By Omar Bah
Madi Jobarteh has rejected an invitation from the US Embassy in Banjul to attend their Independence Day celebration.
In a letter seen by The Standard, Mr Jobarteh who recently quit the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) over the Israel war in Palestine, wrote: “Thank you for your invitation to attend the 248th Independence Anniversary of the United States. By this open letter, I hereby wish to withdraw my acceptance of your invitation. I wish to state that I am boycotting the ceremony because of the position and role that the United States Government is playing in the ongoing ‘genocide’ committed by Israel against the people of Palestine in Gaza and the massive human rights violations of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank perpetrated by the State of Israel.
“The founding of the United States was an act of resistance against foreign domination and exploitation for self-determination in recognition of fundamental human rights as espoused in the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Since then, the US has built formidable instruments and institutions of democracy and human rights among which include the Bill of Rights, and the media. At the core of these instruments is the inalienable right to self-determination including the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, freedom of the media and freedom of assembly, among others,” he wrote.
He added: “It is therefore utterly concerning that two hundred and forty-eight years later, the United States is reneging on these sacred principles and solemn obligations by arming and defending another regime, the Israeli regime to unleash war crimes and the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people. For 75 years, the United States continues to stand with the State of Israel to perpetuate occupation and apartheid in total contravention of both the American values of democracy and human rights, and international law.
“As a citizen of this world and having an individual responsibility to defend human rights I have decided to boycott the Government of the United States so long as it continues to arm, support and defend the State of Israel in committing gross human rights violations including genocide against the Palestinians whose lands it continues to illegally occupy in contravention of international law. Therefore, the failure of the US to call for an immediate ceasefire and the immediate dismantling of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine highlights the fact that the US Government is an active and leading participant in the Gaza genocide, next only to Israel.
“My boycott is further propelled by the ongoing use of police violence against students who are protesting the genocide in Gaza across US universities. Furthermore, the failure of the US Government in condemning Israel for closing the Aljazeera television in Israel hugely exposes that the US is actively complicit in the genocide in Gaza. These actions are a direct affront to freedom of assembly and freedom of the media which are sacrosanct in the US Bill of Rights. I hold that more than anyone, the US has the leading obligation to stop Israeli occupation of Palestine given the history of the US itself and its role in the world. Needless to say, the United Nations was founded on American soil with American leadership as a body created to ensure lasting global peace, freedom, and justice.
“It was the US which had led Allied Forces to defeat the Nazi and fascist regimes of Germany and Japan leading to the end of the Holocaust and genocide against the Jews in Germany. Furthermore, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was drafted by a committee which was chaired by an American First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. These historical facts therefore place a sacred duty on the US to stand up to ensure that oppression, exploitation, and genocide are extinguished from the face of the earth. It is rather unfortunate that the US has rather decided to ignore its own history and its role in fighting oppression and injustice but to side with the genocidal Israeli regime against the innocent people of Palestine.
“For these reasons I hereby boycott the ceremony marking the 248th anniversary of American Independence and make the following demands: That the US Government, 1. Call on Israel to immediately ceasefire and remove all its troops out of Gaza and all Occupied Palestinian Territories immediately and to hold all Israeli perpetrators accountable, 2. Demand the immediate end of Israeli Occupation and full implementation of the two[1]state solution, 3. Order US police and university authorities to protect the right to freedom of assembly by students, and hold police officers who unleashed violence on students accountable, 4. Support the reconstruction of Gaza and the West Bank without any interference with the right to self-determination of Palestinians. For the Protection of Human Rights and International Law,” the letter concluded.
