Government yesterday condemned Israel for its May 31 commando raid on an international flotilla to Gaza that led to the killing of ten persons and injuries to dozens of others.
In a statement to the National Assembly yesterday, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett said that the government joins the rest of the international community in “unequivocally condemning the recent act launched by the Israeli military on a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip”.
She said the government is saddened by the loss of life and injuries sustained which resulted “from another reprehensible act committed by the Israeli military”.
The Minister expressed sympathy to the relatives and families of the deceased and injured.
“This criminal act committed in international waters is extremely unhelpful and sets back the cause of the Palestinian people in their just struggle for a full realization of their inalienable rights including their right to a homeland and it complicates efforts being made to revive peace talks in the Middle East”, she said.
The Foreign Affairs Minister said that Guyana supports fully the United Nations Secretary General and the Security Council in their calls for a full investigation into this latest action by the Israeli military and for those responsible for this violent act to be brought to justice.
Guyana further calls for a lifting of the blockade on Gaza, she added.
On Wednesday the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana called on the Guyana government to join with the international community in condemning Israel for its commando raid. The CIOG in a press release described Israel’s action as “reprehensible” and noted that “some of our counterparts” have already withdrawn their official representatives in protest at this killing.
The CIOG had urged that the Government of Guyana sever its relations with Israel immediately.
While world outrage has erupted over Israel’s deadly raid, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the blockade saying it was vital for Israel’s security and would stay in place. Netanyahu said easing controls would put long-range Iranian missiles into the hands of the Palestinian enclave’s Hamas rulers and that threatened not just Israel but Europe too.
Israel has begun releasing the 682 pro-Palestinian activists it arrested on the vessels.
