We are about to witness another attempt to rewrite the Palestinian people’s history and human existence

Oct 17, 2023 Letters

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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, according to Israeli intelligence 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 favor 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.’

The story of Palestine or the Holy Land and its illegal occupation can be embarrassing especially for those to whom the true story is told from a historical perspective. Those who write in favor of the Palestinian people’s struggle against Israeli occupation of their land and the dehumanizing conditions imposed on them by the occupiers are deemed to belong to ‘another planet’ and who derives their news ‘from dubious sources.’

The story about how the State of Israel was created as a result of the 1917 Balfour Declaration followed by the termination of the British Mandate in May of 1948 is known all over the world but, because of a narrative peddled in favour of Israel and backed by international mainstream media, Palestine versus Israel became a divisive issue fostering polarization of millions around the world.

Nowadays the story of Palestine where Muslims, Jews and Christians once lived in peace and harmony is clouded by many variables resulting in no one side to this story; consequently, people pick a side. Ever since it’s establishment in 1974, the GPC has opted to support the just cause of the Palestinian people. The GPC ‘supports the replacement of the policy of force by that of negotiations for the settlement of differences between nations.’

The Israeli government has never acceded to this principle.

As regards the eccentricity of the letter writer, ever since he joined the PPP in 1968, the party has unequivocally and unreservedly supported the Palestinian cause. At every party Congress delegates voted in favour of resolutions expressing support for the Palestinian cause.

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. By reading widely and following news from various credible sources I am able to follow developments in that part of the world.

My first article ‘Remember Palestine’ was published in the Mirror newspaper in February 11, 1979. Janet Jagan, the editor of the newspaper at that time, and who was of Jewish decent encouraged me to keep writing about the horrific conditions under which Palestinians live.

Further, over the years prior to October 1992, I attended numerous international conferences and fraternal party congresses supporting the Palestinian cause. Much later as Guyana’s Foreign Minister at sessions of the UNGA, conferences of Non-Aligned Movement and G77 and China I supported resolutions favoring the cause of the Palestinian people denouncing Israel’s refusal to bend to international law and UN resolutions.

More recently, when I hear pronouncements from the Israeli military top brass declaring ; “The State of Israel has no choice but to turn Gaza into a place that is temporarily or permanently impossible to live in,” a reservist major general, Giora Eiland, wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth, an Israeli newspaper. “Creating a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a necessary means to achieve the goal.” He added, “Gaza will become a place where no human being can exist.” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, “We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly.” Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian declared that in Gaza, “there will be no electricity and no water. There will only be destruction. You wanted hell; you will get hell.”

I see no reason why the GPC should change its position now, eccentric or weird as it might be to those in sections of the media who hold a different view.

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 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.  17th-century English poet John Milton in his epic poem ‘Paradise Lost’ wrote; ‘’All choice is frightening, when one thinks about it: a terrifying liberty, unguided by a greater duty. Choices open some doors, while closing others.”

As the editorial demonstrated, the attitude among modern critics has often been one of condemnation of an approach along with a 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, 300,00 displaced from their homes as well as the forced evacuation of over one million Gazians while bombardment of Gaza continues on a daily basis.

Rashid Khalidi, a professor of modern Arab studies at Columbia University and a co-editor of The Journal of Palestine Studies was quoted saying; “Israel has ordered more than a million people to leave northern Gaza, presumably to prepare for an imminent ground offensive. Its military strategists appear to be planning the depopulation and reoccupation of at least part of an area home to around 2.3 million people — nearly half of them children — and most of them descended from people driven from their homes before and during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. We must understand that these are human beings at grave risk, not just numbers.”

At this point, it is necessary to ask on what basis do critics ground their contentions about what Hamas should have done, rather than what it did? What indication do the critics have that Palestinians would continue accepting the conditions of living for decades in an open air prison and for how much longer when all avenues are closed to a lasting democratic solution acceptable to the Israeli side?

As developments unfold in the ongoing war, one can only conclude that we are about to witness another attempt to rewrite the Palestinian people’s history and human existence.

Yours faithfully,

Clement J. Rohee

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• Clement J. Rohee, human, Israel and Gaza, Palestinian, Yedioth Ahronoth

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