Former Leaders Urge Church Intervention in Israel Ceasefire Call

Five former government leaders are calling on the Evangelical Churches to join the call for a ceasefire in Israel.  The call was expressed in a statement, asking the churches to call on Israel to the stop the slaughter that has destroyed tens of thousands of innocent civilians.  The call came yesterday via a statement from former Prime Ministers, Said Musa and Dean Barrow, as well as former Foreign Ministers Eamon Courtenay, Assad Shoman and Godfrey Smith.  In the statement, the five men says that the recent order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has vindicated Belize’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Israel.  While the ICJ did not order for a ceasefire, it did ‘order Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; to ensure with immediate effect that its military does not commit any such acts; to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide; and to take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in Gaza.’  In the very same statement, the men expressed admiration for the Republic of South Africa to stand up against Israel and take them to the ICJ for the crime of genocide.