By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

With this decision, Trinidad and Tobago joined 141 other countries that have formally recognized Palestine.

The government of Trinidad and Tobago has announced its decision to formally recognize the State of Palestine.

“As recommended by the Minister of Foreign and CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Affairs, Cabinet has determined that the formal recognition of Palestine by the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago will assist in the achievement of a lasting peace by strengthening the growing international consensus on the issue of Palestinian statehood,” the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.

Thank you Trinidad & Tobago 🇵🇸🇹🇹 https://t.co/GMorvOC8FO

— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) May 3, 2024

With this decision, Trinidad and Tobago joined 141 other countries that have formally recognized Palestine.

The statement emphasized that Trinidad and Tobago has “a long history of principled support for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.”

The government advocates “a two-State solution” to the conflict as “This is our consistent foreign policy position, which is founded on Trinidad and Tobago’s respect for and adherence to international law and to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

“This support has been consistently demonstrated through the endorsement by Trinidad and Tobago of key resolutions on Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA),” the statement said.

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UN Resolutions

Such resolutions, the statement added, “include Resolution 67/19, which accorded Palestine Non-Member Observer State status in the UN General Assembly, and the annual resolutions of the UNGA on the Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources and the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine.”

Since the October 7 resistance operation, Trinidad and Tobago also supported resolutions adopted at the Emergency Special Sessions of the UNGA held on October 27 and December 10, 2023, on the protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations, it said.

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‘Moral, Just’ Decision

At a post-cabinet press briefing on October 26, Prime Minister Keith Rowley reiterated the country’s support of the two-state solution.

“That is our position, war or no war, because we believe it is the only option, of all the options available, that provides any possibility for a recession of the hostility and the hatred to be replaced by peaceful coexistence,” Rowley said, according to the statement.

“Recognition of Palestine is moral and just and demonstrates Trinidad and Tobago’s acknowledgement of and support for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian People,” the Foreign Ministry stressed.

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Jamaica

Last month, Jamaica announced its decision to officially recognize the State of Palestine, following discussions in the Cabinet, the Anadolu news agency reported.

“Jamaica continues to advocate for a two-state solution as the only viable option to resolve the longstanding (Israeli-Palestinian) conflict, guarantee the security of Israel and uphold the dignity and rights of Palestinians,” Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith, adding that “by recognizing the State of Palestine, Jamaica strengthens its advocacy towards a peaceful solution”.

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Twelve member states of the CARICOM voted in favor of a UN General Assembly resolution that supported “the ongoing efforts of the UN towards a two-state solution as the best way to achieve comprehensive peace, security and tranquility between Israel and Palestine.”

“The ongoing harsh conditions under which the Palestinians live in veritable colonialism and Israel’s sense of insecurity will contribute to a cycle of violence until those realities are definitively addressed,” CARICOM said in a statement.

Ongoing Genocide

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 34,622 Palestinians have been killed, and 77,867 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

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The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

(The Palestine Chronicle)