Dominica supports upgraded UN status for Palestinian Authority

UN General Assemby

Dominica joined the majority of the United Nation’s General Assembly on Thursday to endorse an upgraded U.N. status for the Palestinian Authority.

The island was among the 138 delegates which voted in favor of the measure.

Nine delegates, including the United States and Israel, voted against it. There were 41 abstentions.

Attempts by Dominica News Online to get a reaction from the government on the matter have so far been unsuccessful.

When DNO contacted Dominica’s UN ambassador, Vince Henderson, he confirmed that Dominica voted in favor of the measure and said the island’s position is public knowledge.

However when asked to elaborate on Dominica’s position, Ambassador Henderson  directed us to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Roseau or the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.

DNO contacted Prime Minister Skerrit who said he was not in a position to give a comment and directed us to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, the Permanent Secretary in that ministry who we were told was on the phone at the time, has not called us back at the number we left with the secretary.

Last year Dominica recognized Palestine as an independent state.

Thursday’s resolution elevates the Palestinian Authority status from “non-member observer entity” to “non-member observer state,” the same category as the Vatican, which Palestinians hope will provide new leverage in their dealings with Israel.

Its leaders had been working with dozens of supporting nations to develop a formal draft, enlisting the backing of European countries such as France and Spain.

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60 Comments

  1. faceup
    December 4, 2012

    MAN, listen !! them Palestinain’s just to prove there point, would be to blow me apart in any bus or metro station in the world, so i dont know why there Dominica a black nation as we are should have any thing to do with them kind of crazy people, and if it was left to me i would drone them with a nuclear bomb !!!!

  2. Anonymous
    December 3, 2012

    as a dominican by birth i am very dissatisfied with the dominica government to vote against the jewish state.

  3. ELIYAH
    December 3, 2012

    Yahweh’s word must be fulfilled. The nations of the earth must gather to make war against his people…so this must happen…but remember something else he also told Israel…NO WEAPONS FORMED AGAINST YOU SHALL PROSPER!!!

    Watch and wait and you shall see the Salvation of Yahweh on Israel!

  4. DA
    December 3, 2012

    It is very interesting to read some comments which use the Bible to justify their points.
    The Bible is a good book and does not support the killing or destruction of any group of people.
    We all want a solution to this crisis in the middle east , but it will not be solved if we use only some Biblical quotes to to support one side or the next.
    Mordern solutions have to be used to deal with this situation.
    The Security Council should force them to come to the Table or make the decisions for them, just like it did in Yugoslavia and lied about Iraq. The U.K is the main culprit in this matter just like in India/Pakistan, South Africa, The caribbean and most of West Africa.
    This problem will not be solved from within, because it was created by external forces.

  5. mouth of the south
    December 2, 2012

    at least the gov’t of dominica did something i support lol…. and for those who keep talking about sons of abraham etc and we need to know the history of the land etc…. well my friend stop listening to war mongering preacher John Hagee, he was a main supporter of Bush Jr. going into Iraq….

    these so called jews in israel aren’t the jews the bible speaks of… these guys came from poland and u.k who didn’t want them in england let them settle in palestine as refugees… ok… and from 1940’s they came and began expanding…

    funny how we accept crime against another nation simply because we believe the bible said so… do u think God approves of this kind of blood shed??

  6. Bluuuuhhh
    December 2, 2012

    Israel sees itself as David … the rest of the world sees them as Goliath. A very hostile, well armed bunch of bullies.

    “We only want peace” they say … Did not Hitlers say that when entering Poland?

    • Malatete
      December 2, 2012

      Let me assure you that the
      Israelis are divided about this like most other people and to compare them with the likes of Hitler is offensive, whichever way you look at it. Never forget that Jesus, and his apostles were foremost Jews, whose religious teachings form the basis for both Islam and Christianity.

  7. Lang Dough
    December 1, 2012

    Let’s hope now that the Jewish tourist boat owners that Skeritt wants to visit Dominica doesn’t realise his voting pattern

  8. ROCKIT
    December 1, 2012

    if we remember what wiki leaks cable said about dominica and a certain family here that sends money to hamas and hezbullah.
    that government have to much masters working in the back ground, and skerrit running and trying to get boat back to dominica….me myself i pro USA

  9. December 1, 2012

    thats the only decision of this administration i am pleased with

  10. anonymous1
    December 1, 2012

    A further curse for this country which is already on a downward side under a very inept government

    • DESIE
      December 2, 2012

      Just because USA against it u talking like dat

      once America s888 allu want to eat it

  11. Anonymous
    December 1, 2012

    Finally

  12. Malgrasysa
    December 1, 2012

    Whether you agree or not I’m glad Dominica did not sit on the side-line this time. Wish the Govt. did not act so secretively though and told its people without us having to ask.

  13. J.J.John-Charles
    December 1, 2012

    The nations can say what they want, or pass all their resolutions.God have spoken.

    “Any one,any nation that is against Israel,I am also against that person or nation.I will curse those who curse Israel”.

    God first gave this land to Abraham and his descendants.Genesis 13:14-17.
    Then He (God)appeared to Issac the son of Abraham with His wife Sarah,and told him.

    “…for to you and your descendants I gave all these land.Gen.26:1-5.”

    Issac had two sons, Esau and Jacob.God appeared to Jacob and said
    “….the land which I gave Abraham and Issac I give to you and your descendants after you I give this land.”Gen 35:12
    Finally to the 12 tribes (sons) of Jacob (Israel)God gave the land. Ezekiel 47:13 and He went on and give the borders or boundaries of the land.

  14. Gerard
    December 1, 2012

    Just one bit of correction to ‘Anonymous’.The Holy Scriptures do not refer to Ishmael ( Believed to be the Father of the Arab people ) as an adulterous son.
    He too was blessed by God though evicted from the household ( observe Genesis 21:15)to be a great Nation.

  15. Gerard
    December 1, 2012

    I would have been far more comfortable if Dominican politicians,both those in government and in the opposition would understand that this Israeli-Palestine issue is not primarily a political one as all orthodox Jews and fundamentalist and extremist Muslims know .It is more fundamentally a religious agenda rooted in the greater Arab aspiration to “Islamize” the entire Middle East,with Jerusalem as the political capital of the idealized State of Palestine and simultaenously the religious capital of the Arab world and Islam.
    This would invariably render Israel an illegitimate state with no right of tenure or as Hamas and other hard line Muslims believe, as not having even the RIGHT to exist.
    The Iranian president who is the main supplier of weapons to Hamas,has openly stated that Israel should be wiped of the map.
    ‘Anonymous’ has accurately underlined the basic reason for all this.And this in not necessarily any pro-Israeli or ‘Zionist’ position.It is simply knowing the determinate Muslim objective.

    There is going to be no lasting peace treaty or deal in that geographical area brokered by Obama or any other US president.This matter is long beyond the control of the UN.

    My recommendation to our Government and the UN rep is that they deal with this issue on the same manner as the very complex whaling issue and simply stay out of this by abstaining.( We may be greatly surprised and dismayed in time to come in finding out just what we did put our vote to.

    Only one person has the solution to this recurrent conflict.Read Isaiah 9:6,7.All Praise to the Prince of Peace.

    • watch dog
      December 2, 2012

      great post.

    • DA
      December 3, 2012

      You still did not offer a solution to this crisis. There must be a deciding factor in the middle east.This current tit-for tat tartics that are being used are not sustainable and will one day collapse.
      Some things got to give.

    • Bluuuuhhh
      December 4, 2012

      Hornets nest … poke … sting.

      Leave them alone.

      Islam is only so angry and being influenced by idiots because the US and Israel is poking their nest. Islam is a wonderful, beautiful religion. maybe not MY religion, but I do not judge.

      Who trained Al Quaeda? Who trained Bin Laden? Who paid Bin Laden to be an accountant? Who helped Afghanistan to became the mess it is? … The USA.

      The CIA were paying for Mujahadeen and Taliban weapons (made in US and Israel) with money from a new well oiled Cocaine market. They basically caused the instability of a whole region (Central America and Mexico) to be messed up so much that they are almost a no go zone even today.

      OUR country is under huge pressure from drug lords who kill our people every day. Who set these drug lords up in business? Who continues to import that drug just to play on a Saturday while WE have to put up with killing on a Sunday?

      The only reason there is a HUGE drug problem for The Caribbean, Latin America and Central America …. millions of people affected … is that the US needed money to pay for a war against the Russians. To get to the oil reserves of the Soviet( then) Islamic states.

      So? Well, the whole Islamic problem has arisen from this US and UK dirty desire for Oil … not because the Islamic world woke up one day and decided to effectively shut out 50% of the population behind a black curtain. (Women I am meaning for the less intelligent). That never happened. A minority is in control … but an armed and dangerous minority.

      Extremism cannot exist without somebody poking and prodding and manipulating.

  16. MIB
    November 30, 2012

    So Dominica as sided with the palestinian over Israel. And we wonder why we are in the state we are. We are really in the end times. Lord forgive us for we know not what we are doing.

    • DA
      December 3, 2012

      This is not about siding with one side over the next. It is about trying to solve this most contentious issue in the world today.
      One way or the orhter we have to take note of this decades old situation, or it will come affect the entire world.

  17. Anonymous
    November 30, 2012

    They voted with no knowledge of the palestines or what it taking place here; these people only want Israel to wipe out entirely.

    • watch dog
      December 2, 2012

      certain thing u just leave alone

  18. "O" STRESS"
    November 30, 2012

    D.N.O. when you hear from the minister let us know, talk about a news black out by our elected servants,?????????? it`just the tip of what is to come. We are in deep Sh….t in small Dominica.

  19. justice
    November 30, 2012

    I hope they know what they just do.

  20. anonymous2
    November 30, 2012

    That just shows the ignorance of Dominica. The Un is a very bad 2-faced entity who gives with one hand and deceptively takes away with the other.

    • Str8
      December 3, 2012

      I second that…The UN has single handedly turned the world into the evil and Dangerous place that it is now and they are continuing to plunder the planet and obliterate nations with their polices..Why we are in it I have no Idea…just look at what they did to our bananas and are now doing to our tourism…. yes They did it!

  21. Muslim_Always
    November 30, 2012

    As a Muslim I would like to thank Dominica as a country for voting in the right direction.

    It shows that Dominica is making progress in comparison to 9 insignificant “Zionist” allies that will continue to be isolated from the rest of the world. Most of Europe voted in favor of the Palestinian people. Allah will grant victory to the suffering people.

  22. Good-to-go
    November 30, 2012

    Bravo!!

    But why Vince cah explain Dominica’s position/vote?

    You mean to tell me he voting for something and he doesn’t understanding the international political reasoning behind the vote!!

  23. Referee
    November 30, 2012

    First of all, let me say that as someone who has been critical of the recent foreign policy initiates of the Skerrit administration I must say that I am elated by this decision to support the rights of the Palestinians as expressed in the United nations vote. It was a decision based on fairness and and decency, in my view, and one that all Dominicans should be proud of.
    I count myself among those who believe that foreigh policy, in addition to giving expression to the national interest, must be firmly grounded in morality and human rights. And there is no more preeminent issue that defines morality in international politics like the Palestinian issue.

    I am aware that the state of Israel probably attracts a significant level of support in Dominica, a largely Christian nation that sees a biblical parallel between modern day Israel and what is written in the scriptures. Conservative Christians in the US see matters similarly and thus throw their moral support behind the Jewish state. They are dead wrong on this issue and history will not forgive them, or their kin in Dominica.

    But to judge the fairness or otherwise of the situation facing the Palestinian people it is sufficient to recall that some twenty million of them were physically, at gun point and and bulldozers, were evicted from lands they inhabited for over five hundred years, to make way for the creation of what is now Israel. The evicted people are still living in camps in Jordan and significant numbers in The West bank and Gaza, under Israeli military occupation, while Israel continues to build settlements on Palestinian lands governed by the 1967 borders.

    These people deserve justice which has been long in coming. No less a person than former US President Carter described what is happening to the Palestinians as APARTHEID, like the variety that existed in South Africa until recently. And to think that the United States, a country that was borne through revolt against a British monarch, is supporting Israel blindly in the subjugation and destruction of the underdog, the Palestinians, is shocking both to the collective conscience and its professed standards of morality. This immoral policy is supported and financed by American Jews who grease the political machinery in the US through their campaign donations. Politicians of both parties in the US dare not cross the Jewish lobby. Dominica did well to reject American moral duplicity in the Palestinian vote.

    If nothing else, the Palestinians, under their new status, could, according to experts, apply for membership in the UN sponsored International Criminal Court, and press charges for past and future acts of brutality by the Israelis, a prospect that may have fueled US and Israeli angst.

    But my question is this: Aren’t courts designed for parties who have grievances? And if Israel’s actions meet the light of day, it should not be worried about perceived risks from the the court.

    The time has come to turn the spotlight on one of the most glaring unresolved injustices in in the world. The vote to upgrade the status of the Palestinians in the UN is a step in the right direction. Nothing short of full statehood will begin to address the problem in a comprehensive manner.
    Dominica’s vote makes me proud to be a Dominican.

    I dare say that it was an act of courage for Dominica and the majority of the international community to defy the will of the United States and cast their vote in favor of the Palestinians

    • watch dog
      December 2, 2012

      rubbish rubbish rubbish. Do you think your country’s vote have any say in this. please.

  24. Rastafari
    November 30, 2012

    YEAH for Dominica! The Palestinians are our human family!

  25. Anonymous
    November 30, 2012

    Good decidion but neither the ambassador,the minister of FA ,nor the Ministry of FA can elaborate on the decsion to the press!!How informative! How responsible!

    • watch dog
      December 2, 2012

      the best decision was to remain nutral. Thats all i got to say

  26. Jayson
    November 30, 2012

    Well done Dominica!!!

  27. Morihei Ueshiba
    November 30, 2012

    DNO u need to contact Hugo Chavez at Le Palace De Venezuela to find out why we voted for Palestine, don’t u know we are running under remote control for Alba.
    Chavez call the shots Skerrit have no say!

  28. LadyLiberty
    November 30, 2012

    So no one in the government can face DNO without giving them the run around? Why are they hiding and ducking after they do their cocomakak. Our government is showing their true colours. Only a blind bat will not see on which side of history Our government want to be. It is not on the side of freedom, liberty and justice for sure. Yet we are friends of The US and Israel? Y do this pple in charge keep putting is in the category with terrorists and communists? These actions will not benefit any Dominican except for those is power!

  29. angel
    November 30, 2012

    what calling Dominica have there

    • watch dog
      December 2, 2012

      good question

  30. Anonymous
    November 30, 2012

    Why is that something good? What does this vote say about Dominica’s position regarding Israel? I would like to hear the position of the Dominican Christian community on this vote.

  31. Anonymous
    November 30, 2012

    I think Dominica should first know the history of the land of Palestine and that of Israel before it vote. This issue is as old as time. It is a war between the legitimate son of Abraham and his adulterous son. Read the bible find out more

    • budman
      November 30, 2012

      stop your foolishness

    • NONESENSE
      November 30, 2012

      man write bible god would god for sure are fed up of the suffering ot the palestians wake up holy people ask your self the question as god people enough is enough bible or not wrong is worng
      holy Anonymous.

    • Muslim_Always
      November 30, 2012

      This is where the problem is. You are reading a corrupted book, a book that has undergone many changes and revisions.

      Also, Abraham had two wives, both Issac and Ishmael (peace be upon them) were born within wedlock as well as they were prophets of Allah.

      This assertion against the first son of Abraham is a racist one that permeates the sick Jew and Christian world today.

    • noko
      November 30, 2012

      We live in modern times now so we don’t need ancient texts to dictate to us what decisions we should make especially at a political level, which coincidentally, should have nothing to do with religion and theistic beliefs.

    • Malgrasysa
      December 1, 2012

      Oh boy, that bible again! So many crimes committed against humanity in the name of the bible. Holy wars, burning at the stake, extraction of thites, forced conversions …and yes, even justification of slavery! Love reading that book but don’t need it to justify my actions. The ten commandments are enough for me, particularly the one that I should love my neighbour like myself.

    • Allex
      December 1, 2012

      I am a Jew and you are right about that. I have no problem with Palestine having their own state, but it should not be in the land of Israel.

      • Bluuuuhhh
        December 4, 2012

        :lol: Your premise is that Israel is not a country but a Jewish country and only the Jews can live there. Somehow the Palestinians can have their own land … but not in Palestine?

        Most people in the US would just want them all to get along and stop the whole mess growing into a very large war. The right wing nutters want a war and the big business that make weapons are right with them. Keep Israel smouldering and we will always have an Islamic anger to manipulate.

        Leave ALL the people alone and there will be peace.

        Palestinians are not perfect. Nobody say that they are, but if you come and steal my land I will get angry and I will hurt you. Stop the stealing of land and there is a chance of peace there.

        The problem is that right wing US does not want peace. there is no huge amounts of money in peace.

    • Bluuuuhhh
      December 2, 2012

      They are humans and need to be treated as such. Israel only exists because USA and UK stood by and watched millions of Jews being exterminated. They stood by because Hitler was against communism. They KNEW what was going on and still stood by. Otherwise no sane govt would vote for putting a jewish state in a powder keg.

      Do you want the same to be said of Palestine? That we stood by and watched while the former victims became the agressors/murderers?

      You actually sound nuts to be honest … you probably need therapy.

    • watch dog
      December 2, 2012

      thats why you all should have remained silent

  32. Spelling Bee
    November 30, 2012

    aaaaahhhhhhhh a Skerrit decision I can back happily and enthusiastically!!!!!

  33. Big-Bannan
    November 30, 2012

    No suprise. Are all our friends not Communists?

    • Zenfan Zombie
      November 30, 2012

      I hate to put it so bluntly, but you’ve just proven to all the readers of this site how historically imbecil you are.

    • LG
      November 30, 2012

      Big Bannan, I agree Dominica supports rogue countries, communist governments and any country that not U.S.A.

    • Bluuuuhhh
      December 2, 2012

      Communism? What the xxx has that got to do with this?

      Anyway … for a change … the Palestinians got a little international backing. Good on them.

  34. ROSEAU VALLEY
    November 30, 2012

    Interesting!!!But the answer is right at your finger tips on the computer http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2012/ga11317.doc.htm

    Dominica did vote in favour of resolution 67/19:
    The vote was by an overwhelming majority: 138 (including Dominica)

    Respectfully
    Roseau Valley

  35. Drlee
    November 30, 2012

    Finally Dominica does something good at the UN.

    • Anonymous
      November 30, 2012

      Good for you DA.

      • watch dog
        December 2, 2012

        bad call

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