands and homes of Palestinians, evict them and then occupy the seized properties," Abdulah said.

"Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been violently displaced in this way, while lands that were never part of the 1948 borders of the state of Israel have been seized and subsequently settled by Jews."

Abdulah charged that Israelis systematically oppress Palestinians.

"Israel’s military actions have also resulted in many Palestinians being killed, jailed and harassed just because they are Palestinians. It is racist profiling at its worst," Abdulah said.

"The state of Israel has been exceptionally aggressive in all these acts against Palestinians under the government of the right-wing prime minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu."

Abdulah criticised Netanyahu, who is before the Israeli courts, on multiple corruption charges.

He accused Netanyahu of having no clear mandate from his own citizens to lead his country.

Abdulah charged that during the Donald Trump presidency, Netanyahu’s aggression intensified. Israel announced that it would move its capital to Jerusalem, a decision supported by the US.

Abdulah said: "This was a clear act of provocation as Jerusalem is a city that has holy sites for three major religions – Islam, Christianity and Judaism – and therefore it has been understood that to locate the capital of a theocratic state, which Israel in effect is – would lead to further polarisation."

Israel’s most recent attempts to evict Palestinians and Arab-Israelis’ from their homes in Jerusalem have sparked a major rebellion in other cities in Israel.

"This is not about Israel having the right to defend itself. It is first about Palestinians having the right to self-determination and to regain the lands and properties that Israel has seized," Abdulah said.

"It is about ending the refugee status of millions of people. It is about Palestinians being able to live in hope for a better future for themselves and their children, free of persecution and oppression."

On Thursday afternoon, Reuters reported that at least 67 people had been killed in Gaza since violence escalated on Monday. Seven people were killed in Israel.

The report said world powers had demanded de-escalation and the US said it planned to send an envoy for talks with Israel and Palestinians.