When Patterson Speaks, We Listen Ambassador Curtis Ward We are living in a period of complex and challenging times. The entire global landscape is experiencing geopolitical and security instability. There is hardly any issue that is entirely local, and every issue is interconnected to varying degrees to competing geopolitical interests, global economic realities, or international security. No country can ignore the competing interests of the most powerful countries. Neither can we ignore the...
Jamaica’s ‘Not voting’ Shame at the UN Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (29 October 2023) — The responsibilities of states to formulate policies, their representatives at the United Nations in New York to execute such policy, requires continuous consultations between the UN Permanent Missions and their respective ministries of foreign affairs, or with the agency of government to which each country’s UN Mission reports. These are appropriate and necessary functions of the respective parts...
Israel-Hamas war could be catalyst for two-state solution Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (10/21/2023) — The ongoing Israel-Hamas war is already the deadliest in decades for both Israelis and Palestinians. In response to Hamas’s deadly attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, indiscriminately killing Israeli civilians, including women, children, and the elderly, the taking of hostages across the border into Israel, and destroying Israeli civilian infrastructure, the ultra-right Netanyahu-led...
Biden’s options in the Israel-Hamas War Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (15 October 2023) — The situation in the Middle East, particularly the Palestinian question and Israel’s resistance to a two-state solution and the rights of displaced Palestinians to return to their homeland, has been inherited by successive U.S. presidents. Lack of progress, and often reverse of forward steps advancing peace, has been determined mostly by the ideological determinants of the government in Israel...
Israel’s ultimate response to Hamas could go very wrong Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (12 October 2023) — The broad-based empathy with the people of Israel could quickly erode if Israel’s response is one of mere vengeance devoid of rationality. While applauded by some, Israel’s scorched earth and indiscriminate bombings of Gaza, as Palestinian civilian casualties rise, could see applause change from defense of Israel’s right to defend itself to international opprobrium and...
Terrorism by any standard Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (10 October 2023) — There will be several perspectives, analyses, and conclusions about Hamas’ attack on Israel. Many will be hard pressed not to include the Palestinian cause as the raison d’être for Hamas’ actions. Others will blame Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-held animosity and policies, his history of suppression and denial of the rights of the Palestinians, and more recent actions against West Bank...
From St. Thomas Jamaica to Portsmouth, Dominica The Story of Nurse & Nation Builder – Olivia “Olive” Douglas -Nee Bryan Gabriel J. Christian, Esq. (09 October 2023) — Nurse Olivia Douglas nee Bryan was born in the parish of St. Thomas, Jamaica on April 4, 1941. She traveled to the United Kingdom in the late 1950s to study nursing. While at nursing school she befriended and then married the late Michael “Mike” Douglas, who was then a non-commissioned officer in the...
Haiti and the UN Multinational Security Support Mission Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (05 October 2023) — Can the UN succeed in Haiti after failures of the past? Can Haiti be stabilized from within or without or a combination of both? These are valid questions being asked by Haitians on the ground in Haiti and in the diaspora. There is a great deal of optimism that this time might be different. United Nations intervention with the cooperation and collaboration of the Haitian security...
Diaspora group’s mission to alleviate humanitarian needs in Jamaica Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (15 September 2023) — According to one patron and supporter at the annual fundraising dinner and dance staged by Partners of Good Shepherd Jamaica (POGS), “I am here to support provision of assistance to the less fortunate and marginalized back home in Jamaica.” Another said, “It’s another way we can come together and pool our support to have an impact on the needs of the poor.” These...
JAM Honors Jamaican Diaspora Media Pioneer Larry Sindass Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (24 August 2023) — Honoring members of the Jamaican diaspora for their unstinting services, contributions, and values to development of their communities and to their Jamaican homeland during the period of independence celebrations often gets lost in the milieu of events marking the historical achievements of independence. But these honors must be seen as a way for members of the diaspora to say thanks and...
