Dear Editor,

Many Jamaicans have been astonished that the leadership of the People’s National Party (PNP) is seemingly taking a pro-Hamas stance.

We all know that a devastating Hamas attack occurred in Israel on Saturday, October 7, 2023. The timing of the attack — a national holiday and Sabbath in the country — perhaps contributed to the slow response of Israel.

During the siege, countless Jews were raped and murdered and hostages were taken back to Gaza. Is the PNP a spokesman for Hamas? We could understand one statement being released; however, the party seems to have gone overboard with its criticism of Israel, which has the right to defend itself. The attack on Israel did not target military or political officials, it was regular folks who were brutally assaulted.

There is a theory that some members of the PNP have no interest in reclaiming State power as they have become lazy in Opposition. This would be a very dangerous situation as the majority of Jamaicans are suffering and the country is sinking further into corruption.

We hardly heard any opposition from the PNP on the recently implemented “fat cat” salary for government officials, it seems they gladly took it. Where are the spokesmen of the PNP to represent the interest of the Jamaican people? A number of households in Jamaica are engaging in a “forced fast”; meaning, parents are eating every other day in order for their children to eat and go to school.

The condition of public hospitals is a hot mess and patients have an inordinate wait time before they are seen by a doctor. People are loosing their lives on the road due in part to the horrible road conditions. Does the PNP talk about these things? They prefer to pontificate on international issues for which they have limited appreciation of the nuances involved.

We also have to acknowledge that some of the news we are receiving from the international media is quite reckless. Some of these media houses almost started a multi-pronged war in the Middle East when they irresponsibly reported that Israeli forces had targeted a hospital and over 500 women and children in Gaza were slaughtered. They had to retract days after when it was revealed that it was a missile from Hamas that had malfunctioned and landed in the car park of the hospital, killing approximately 10 people. I don’t want to be misunderstood, the loss of innocent lives on either side is to be mourned.

We ask the PNP to be more circumspect in its statements as it might be misconstrued to be providing informal support to a terrorist organisation. There is no upside in this matter for the PNP.

Who is the party appealing to with this stance? I think that the noise in the marketplace is causing confusion, while it is the sales that needs to be watched.

Elections are not won on social media, it is done through house-to-house mobilisation and the sharing of strategies to improve the lives of Jamaicans.

As one of the party’s most politically savvy past presidents would often say: “Silence cannot be misquoted.” We expect a more nuanced view from the leadership of the PNP on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Marsha Thomas

marshburns@hotmail.com