Former Foreign Minister Assad Shoman Speaks Out on Middle East Crisis

Former Foreign Minister, Assad Shoman, has been vocal on the crisis in the Middle East.  The war has its body count in the tens of thousands, and many acts committed against the Palestines have gone outside the rules of war.  For many here in Belize, the entire situation may seem unimportant or irrelevant to our everyday life.  Shoman, however, believes that it is crucial that Belizeans and everyone around the world understand what is happening with the Israelis and the Palestines.

This round of attacks against the Palestines began on October 7 and continues unabated.  According to Ambassador Shoman, there are talks about ceasefire, but it might not bring an end to the tragedy.

Assad Shoman, Ambassador: “What the state of Israel is doing is important for Belize very much so because it violates the basic principles that we believe in and that made Belize possible, that made it possible for us to become independent. Number one the right to self determination. Number two the belief that you cannot in this day and age become entitled to land by force, by the use of force. Number three it is wrong to occupy and oppress a people. It’s important for us because as you know we have this threat from our neighbor to do exactly that to defy our right to self determination, to defy the basic international laws that we depend on for our very survival and it’s important to know that Israel has always supported not just Guatemala but a lot of repressive regimes all over the world but specifically in the case of Guatemala in the 70s which was the important decade for us that was for us win or lose Belize we could have lost it, we won it but it was in the balance. We didn’t have to win and when the United States stopped, under Jimmy Carter, stopped selling arms or providing arms to Guatemala because it was murdering its indigenous people it was Israel that stepped in provided arms to them, built arms factories for them, gave them military intelligence, set up their intelligence systems all of that would have helped Guatemala to invade and to take over Belize if we hadn’t taken other measures to stop it. So it’s important to know that and it’s important also to know that what is happening now, what is playing out is almost a testing ground for how this world can be rearranged or can work out. If Israel can get away with what it’s trying to do now which is to eliminate the natives, get rid of them nad establish itself on the land and not face any consequences for it in fact be supported, be praised by countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and get a lot of support from all the western countries.”