Belizean in Israel Continues Tour and Prepares to Return Home
Voice of: Shelly Usher
Usher and her group have since travelled further north of Israel. They have already scheduled flights to leave the country. Usher told us that many of the tourist sites are currently closed and Israeli citizens are being called to join their army reserves. And, for the remainder of their stay, her group is being updated as to the status of the conflict.
Voice of: Shelly Usher, Belmopan Resident
“Then they gave us permission after an hour and a half that we can leave. So we got on our bus and got out of Tel Aviv immediately. We went up to the Sea of Galilee area where it was calmer. It is a tourist area and we continued with our tour up there. There, if you are touring Israel, it looks like nothing happened. Everybody continued with business. The only way you know something is wrong is because a lot of the tour sites are not opened and that is because a lot of the tours coming into Israel are cancelled now and they are drafting people for the reserve. They are drafting, we know somebody nineteen-years-old that they called in. Our first tour guide was called in. we had to get a second tour guide. So they are drafting people. So that is what is happening and some of the tourists are closed down because the tourists are not coming in, the people are not coming in the way they planned. People are canceling, they are afraid. But we are going around, doing our thing with caution. The Belize consulate reached out to me as well so I asked questions about what is happening, because a lot of rumors going around that are not true. So I check with them to see what is happening. We have friends in the US Embassy, because our group consist of twenty American citizens and us Belizeans. We are all friends.”
Eamon Courtenay, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said on Twitter “Belize regrets the hostilities between Hamas and Israel and calls for an immediate de-escalation… We call for a Palestinian state with all rights including east Jerusalem as its capital and the right of return”. The United Democratic Party has also issued a statement on the war. The release says in part “the United Democratic Party and the people of Belize condemn the despicable murderous acts of war by terrorist organization Hamas that has led to over six hundred Israelis murdered and regrettably three hundred and fifty Arabs killed in retaliatory strikes. While we pray for a two state solution that sees a Jewish State and Arab State living side by side in peace, the means by which this is achieved must never be murder and terrorism”.
