DDL must demonstrate wise judgment, compassion, and transformational leadership and end partnership with Israeli company

Jun 02, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

The ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people by the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Force continues even as rulings of the International Court of Justice found credible the intent of genocide by Israel and in its most recent ruling ordered Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in Rafah which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”

To date, more than 36,171 Palestinians have been murdered, the majority of them women and children, 81,420 have been wounded many fatally, herded into areas of safety, then with diabolical intent bombed. According to media reports, Israeli forces are continuing to attack Rafah amid growing outrage over its bombing of a tent camp for displaced Palestinians which killed a further 45 people including children. This neighbourhood had been specifically identified as a safe’ humanitarian area” in Rafah.

By all intents and purposes, the State of Israel has shown by its actions its intent to ethnic cleanse and annihilate as much of the Palestinian population as possible.

It is in this context that the DDL partnership with the Israeli LR group of companies must be viewed. Repeated calls have been made to DDL to divest itself of this company as Palestinians in Gaza are subjected to more and more atrocities, war crimes and unprecedented gross human right violations.

Letters and statements have called repeatedly on DDL to end this partnership. In April 2024, letters hand delivered to the Chairman and Board of Directors of DDL articulated that the governments of both Guyana and Israel played significant roles in facilitating and brokering the LR Group of Companies deal and as such it could not simply be viewed as a private business partnership.

DDL was alerted that they were a focus of the Guyana Boycott Divest and Sanction (BDS) campaign because of their partnership with the LR Group- an Israeli company supported by the Israeli Government. As patriotic and peace-loving Guyanese, the BDS Guyana Group said they were saddened, appalled, and ashamed that DDL- a leading Guyanese producer of many products is continuing to do business with an entity like the LR Group, with its clear and numerous links to the Apartheid and genocide-perpetuating Israeli State.

In April 2024, at the DDL AGM meeting, a shareholder asked the Chairman & Board of Directors why in the face of the Israeli genocide of Palestinian people DDL was engaging in a partnership with a company with links to the State of Israel and was this an ethical way for a company to behave in view of the overwhelming global and local condemnation of Israel.

DDL’s Chairman unfortunately was unable to give an adequate response and in fact defended its partnership with the LR Company saying that shareholders were benefitting and the LR Company was technologically the best to partner with. DDL’s defense of profits over people and its refusal to end its partnership with the LR Group of Companies is most troubling as by association it can be said to be potentially benefitting from the genocide of Palestinians due to the close alignment between this Israeli company and the Government of Israel.

We urge DDL, to demonstrate wise judgment, compassion, and transformational leadership by immediately ending this misguided partnership with the LR Group of Apartheid Israel. It is time for a radically different way of doing things. No longer can profit continue to take precedence over human rights and well-being. We invite DDL to join with us and millions of people globally who are building a new world where ethics, rights, and justice inform leadership, decision-making, and actions.

We also call on all Guyanese of conscience to join with us in boycotting DDL products due to this partnership. Further information can be found on BDS Guyana Instagram page.

Yours sincerely,

BDS Guyana

Apartheid Israel, DDL, Palestinian, Rafah

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DDL must demonstrate wise judgment, compassion, and transformational leadership and end partnership with Israeli company

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