On April 19, amidst what Barbados Prime Minister described as the world’s first televised genocide in Gaza, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kerrie Symmonds announced the intention of the government to recognise the State of Palestine.With this announcement, Barbados became the 140th member of the United Nations to recognize the State of Palestine and the 11th member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to do so. The Caribbean Against Apartheid in Palestine (CAAP), an advocacy group for Palestine based in Barbados, now in its 10th year, welcomed the news and stated it was long overdue. CAAP’s Secretary Lalu Hanuman said: “It was a long time in coming, but we have at last got to the mountain top. The Palestinian people have been struggling for their freedom from a racist colonial settler movement since Britain’s Balfour Declaration in 1917. They have endured countless massacres over the years from the Zionists, culminating in the current genocide in Gaza.”Barbados’ decision was quickly followed by Jamaica. They announced on April 22 that the government of Jamaica has taken the decision to recognise the State of Palestine. In her comments, Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith said: “The decision is aligned with Jamaica’s strong commitment to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, which seek to engender mutual respect and peaceful co-existence among states, as well as the recognition of the rights of peoples to self-determination.”

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