By Adnan Hameed
TWA
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates of the State of Palestine welcomes the decision of the Republic of Barbados to recognize the State of Palestine on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
This step reflects Barbados’s keenness to support the Palestinian people and their inalienable and legitimate rights in their land and homeland, which is consistent with its positions in support of the right of all peoples to self-determination, without exception, in line with the principles of international law and the relevant resolutions of international legitimacy.
According to the Press Note, The Ministry considers that the decision of the friendly Republic of Barbados, in these times, comes as a contribution from countries that believe in the two-state solution as an option that represents the will and international legitimacy to save this solution, which is being systematically destroyed as a result of the accelerating Israeli policies and plans, especially through the continuation of the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip and the expansion of settlement. The invasion of cities, towns and villages in the West Bank, in addition to the policy of Judaization and displacement and the open imposition of the apartheid system, in a continuous attempt to impose new realities and prevent the possibility of embodying the Palestinian state on the ground.
The Ministry calls on all countries that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine to take this step as soon as possible, in confirmation of the international community’s insistence on ending the suffering and injustice to which the Palestinian people have been exposed for more than seventy years, and restoring all their legitimate and inalienable rights, first and foremost their right to self-determination. In its independent, sovereign state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
It is worth noting that Barbados is a country in the Caribbean basin. It was a member of the British Commonwealth but left it and became a republic in 2021. It is one of the Caribbean countries whose recognition we were looking forward to.
Its recognition was included in our plan during the last five years, and it has had good bilateral relations with the State of Palestine during the last decade, but these relations have always lacked recognition.
After this recognition, there are now 3 Caribbean countries that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine: The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, and Jamaica.
