THE EDITOR, Madam:

We at the Advocates Network are deeply disappointed with recent positions of the Government of Jamaica (GOJ), which have revealed that we are no longer taking principled, balanced, or non-aligned positions on international matters but, sadly, have become a pawn in a major geopolitical game that exposes our lack of careful thought and faithfulness to the principles for which we have traditionally been renowned.

In particular, some of our recent positions and actions are downright embarrassing, and we wish to point to some of these actions:

Israel-Palestine War

• Our not voting in support of a call for peace and a ceasefire put before the UN council by Jordan is our latest embarrassment.

• What we are now seeing is an attempt to obliterate the entire Gaza area and starve the people to death.

• Though we agree with condemning Hamas for the atrocity of October 7, which targeted innocent civilians and children, we need to also recognise that the Palestinian people have been forcibly removed from their land and their human rights have been abused by the Israeli government for decades.

• Traditionally, Jamaica has taken a balanced, non-aligned position in cases like these, particularly in light of the fact that we are “Out of many one people” and we have so many Jews as well as Arabs who have made Jamaica their home.

• Our recent positions have placed us squarely in the role of a pawn and exposes our lack of knowledge of the history and principles of these international affairs.

Haitian Refugees

• On three occasions in recent weeks, the GOJ denied Haitian refugees’ entry without any observance of our international commitments to provide them with a hearing and to treat them humanely.

• They were seeking refuge from the horrific conditions that have existed in Haiti for decades, but which have worsened over the last several months.

• We see the GOJ’s action as cruel, inhumane, and inconsistent with international law and with our own refugee policy.

Commonwealth Secretariat Folly

• Our ill-advised and wasteful pursuit in putting forward a candidate to challenge for the Secretary General position of the Commonwealth secretariat was embarrassing, and again we were used as a pawn.

Cuba and Venezuela Positions

• Our voting at the Organization of American States (OAS) against Cuba and Venezuela when both countries have been historically our allies and supporters when we needed them was also embarrassing.

We have truly lost our soul and our outstanding reputation built up over many decades of fighting against apartheid and standing up for nations fighting for their human rights.

It was Norman Manley as our leader in the 1950s that imposed sanctions on South Africa when the USA and other European countries continued to support that racist regime that established Jamaica as an international leader for justice and human rights, and successive governments of both the Jamaica Labour Party and People’s National Party before this current administration have maintained the same position of supporting countries on human rights positions.

Jamaica must return to being an upstanding sovereign nation defending the human rights of people all over the world, instead of being a puppet of any major power that we believe we need to bow down to, because of expediency.

“We likkle but we tallawah” must always be our mantra. Let us cease going down the path of being subservient and sinking further into the bondage of giving up our sovereignty and “emancipate our minds from mental slavery”.

World peace, love and understanding from a perspective of fair and complete analysis must be our guide.

THE ADVOCATES NETWORK

advocatesnet@gmail.com