But Belizeans will have a chance to voice their support next week Wednesday at the March for Peace in Palestine. We told you yesterday that two former PM's, Dean Barrow and Said Musa, as well as two former FM's, Assad Shoman and Godfrey Smith, have organized a march through the streets of Belize City. While Barrow won't be able to attend in person due limited mobility caused by his back issues, today he told us why Belizeans who feel strongly about the atrocities being committed should come out on Wednesday.
Dean Barrow, Former Prime Minister
"It is precisely the fact that Israel's bombardment of Gaza, the carnage that it is perpetuating is so unrelenting, so unceasing that it constitutes a requirement for people of conscience to try to do as much as they possibly can to register a protest, which, as it gains more global momentum, will perhaps succeed in causing the big powers that have influence over Israel to insist that Israel should call a halt to what is going on."
Courtney Menzies:
"What would you say to those people who are like, well, this won't change anything?"
Dean Barrow, Former Prime Minister
"Well, that even if that were true, it's not an excuse for doing nothing, that for the sake of one's own humanity, one ought to try to do something, even if one recognizes that, because we're such a small country, our efforts won't have the impact, won't have the force that efforts elsewhere might have, nevertheless, our efforts will count for something. There is the fact that already, what the government did in suspending diplomatic relations with Israel has made the news internationally, I saw it on Aljazeera, I saw it on- there are various media reports of what the government has done, Israel has reacted. So it shows that despite our small size in this particular context, our voice and our actions do count for something."
"What we are doing is not isolated, all over the world there are these marches for peace, there are these protests, and I think if we can add to that mass that is developing, that is something that we ought to do, that is something that will count, and the people who participate in the march will be able to feel that they have made an important contribution on a matter that is absolutely horrendous."
