And we also asked the former prime minister for his views on the press releases issued by both the Belize Council of Churches and the National Evangelical Association of Belize.
In regards to the former, he said he found their release more measured than that of NEAB's, which he describe as being "extreme."
Barrow commented on the Council of Churches concern about what the government's diplomatic measures against Israel may mean for Belizeans, and also spoke about what, in his view, is Evangelical Christians' perplexing devotion to Israel despite the violence it has caused in Gaza.
Dean Barrow, Former Prime Minister
"All I understand them to be saying, well, but we think when you suspend relations, you then lose the ability to exercise suasion regarding Israel via diplomatic channels, which is true, but the answer to that is that in any event, no diplomatic suasion has worked to this point in time, everyday that passes, the carnage grows worse, the atrocities grow worse, and so given that there are limited options for a small country like Belize, the severing or the suspension of diplomatic relations with Israel is what's readily available to us, it's part of our toolbox which only contains a limited number of implements, if you will."
"If you're going to weigh things in the balance, any disadvantage that the Bishop sees resulting from the suspension of diplomatic relations with Israel is far outweighed by the moral force of the position that the government has taken. Where NEAB is concerned…"
"The evangelicals here are like the evangelicals in the US. They have blinders on when it comes to Israel, for reasons that they seek to explain but for reasons which in my view absolutely cannot justify their position, I don't know how they square this reflexive unyielding devotion to Israel with what is happening in Gaza. They fail to make a distinction, I believe, Pastor Lance, a member of NEAB said, well, you know, in a sense, Christianity must be seen as having been born out of Judaism, I'm not quite sure about that but even if they feel that way, they must make a distinction between the State of Israel and Jews. There are Jews worldwide that are no Israeli citizens and there are Jews in Israel that are Israeli citizens who don't agree with what the government of Israel is doing and I think NEAB absolutely fails to make that distinction and there is no way in my view that they can properly square the hell fire that Israel is raining down on Gaza with their mission as Christians, their conscience as Christians. I don't want to judge, but I am expressing exactly how I feel about the NEAB position."
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