GUYANA is president of the UN’s Security Council. In a vote last Thursday, Guyana abstained from a US-sponsored resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza. Guyana’s vote was in keeping with the long, long, long tradition in Guyana’s foreign policy of being independent since the first self-government administration in 1953 right up to the present.

Here are the words of Guyana’s President of the Security Council, Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett: “Contrary to media reports, this resolution does not call for an immediate ceasefire. Two wrongs cannot make a right and the Palestinian people should not be collectively punished and themselves held hostage for the crimes of others. If one were to read this resolution without background knowledge, it would be difficult to ascertain which party in this conflict is committing the atrocities in Gaza – atrocities which necessitated this draft resolution being put forward. In a resolution of 41 paragraphs, 2,036 words, the occupying power is mentioned once in the penultimate paragraph.”

Russia and China vetoed the resolution. Here are the words of the Russian representative: “We are not satisfied with anything which doesn’t call for an immediate ceasefire. At the coordination stage, almost all security council members expressed the view that the demand for an immediate ceasefire should not be conditional on the release of hostages or the condemnation of Hamas.”
The ambassador went on to state that the US-sponsored resolution was a hypocritical spectacle and was intended to throw a bone to American voters and persuading a domestic audience that the US administration was being even-handed in the crisis.

I refer to my column of Wednesday, March 20, 2024, “Netanyahu: In philosophy, something can be wrong yet be logical, I wrote the following: In the US, the Democratic Party is worried that Biden’s Gaza stance will cause him to lose election because millions, because of conscience, will not vote for Biden. So Biden sent Kamala Harris to instruct Netanyahu to call a cease fire. She was rebuffed. She reported back to Biden and two things emerged from the Harris revelation – one is that US will ignore Israel’s attitude and form a plank on the Mediterranean Sea to deliver massive food aid to Gaza and other is Schumer’s speech.”

The UN-sponsored resolution was greeted by approval by the world. People saw it as the final realisation by the US that Israel has gone too far and must be reined in. But it was all bound up with the domestic, electoral situation in the US. Its purpose was a continuation to show American voters that President Biden was being even handed.

The world did not know about the elusive and subtly deceiving aspects of the resolution until it was vetoed and Guyana’s Ambassador, Mrs. Birkett-Rodrigues spoke to the press. The world thought, and rightfully so, that the American paper called for an immediate ceasefire. But the Guyanese, Chinese and Russian representatives told the world that they voted the way they did because there was no call for an immediate ceasefire.

Mrs. Birkett-Rodrigues also said that Guyana abstained because it did not accept that the ceasefire should be tied to the release of hostages. This is a position that Hamas and the countries that support it say is unacceptable. If you have a ceasefire without it being permanent then what trump card the other side holds after the hostages are released and bombing starts again.

This is basic realpolitik in international negotiations that have existed for centuries. In negotiations to end a war, each side wants something and they want that something because they feel it is their trump card for a successful resolution. No country gives up its trump card in tough negotiations because to do so puts it at a disadvantage. Israel and the US want the release of the hostage for a six-week ceasefire. Hamas say it wants a permanent ceasefire before it does so.

For this reason, Qatar-sponsored talks on a ceasefire have failed. The two sides are diametrically opposed on the requirement for a ceasefire. Mrs. Birkett-Rodriques’ statement on the resolution is illuminating and parts of it are worth emphasising. She said that the atrocities committed in Gaza is the raison d’être for the resolution, how then in a resolution to stop the violence, there is no demand on Israel to halt the violence and the state committing the atrocities is only mentioned once in the second-to-last line on the document.

Here are the opening lines in the resolution: “…determine the imperative for an immediate and sustained ceasefire….” In the resolution, the UN is called upon to “determine the imperative.” This is a far, far removed from calling for an immediate ceasefire. Guyana stood tall in the UN last week. Guyanese should be proud of their country.