PPP/C in solidarity with Palestinians

The People’s Progres-sive Party/Civic (PPP/C), the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) and other organisations staged a protest outside the U.S. embassy in Georgetown on Wednesday in light of that country’s support of Israel’s bombardment of Palestine.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who was at the picketing exercise, said the protest is in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
“We are registering our protest as a political party against the crimes against humanity which are being committed every single day in Gaza, and the Americans are either condoning or lending support to the atrocities which are taking place. They are contrary to law; they are contrary to decency; they are contrary to every humanitarian principle known to man. And therefore, we condemn these actions as a working-class party, as a party which stands on the side of constitutional rights and freedoms,” Nandlall explained.
PPP/C member Navin Chanderpaul expressed disgust at the U.S. support for Israel, noting that while the U.S. reports that there is a truce or ceasefire in the making, they are, on the other hand, showing signals that encourage Israel to justify its brutal actions against Palestine, by saying “they have a right to retaliate”.
“The purpose of this exercise is to draw attention both to the Guyanese public and the U.S. presence here that these signs of encouragement must cease, and instead there are a number of issues that must be addressed,” Chanderpaul reiterated.
“These issues are Israel needs to stop the senseless killings, lands that rightfully belong to the Palestinians need to be returned to them, and that Palestine needs to be recognised as an independent state.”
Guyana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) President Komal Chand, who was part of the exercise, stated, “We feel that we are duty-bound to give our support and solidarity to the Palestinian people.
“Over the past few days, many of them have been slaughtered, even children, women and the elderly… We do not agree with the explanation given by President Obama that Israel is acting in self-defence… that explanation we believe is senseless; is callous.”
Though the purpose of the protest was to express dissatisfaction with the U.S’s support of Israel, the protest seeks to demonstrate to certain local elements how peaceful picketing ought to be done.
“I would like to take this opportunity to say this is how protest actions are supposed to be done.
You see how many people are out here and there is no violence; there is no fire; there is no burning of roads. This is how we protest. We got the message across and we stay within the confines of the law,” Nandlall said.