Polack Post: Caribbean UK territories recognize Palestine – No say no vote
Peter Polack
By Peter Polack
The citizens of the British territories in the Caribbean woke up recently to discover that they had recognized the state of Palestine.
The people of the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands are among several others in and out of the Caribbean that are as far from the Middle East as one could escape. No matter then that the powers that be, the UK viceroys of local governance, have determined without consultation, referendum or vote what the position of their islands shall be in the world and far away conflicts.
The premiers, their associated ministers and opposition legislators have had to be as silent as eunuchs in a harem on a Saturday night.
Their only recourse is for them to dimly repeat that the United Kingdom controls all matters of foreign affairs and defence. That leaves the pressing matters of FATF grey lists, failed condo developments and rising crime for them to manage. Fair exchange in this, is no bargain.
It is unsurprising that most of these islands are as far away from independence as the state of Palestine given the political performance of their leaders thus far.
A vote of no confidence.
Normally that would be the end of the matter except for occasional and inebriated squawks from the patio to the bar stool.
There is the no small matter of President Donald Trump, the greatest supporter of Israel, who is given to direct action, writ large the missile attacks on suspected drug boats, that have traversed the Caribbean for decades.
With a flick of his pen he could eradicate the offshore financial industry of the Cayman Islands that accounts for $440 billion of US government securities and nearly half of the island economy. Other colonies would not be far behind.
Between a rock and a hard place.
Peter Polack is a former criminal lawyer in the Cayman Islands for several decade. His books are The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War: South Africa vs. Cuba in the Angolan Civil War (2013), Jamaica, The Land of Film (2017) and Guerrilla Warfare: Kings of Revolution (2019). He was a contributor to Encyclopedia of Warfare (2013). His latest book is a compendium of Russian espionage activities with almost five hundred Soviet spies expelled from nearly 100 countries worldwide 1940-88. His views in the above release are his own
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