Free Palestine March held in Belize City
In a powerful display of solidarity, supporters of Palestine today gathered in Belize City for the Free Palestine March, where the Palestinian flag flew alongside the Belizean flag. Led by prominent figures such as Belize’s former Foreign Affairs Ministers Assad Shoman and Godfrey Smith, the march aimed to advocate for peace in Palestine. Amidst the global call for a ceasefire, Belizean leaders expressed their concerns and hopes for a lasting resolution to the crisis. Hipolito Novelo was there and has the following report.
Hipolito Novelo, Reporting
In Belize City, the Palestinian flag alongside the Belizean flag as residents march for peace in Palestine. Leading the crowd was Belize’s former Foreign Affairs Ministers Assad Shoman and Godfrey Smith. In the crowd, former UDP ministers Anthony “Boots” Martinez and Michael Finnegan. Former Prime Minister Dean Barrow joined the march as well. Several members of Cabinet were present, including Prime Minister John Briceño whose government severed diplomatic ties with the Israeli government, calling for a ceasefire.
Hipolito Novelo
“At what point will the Government of Belize restore relations with Israel following a complete ceasefire?”
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“Well, once we believe that there’s a ceasefire, we because it’s not a permanent. It’s just a temporary, a freezing of the diplomatic relations between our both countries, but we plan in the future to be able to continue to have diplomatic relations with Israel.”
And today news emerging from Israel is that its Cabinet has granted approval for a deal to release hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza, set to commence on Thursday morning. But, Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa says that a temporary ceasefire is unacceptable.
Kareem Musa
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
“It is time for a cease occupation, and it is time for a cease genocide. Cease apartheid. There can be no peace if you do not cease Israel. And so it is important for us as Belizeans to stand here in solidarity with all those families on both sides of the divide, not just Palestinians, but Israeli lives that have been lost as well. There are no winners in this war, and so it is important that the superpowers call upon Israel and to demand that there be a ceasefire now. It cannot be a temporary ceasefire. It cannot be that I will not kill you at eight a. m. This morning, but I will decide to kill you at eight p.m. tonight. That is a humanitarian pause. That is what they call it. And so it cannot be a temporary ceasefire. It must be a permanent ceasefire if we are to find this two state solution.”
At least a hundred more Palestinians were killed in attacks overnight and this morning around hospitals and refugee camps in Gaza. The death toll in Gaza has grown to be more than fourteen thousand. Ambassador Shoman says the Israeli government, backed by the USA, is committing genocide.
Assad Shoman
Assad Shoman, Former Attorney General
“Israel is not a Jew. Remember that? Israel is not a Jew. Jewish people all over the world are up and saying that what the Israeli state is doing is not in their name. Not in our name they say. Why? Because they know and we know that it’s not Jews that is doing this. It’s not Jews. We can’t blame Jews for what is going on. If that were so, it would be terrible. You’d say, what? The Jews are killing so many children. No. It’s not. It’s a state. A Zionist state. An outlaw state. And now the Pope says, a terrorist state.”
Meanwhile, the head of UNICEF has characterized the Gaza Strip as the “most dangerous place” for children presently, highlighting the distressing statistic of over one hundred children deaths daily for weeks.And for weeks, gruesome images coming out of Gaza.
Prime Minister John Briceño
“It breaks my heart. I stop watching it. I literally feel like the tears want to come out. So I don’t watch the images anymore. I listen to the story. I read about it but I’m when you see a man just Screaming out in pain because you have his baby in his hand. I mean, how could that not touch you? I mean, I can’t I can’t see that. I just can’t Imagine the horror that the Palestinian people are going through.”
The forty-seven-day war has displaced roughly one point five million Palestinians, destroyed much of the territory’s infrastructure and sparked a desperate humanitarian crisis. Several countries have called for a ceasefire and protests and marches have taken place across the world. But will the one held today in Belize have any impact?
Louis Zabaneh
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education
“We’re not standing here to say that we want Israel to disappear. On the contrary, as Prime Minister just said, we admire the works that Israel has done, but they have broken international law, and especially us in Belize, with our experience and our history, we need to stand up to say that these things need to stop immediately. So we’re not in any way justifying what Hamas has done.We’re saying that if we want to have lasting solution, it has to be surrounded around peace, not about creating more hatred. And that’s the message that I believe we’re sending from Belize. We want to see peace. We want to see prosperity for all the people living in the Middle East, in particular, the Palestinians and the Israelis.”
Twenty-five-year-old, Hamed Yassin, is Lebanese. He’s been living in Belize for about twenty-years. He is part of a group of Lebanese migrants who joined today’s march.He stands with the Palestinian people.
Hamed Yassin
Hamed Yassin, Lebanese
“The Palestinians have been through a lot. And I feel the least we could do is raise our voices to raise awareness to people that don’t know the situation. The thing that happened in the 7th of October it’s just a part of what’s happening. The war has been going for years and years and the Palestinians have been through a lot and we believe that it needs to stop. This thing needs to end. The Palestinians, it has been years, they’ve been suffering children, women, men, innocent people. So we want to encourage people to raise their voices. To stop the genocide and the violence happening.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that war is not over despite the agreement
Reporting for News Five, I am Hipolito Novelo.
