SVG condemns unjustified killing of over 60 Palestinians

The Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines says it “unequivocally condemns the unacceptable and unjustified killing” of over 60 Palestinians, including an eight-month-old baby, and the injuring of hundreds more by the Israeli Defence Forces on Monday May 14, 2018, in Palestinian territory.

In a statement dated May 16, 2018, the Government said it is shameful that some allies internationally are seeking to defend the “abhorrent actions” of the Israeli Authorities. In so doing, the Israelis and their allies are “making a mockery of international law, human rights, and their claim to be acting on some yet to be discerned high principle.”

The statement said unnecessary and unjustifiable brutality cannot be justified. “The indiscriminate shooting of the Palestinians happened while the new US Embassy was being opened with pompous disdain of settled international opinion.“Israel has long flouted international law with impunity; and successive US administrations have, to one degree or another, permitted or even facilitated it.

Human decency demands that this illegal behavior must stop. There is a litany of Israel’s disregard of international law including: The illegal Israel occupation of Palestinian lands; extra-judicial murder of unarmed Palestinians; indiscriminate detention of suspects without a reasonable basis; and the curtailment of freedom of movement of Palestinians.”The release said the International Court of Justice and the United Nations General Assembly have strongly denounced Israel’s disregard, and breaches, of international law.

Yet, at the United Nations Security Council, time and again, one permanent member thereof has given Israel support, succor, and comfort in circumstances which are entirely wrong and inappropriate.

St Vincent and the Grenadines has diplomatic relations with both Israel and the State of Palestine and is keen on the realization of a two-state solution rendered through meaningful dialogue between the Israelis and Palestinians, the release said.

“There will be no peace until both nations live side-by-side within secure borders. The recent actions of the Israeli authorities undermine this quest. Colonisation of the Palestinian people will not work. Right-thinking peoples globally, including those in Israel, ought to realise that an unthinking machine endowed with violence will always beget violence; and it will only yield when confronted with violence. Israel and the USA are urged not to be unthinking machines. A better world is surely possible. Let us strive for it.The killing and suffering must stop!” the release, which was issued by Sir Louis Straker, minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Commerce said.