Open Letter to the Heads of Government of CARICOM:Israel Is A Pariah State And Must Be Treated As Such

By Assembly of Caribbean People

Photos: CARICOM\Zeteo\Wikimedia Commons

The following letter was sent by the Assembly of Caribbean People, and numerous other Caribbean organizations, to CARICOM calling on them to address the grave human rights issue of genocide that is taking place in Gaza–and to declare Israel a pariah state.

Honourable Heads,

We the undersigned appreciate that there are very many matters on the agenda of your Annual Summit. These of necessity pertain to the functioning and/or strengthening of CARICOM such as the implementation of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) as well as issues affecting Member States – the situation in Haiti; the impact of climate change; crime and security; and policies and decisions that are made by actors external to CARICOM – trade and tariff “wars”, immigration, among many others. There is one issue, however, that does not directly impact the lives of citizens of CARICOM but which ought to be of great concern to everyone given that it goes to the root of our understanding as Caribbean people of “humanity”.

We refer, of course to the continuing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza by Israel, its illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem and that state’s intensification of its policies of apartheid against the entire Palestinian people.

Honourable Heads, a number of Open Letters have been sent to you on this issue, one dated 2024 February 24 from Trinidad and Tobago In Solidarity with Palestine, which groups a number of important civil society organisations in Trinidad and Tobago; and a second dated 2024 July 24 from several umbrella and local civil society organisations from the region including The Assembly of Caribbean People.

Honourable Heads, the facts are not in doubt, are well known to your good selves and thus we need not restate them here. Suffice it to say that all the major international bodies – the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice have all found that the state of Israel has committed crimes against humanity and genocide and is operating apartheid in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. There are as well many non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that have documented gross violations of the basic human rights of Palestinians and war crimes committed by Israel.

Honourable Heads, the UN General Assembly has passed by overwhelming majorities Resolutions on this issue. CARICOM Member States have voted in favour of UNGA Resolution A/ES-10/L.31/Rev.1, co-sponsored by Guyana, which for the first time in 42 years has demanded targeted and lawful sanctions against Israel. The ICJ and ICC have handed down judgements and the ICC has issued arrest warrants for the key leaders of Israel to stand trial for their crimes. Of course, Israel and its fascist leaders have thumbed their noses at the international community and the bodies that have been established to deal with states and leaders who wantonly violate every norm of international law and principles and who engage in actions that run counter to the established values of humanity. That Israel has done so is, we have no doubt, due to the support and succour given to them by powerful nations of the global north and the United States in particular. Thus Israel has received hundreds of millions of USD in financial and military support since it began its genocide of the people in Gaza.

This is not the first occasion in history when a state and its leaders have acted in this manner and had support from powerful nations. We cite one example with which we are all very familiar – Apartheid South Africa. In that situation, those in the world who stood for justice and humanity came together and took a very principled position – Apartheid South Africa is a pariah state and must be treated as such. That international solidarity contributed immensely to the eventual ending of apartheid in South Africa.

Honourable Heads, we the undersigned are of the very firm belief that Israel is a pariah state and must be treated as such. Since the Open Letters to your good selves which were sent in 2024, the situation in Gaza has worsened drastically. We know that you are aware of the painful details: horrendous suffering as Palestinians starve or are killed trying to get a little bit of food; the constant bombings that kill scores of people – women and children especially daily; the violent attacks, displacement of Palestinians from their homes and farms and the destruction of their property by “settlers” and the Israeli military in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. And, then of course there was the unprovoked war of aggression on Iran by the Israeli military and backed up by the US.

In this circumstance, the rest of the world cannot sit on the side lines as passive onlookers. We must take action to  avoid any complicity with Israel’s crimes, and register our abhorrence at what is taking place and to do what we can to register our position that Israel is a pariah state. To this end, we the undersigned call on Honourable Heads of CARICOM to:

1. In line with international legal obligations, impose targeted, lawful sanctions on Israel, including comprehensive military embargoes, and prohibit selling flags to vessels carrying arms, dual-use items or other military equipment to Israel, given that these would contribute to Israel’s atrocities and crimes against humanity. In this regard, we congratulate the Government of Antigua and Barbuda for taking action and issuing a prohibition directive with consequences. However, after the vessel went dark it was confirmed to have delivered 10 tons of military explosives on 4^th June to Israel, using an Antigua and Barbuda flag. Antigua and Barbuda must stand by their directive and hold the company accountable under international law. 
2. Suspend all sporting and cultural relations with Israel as was done with apartheid South Africa.
3. Immediately suspend diplomatic relations with the state of Israel and consequently revoke the diplomatic recognition of its Ambassador to various member states.
4. Endorse and openly support accountability measures against Israel at international courts, including South Africa’s case against Israel under the Genocide Convention before the International Court of Justice (ICJ); and the case against Israel and several of its leaders at the International Criminal Court.
5. Following the ruling of the ICJ on the “Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”, immediately end all other forms of complicity with Israel’s illegal military occupation, its ever more brutal genocide in Gaza, and the root cause of all this – Israel’s 76-year-old regime of settler-colonialism and apartheid – and work within the UN General Assembly to re-activate the UN Special Committee against Apartheid to help eradicate Israel’s regime of apartheid and hold those responsible accountable
6. Suspend all trade, economic and financial dealings with Israel and, ensure that no company – state or private – registered in a CARICOM Member State is engaged in trading with or has other economic or financial dealing with the state of Israel or Israeli companies.
7. Support the expulsion of Israel from international fora including the UNGA and other UN organs, the Olympics, FIFA having regard to the unequivocal judgments of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice with respect to Israel’s violations of international laws.
8. Cancel visa waiver programmes as other states have done and install proper checks on Israeli passport holders to CARICOM states. Almost all CARICOM member states allow Israeli citizens to enter visa free to their country. The Immigration Departments, through the appropriate procedures, must deny a visa to, and if found to be in the member state deport, any visitor with links to the ongoing genocide, war crimes, or crime against humanity in Gaza, regardless of diplomatic status.
9. Participate in the Emergency Meeting of The Hague Group to be held in Bogota, Colombia, on July 15 and 16^th 2025 and join as members of this gathering of states, which have united to take coordinated legal and diplomatic measures against Israel’s violations of international law.

Honourable Heads, this was the policy approach taken when dealing with apartheid South Africa. The same must now be applied to the pariah state of Israel. In the words of the late South African Freedom Fighter – Nelson Mandela – “But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians”

Honourable Heads, we are, respectfully,

Yours Truly,

Assembly of Caribbean People

David Abdulah

For and on Behalf of the Regional Executive Committee

1. David Abdulah, Trinidad & Tobago                      6. Hilda Guerrero, Puerto Rico

2. David Denny, Barbados                                          7. Cuban chapter of ACP, Cuba

3. Camille Chalmers, Haiti                                         8. Claudette Etnel, Suriname

4. Robert Sae, Martinique

5. Pedro Franco, Dominican Republic 

And the undersigned Organisations and Individuals

Trinbagonians for Palestine, Trinidad & Tobago

Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine, Barbados

Jamaica Left Alliance for National Democracy and Socialism (LANDS), Jamaica

Curaçao for Palestine, Curaçao

Kòrsou Kousa Prome, Curaçao

Caribbean Freedom Collective, Caribbean region

Cayman Palestine Solidarity Network, Cayman Islands

SXM in Solidarity with Palestine, St. Maarten, Dutch Caribbean

Intersect Antigua-Barbuda, Antigua & Barbuda

Equality Bahamas, The Bahamas

Movimiento Dominicano de Solidaridad con Palestina, Dominican Republic

Haiti Support Group, Guyana

Red Thread, Guyana

Association of Haitian Nationals in Guyana, Guyana

Guyana Solidarity Movement with Cuba, Guyana

Caribbean Regional Network

Justice Institute, Guyana

Integrated Policy Research Institute, Guyana

The Joint Trade Union Movement, Trinidad and Tobago

The Black Agenda Project, Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Freedom Project, Trinidad & Tobago

Trinidad & Tobago Farmers’ Union, Trinidad and Tobago

Network of NGOs For the Advancement of Women, Trinidad and Tobago

Women Working for Social Progress (Working Women), Trinidad and Tobago

New National Vision, Trinidad and Tobago

Movement for Social Justice, Trinidad and Tobago

Concerned Muslims of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago Friends of Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago

Caribbean Pan African and Indigenous Movement, Trinidad and Tobago

Organisation for the Victory of the People (OVP), Guyana

Vanda Radzik, GUYANA

Kathleen Whalen, GUYANA

Josephine Whitehead, GUYANA

Nesha Haniff, GUYANA

Raphael Singh, GUYANA

Wintress White, GUYANA

Joy Marcus, GUYANA

Halima Khan, GUYANA

Susan Collymore, GUYANA

Patricia Sheerattan Bisnauth, GUYANA

Jocelyn Dow, GUYANA

Elizabeth Hughes, GUYANA

Nigel Westmaas, UNITED STATES/ GUYANA

Charlene Wilkinson, GUYANA

Jeff Alene Desgranges, HAITI

Linnette Vassell, JAMAICA

Shirleena Nageer, Guyana

Marion Bethel, BAHAMAS

Honor Ford Smith, JAMAICA/CANADA

Esther Figueroa, JAMAICA

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