JAMAICA | PNP lashes Govt's failure to support UN Vote to Protect Civilians in Gaza

KINGSTON, Jamaica. October 28, 2023- The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) says it has taken note of Jamaica’s failure to vote in support of United Nations resolution calling for legal requirements and humanitarian Protection of Civilians in Gaza conditions to be upheld in Gaza.

A statement from the PNP said the resolution introduced by Jordan in the United Nations General Assembly, called for the protection of civilians and the upholding of legal and humanitarian obligations in Gaza during the current period of unrest in that region. However, Jamaica abstained and did not support the resolution. 

This unfortunate episode gives the impression that the Government of Jamaica is not interested in standing in solidarity with the suffering Palestinian civilians. 

"We hope that this impression will be promptly and definitively dispelled by the Government. There should be no recurrence of this major failure in our foreign policy conduct," the PNP statement said.

The resolution was adopted with 120 countries in favour, 14 against, and 45 abstaining. But despite Jamaica’s role as the chair of the CARICOM Foreign Ministers caucus, it failed to vote in support of the resolution, in contrast to CARICOM'S agreed position. 

"This absence of Jamaica’s representative from this crucial vote is a new low in Jamaican foreign policy history," the Opposition party lamented, pointing out that  the resolution called for the protection of civilians and the upholding of legal and humanitarian obligations in Gaza during the current period of unrest in that region.

"The Government’s excuse for Jamaica’s abstention in the vote is unsatisfactory. The Minister stated in a release that consultations did not conclude in time for Jamaica to participate.

"This explanation lacks merit, as consultations should have been timed to enable Jamaica to vote in favour of the resolution," the PNP said in its statement.

This vote marked the UN General Assembly’s first significant response to the humanitarian tragedy resulting from Israel’s collective punishment of the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza. Jamaica’s non-participation in support of such a significant resolution is inexcusable.

This unfortunate episode gives the impression that the Government of Jamaica is not interested in standing in solidarity with the suffering Palestinian civilians. 

 We hope that this impression will be promptly and definitively dispelled by the Government. There should be no recurrence of this major failure in our foreign policy conduct.

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