Since October 2023, Israel has been bombing Palestine relentlessly. They have also blocked aid and food from entering the Gaza Strip. Most recently, the UN declared that there is a man-made famine in Gaza. Within the last two years, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed.
And early into the genocide, Belize took a strong stance against it by suspending diplomatic ties with Israel and joining ICJ cases against the state. A small protest was also held in November 2023.
And last night, a group of activists organized the second "call to action" in order to gather those who want to do more to support Palestine and to create a space to discuss the atrocities.
We learned more about it at the event.
Alanna Rosado, Educator/Activist
"Today we had a meeting about Palestine, especially about Belize's connection to Palestine, specifically what we have done to show support on the international level and on the local level and what we can do in the future."
"This is something we should care about here in Belize because it is something I think we can relate to almost, the way that you can be worn down by a state or an entity that may want to control you or take your land. It's something we can relate to whether we're thinking about our territorial dispute with Guatemala or if we're thinking about the ways our own colonial systems prohibit us from being free."
"I'm really happy with the turn out here tonight. Of course what we're talking about are atrocities and tragedies but I somehow feel lighter knowing I'm in community with people who also care."
"I have seen the interest grow, whether it's personally through my own family. The way they have been speaking about this issue has definitely changed from October 7th 2023 to now but also a lot of people in here tonight have talked about that shift within themselves. I think many people find it hard to ignore that there is definitely an oppressed and an oppressor when it comes to the Zionist occupation and Palestine."
"We are looking forward to having more a bigger protests and actions so that will be something that we will advertise. This was meant to be something for a group of people who are likeminded and willing to come out on a Monday after work and we want to have more public events very soon and those will be publicized hopefully it will be very hard to miss, so for right now we're still in the planning stages but we're really looking forward to doing more."
