Belizeans Divided as Petition Targets Israeli Visitors

With a petition that has over five hundred signatures, Belize has a new voice in social activism. Liberation 9/21 launched with a bold mission to advance justice, dignity, and liberation, both here at home and around the world. Their first action? Calling on the government to repeal the visa waiver for Israeli passport holders. The group says their push is driven by a commitment to human rights and solidarity with oppressed communities, including Palestinians facing ongoing violence. On Thursday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Francis Fonseca said he was prepared to take the petition to Cabinet for discussion. Just one day later, Reverend Senator Louis Wade Jr. criticized the move, describing it as hostility toward Israel and insisting that Belize should remain neutral to truly stand for peace. Here’s News Five’s Zenida Lanza with the story.

 

Zenida Lanza, Reporting

With the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine dividing nations and citizens alike, where does Belize stand? Recently, Liberation 9/21, a social activism group, created a petition with over five hundred signatures, calling on the Government of Belize to repeal Israeli visa waivers.

 

Courtney Menzies, Member of Liberation 9/21

“So having to watch, every day, seeing what’s happening in Palestine and seeing all of this death and destruction and tragedy, it’s really difficult to just watch and not do anything. And so, some persons got together and decided they wanted to create a space where we could voice our concerns, or we could vent, or we could talk about what we’re seeing, but at the same time do something more concrete because, you have that feeling of helplessness. We’re already all the way on this side of the world and we’re a small country. What can we do? So, but there are things that we can do. And so that’s why, you know, the formation began.”

 

Belize acted quickly in support of Palestinians, having suspended diplomatic ties with Israel in 2023. However, Senator Louis Wade Jr. says this petition is an act of hostility toward Israel, and Belize should maintain neutrality to truly promote peace.

 

Louis Wade Jr, Reverend Senator

“I believe that based on the conversations I’ve been having with pastors and religious leaders cross the country, it is our belief that no one should be barred from Belize and that they the  different relationships that we have already negotiated and established with countries, including Israel, where we do have a visa waiver for 90 days, that these should remain where the individual citizen of a nation. In this particular case, Israelis, which are made-up of Jews, it is made-up of Muslims, it’s made-up of Palestinians, and Israel is a democratic and heterogeneous society. they should continue to enjoy the benefits of visiting Belize.”

 

In addition to its petition, Liberation 9/21 hopes to introduce vetting of Israeli visitors to ensure that none are active military personnel, particularly those who have served in the IDF.

 

Courtney Menzies

“We already suspended diplomatic ties, like I said, but this is a further step to sanction Israel to say this isn’t okay. It’s also important. We also wanted to mention that we want visitors to be vetted so that to ensure that they were not members of the IDF. Israelis have a one year monetary military service that they have to complete. So we don’t want, you know, war criminals in our country, you know, using our country as a safe haven. So we want Israeli visitors to be vetted as well. But for the public to support that petition, you can go onto our social media, Liberation 9/21 on Facebook, TikTok. You can just go online and you sign up.”

 

On the other hand, Reverend Wade maintains that this action discriminates against a specific group. He emphasizes that Belize maintains ties with other countries involved in conflicts, such as Guatemala and Venezuela, and asks why Israelis are being singled out.

 

Louis Wade Jr

“This is discrimination and this is clearly written discrimination against a group of people, as I said, that Israel is a multi-ethnic society, but it does have regulations regarding the draft, because of the fact that it is surrounded in many cases by hostile countries. In Guatemala, they sign the people who joined the army in Guatemala, which is a very hostile nation towards us. They live in Belize.”

As the conflict in Gaza continues to divide opinions worldwide, Reverend Wade says he will soon circulate a petition to gauge public sentiment on whether Belize should maintain neutrality or take sides on matters that have no significance to our national development. Reporting for News Five, I’m Zenida Lanza.