Ras Mubarak, a former Member of Parliament, has tackled Israel’s Ambassador to Ghana, Roey Gilad, over comments he says disrespect President John Mahama and undermine Ghana’s sovereignty.
According to Ras Mubarak, Israel’s Ambassador to Ghana is a guest and must act like one.
He urged the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to summon Israel’s Ambassador to Ghana over his disrespectful Mahama remarks.
Ras Mubarak argued that for Roey Gilad to ‘stand on Ghanaian soil, in Accra, and publicly interrogate and lecture the President of the Republic of Ghana on what he should or should not say, and to demand why Ghana condemns the genocide in Palestine but is “silent” on Ukraine, is not diplomacy. It is insolence. It is brass neck of the highest order’.
In a Facebook post Ras Mubarak wrote, “You Are A Guest In Ghana. Act Like It.
The Ambassador of Israel to Ghana, Roey Gilad, has once again overstepped the bounds of diplomatic decency.
To stand on Ghanaian soil, in Accra, and publicly interrogate and lecture the President of the Republic of Ghana on what he should or should not say, and to demand why Ghana condemns the genocide in Palestine but is “silent” on Ukraine, is not diplomacy. It is insolence. It is brass neck of the highest order.
Mr Gilad seems to forget where he is.
Ghana is a sovereign state. Our foreign policy is not dictated from Tel Aviv. It is set in Accra, by the President of Ghana, in line with Article 40 of our 1992 Constitution and our historic non-aligned tradition dating back to Kwame Nkrumah.
Ghana recognised the State of Palestine long before his country’s genocide in Palestine. Ghana supports a two-state solution. Ghana has every right, and indeed a moral duty, to call a genocide a genocide when “it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck,” as President Mahama told the UNGA.
This is the same Ambassador who, after President Mahama’s UNGA speech, called our President “wrong” on genocide, held a press conference in Accra to “educate” Ghanaians on why Israel’s war crime is justified, and argued that peace can only be achieved through settler terrorism, criminal annexation of Palestinian lands and gross disregard for the UN and international law.
Now he wants to drag Ghana into whataboutism on Russia-Ukraine to deflect from the genocide, the war crimes, settler violence, collective punishment and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank that the whole world is condemning.
Ghana’s position on Russia-Ukraine is public record. Ghana voted to condemn Russia’s invasion at the UN. Ghana has consistently called for respect for international law and sovereignty everywhere. The difference is Ghana does not need to be loud to be principled, and Ghana does not take lectures on selectivity from a government currently on trial for genocide at the ICJ.
This pattern of disrespect is becoming habitual. I call on the Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP., to immediately summon Mr. Roey Gilad and give him a formal dressing down.
He must be reminded of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations: an Ambassador is a guest. He may explain his country’s position. He must not publicly chastise, fact-check, or second-guess the Head of State of his host country in the media.
If Israel wants a spokesperson to attack the President of Ghana, let them hire one in Israel. While he carries the title of Ambassador to Ghana, he will respect the office of the President of Ghana, respect the people of Ghana, and respect Ghana’s sovereign right to speak on Palestine without being gaslit with Ukraine.
His comments are downright insulting to the President of the Republic and the people of Ghana. Enough of his racist disrespect of Ghanaians”.
His comment follows Israel’s Ambassador to Ghana, HE Roey Gilad, has questioned the Mahama government’s diplomatic approach to the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Israeli Ambassador to Ghana questioned why President John Dramani Mahama has been more outspoken about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and not the Russia-Ukraine war.
Speaking at an event, the Israeli envoy noted that Ghana had maintained a largely non-aligned position on the war between Russia and Ukraine, with limited public criticism of Moscow’s invasion.
He stated, “On the Ukraine-Russia conflict, Ghana is very much non-aligned. We don’t hear much criticism of Russia for their aggression against Ukraine”.
HE Roey Gilad contrasted this with what he described as the Ghanaian government’s vocal position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He further asked Rev Ntim Fordjour, who also attended the event, whether he understood the apparent difference in the government’s responses to the two international conflicts.
He questioned, “But as for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the current government is very loud; bear in mind that you are a member of the opposition. Can you understand the two different patterns?”
However, the NPP MP distanced himself from speaking on behalf of the government, explaining that he was not a government spokesperson or an official representative of Ghana’s foreign policy.
Ntim Fordjour stated, “I cannot pretend to be an authority on the foreign policy of Ghana. Neither am I the government spokesperson or representative on government foreign policy”.
The NPP MP, however, noted that from a security-based perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel faces threats from both non-state actors and, at times, other states.
Ntim Fordjour added, “One country faces existential threats from non-state actors, and even at some point from state actors. So, at both asymmetric and symmetric levels, we are facing threats”.
Also, the Assin South MP referenced Ghana’s national security strategy, highlighting that it recognises terrorism as a global and regional threat capable of undermining domestic security.
According to Ntim Forjour, the strategy acknowledges the need for states to take essential measures to safeguard their national security interests.
See the post below:
@ghnow_ A look back at the exciting moments from Big Street Food by Chef Abys, which took place earlier today! 🍕🔥 #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – Abenah
@ghnow_ A look back at the exciting moments from Big Street Food by Chef Abys, which took place earlier today! 🍕🔥 #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – Abenah
