During Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Al Malki’s recent visit to Guyana,

he thanked this country for its support and solidarity in the long struggle for Palestine’s right to establish a state of its own and also extended an invitation to President Donald Ramotar to visit Palestine.
“My main purpose of this visit is to extend our thanks and appreciation as Palestine, the Palestinian State, the leadership and the Palestinian people to Guyana, the President, the people and the government for their strong committed position in support of justice around the world, but also justice in Palestine,” Al Malki declared.
This gesture by the Palestinian Foreign Minister is not surprising but rather logical and predictable based on the historical stance of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), in and out of government.
The records will show that the PPP, ever since the Palestinians were driven out of their homeland, always took the uncompromising position that the Palestinian people has an inalienable right to establish a state of their own and clearly, consistently and publicly articulated this position locally and internationally. Notably, this was when most others in this region, for opportunistic and other reasons, chose to remain quiet on the issue.
The PPP government’s support and solidarity with the Palestinian struggle was reiterated and reassured during President Ramotar’s inaugural address at the Seventh Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September last, in New York, where he reaffirmed solidarity to the government and people of a country locked in sectarian conflict with Israel since the beginning of the mid 20th century.
The Guyanese Head of State had underlined Guyana’s strong support for the peaceful settlement of the Israeli – Palestinian conflict as a prerequisite to lasting peace in the Middle East.
“The Palestinian people deserve the same rights as people everywhere: to live in dignity, security, freedom and independence, at peace with all their neighbours, and with the right to move freely within their homeland,” President Ramotar said.
Palestine’s bid for Non-Member State Observer Status in the UN was backed by the Government of Guyana and approved in a historic UN session last November, when 138 countries voted in favour of the resolution.
The Palestinian issue exposes the hypocrisy and double standards of the West, which speaks so much about democracy and human rights and projects itself as the bulwark of freedom because the Palestinian people have been denied a homeland for over five decades now, thanks to the efforts of those who “champion the cause of freedom and democracy.”  The fact of the matter is that the West equates democracy and freedom with their self interests. When their self interests are guaranteed that, for them, is equivalent to democracy and human rights.
A resolution of the Palestinian issue is not in the interest of the West and therefore they will do everything possible to ensure the flames remain flickering for as long as they can. Profits for the military industrial complex of a major western power takes priority over the suffering and agony of Palestinians. That is the reality.
When Israel slaughters defenceless Palestinian women and children there is hardly a word of condemnation from the “champions of democracy and human rights.” However, when Palestinians retaliate or try to defend themselves the same “champions of democracy and human rights” refer to them as terrorists in the loudest possible tone.
Everytime a resolution of the Palestinian issue is apparent there is some wedge that is thrown in the ring. The closest and most optimistic opportunity of resolving the conflict was during the Rabin/Arafat engagements and just when it seemed that an agreement would be clinched Rabin was assassinated. This certainly could not be a coincidence. It had to be a deliberate ploy to ensure there was no agreement and this certainly had to be engineered by the “champions of democracy and human rights.” A few years after Arafat died in mysterious circumstances.
In the meantime the Palestinian people, including women and children, continue to live in suffering and indignity.
It is time the world stand up in one voice and bring an end to this decade-old human tragedy by standing up, as Guyana is doing, to the “champions of democracy and human rights.”