Dear Editor,
S/N editorial of October 13, 2023 headlined ‘Israel and Gaza’ referred to ‘an eccentric letter published in our newspaper yesterday. The signatory is former Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee….’ The letter deemed eccentric or odd was a letter to the editor detailing the Guyana Peace Council’s (GPC) position on the declaration of war by the State of Israel on Hamas, a breakaway faction of the PLO who is embedded in the Gaza. While the letter did not mention explicitly the attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians, it abhorred the declaration of war and ‘the loss of lives on both sides, the majority of whom were civilians.’ Because the thrust of the GPC’s letter appeared to be inconsistent with a narrative that has dominated the mega-media for over seventy years in favour of Israel, and the Palestinian question virtually ‘buried alive’ in Western capitals, the letter was judged ‘eccentric’. Further, the question was raised whether the signatory of the letter lived ‘on the same planet as everyone else, or whether alternatively, he derives his news exclusively from dubious social media sources.’
As regards the author’s ‘dubious sources of news’, in February 1979 as a member of the GPC he visited Southern Lebanon. While there, he was afforded visits to schools for Palestinian refugee children as well as visits to Palestinian refugee camps. I was moved by the deplorable conditions under which Palestinians have been forced to live. Since then, I visited refugee camps in Jordan, Syria and Egypt. True to the spirit of continuity, I was happy when President Ali at the 78th Session of the UNGA “reaffirmed Guyana’s long standing solidarity with the Palestinian people and support for their dignified existence in accordance with the two-state solution.” The President urged UN member states “to do more to move pass rhetoric so that the peace process can progress.” While S/N is free to attribute eccentricity to the signatory of the GPC letter, its attempt to belittle the signatory’s acquaintance and knowledge of historical and contemporary facts surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as seen by the GPC is regrettable.
As far as S/N is concerned, my letter on behalf of the GPC should have been concentric rather than eccentric in the sense that it should have placed emphasis on; ‘…the Hamas killing of Israeli civilians. The eccentricity reflected in the GPC’s letter was taken to another level when the editorial went on to say; ‘It can only be asked whether he (Rohee) lives on the same planet as everyone else, or whether alternatively, he derives his news exclusively from dubious social media sources. Has he not heard about the Hamas killings of civilians in Israel?’ As regards ‘living on another planet’, let me say this: GPC’s statements are based on a set of guiding principles. Those principles influence everything from the words we say, to what we write and the actions we take. To support the cause of the Palestinian people is a guiding principle for the GPC. While the S/N editorial did not find favour with the GPC’s position on the Gaza-Israeli conflict, previous editorials supported positions by individuals and NGO’s different from those of government’s as regards climate change, corruption as well as challenges the oil and gas sector. Why is S/N not on the same page as ‘everyone else’ who are supportive of the Guyana government’s policies on these matters? Is it on another planet?
This brings me to the question of choice; to support or not to support the Palestinian cause as distinct from the action of Hamas. As the editorial demonstrated, the attitude among modern critics has often been one of condemnation of an approach along with an implicit suggestion about the stand it should have taken and what should have been its focus. For these critics, the question that inevitably arises is what else could the GPC have said given the disproportionate response by Israel characterized by the collective punishment of Gazans resulting in the death of 2,750 civilians, including 1,030 children, 9,700 wounded, 300,000 displaced from their homes as well as the forced evacuation of over one million Gazans while bombardment of Gaza continues on a daily basis.
Sincerely,
Clement J. Rohee
