Why Would the Tiny Island Nation of Palau Be Complicit in the Israeli Genocide of Gaza?
Colonel Ann Wright (Ret)
Why would the tiny western Pacific island nation of Palau with a population of only 21,862 allow itself to be complicit in the Israeli genocide of three times its own population, now over 60,000 Palestinians killed by the Israeli military in Gaza and tens of thousands of Palestinians unaccounted for under the rubble?
I doubt if anyone in Palau realizes what the Palau government did in their name to make them complicit in a genocide.
Complicity in Genocide by Taking Away the Certification of the Gaza flotilla ship "Conscience" and subsequent Israeli bombing of the "Conscience"
The question of complicity in the genocide swirls around who made the decision and why for Palau to take away the certification and flag of Gaza bound ship "Conscience, " a ship that had had the Palau certification for over twelve months.
The certification was taken away less than twelve hours before the “Conscience” was bombed by Israeli drones in international waters off the European nation of Malta where it was at anchor.
In the afternoon of May 1, 2025, our Gaza flotilla coalition was notified that the Captain and owner of our ship "Conscience" had been emailed by maritime agents of Palau that the Palau certification of operation and flag for the ship had been cancelled.
No reason was given for the cancellation, nor whom had given the order for the decertification of the ship. No inspection of the ship had been made.
The ship had sailed from Tunisia with the certification only 24 hours before.
By international regulations, without the certification, the “Conscience” could not move from its anchoring location off Malta.
The Israeli military bombed the ship using drones in international waters 12 nautical miles off the European country of Malta, just after midnight on May 2, 2025.
Palau Foreign Minister Made False Statements About the Decertification
According to the Washington Post coverage of the bombing, Palau’s foreign minister, Gustav Aitaro, said on May 3, 2025, in a message to The Washington Post that, according to preliminary information, the vessel had been deregistered “quite some time ago.”
Foreign Minister Aitaro's statement is false as the deregistration/decertification was communicated to the Captain and owner of the ship only on the afternoon of May 1, 2025.
It was NOT deregistered "quite some time ago," as alleged by the Foreign Minister.
Great U.S. Economic and Military Influence on Palau Demands Complicity in the Genocide
I recognize that Palau is economically and militarily dependent on the U.S. through the Compact of Free Association which provides Palau with billions of dollars in economic assistance, but I am dismayed that the government of Palau has allowed itself to be complicit, along with the U.S., in the ongoing Israeli genocide of Gaza through the deregistration of our humanitarian, civilian ship.
Who Ordered Palau to Remove the Certification of the “Conscience?” Secretary of State Marco Rubio?
I would hope that citizens of Palau would questions their elected officials to find out what pressure was brought on the Government of Palau by the U.S. and Israeli governments on this decision that contributes to the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Was it Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific Affairs Sean O’Neill, or could it have been the Secretary of State himself, Marco Rubio that demanded that Palau take the certification from the “Conscience?”
Considering Rubio’s unbelievable statement on July 9 , 2025 imposing personal sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Human Rights Council “Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967,” for fulfilling her duty in challenging the Israeli genocide of Gaza and U.S. complicity in the genocide, no doubt it was Rubio himself that called Palau to order the removal of the certification of the “Conscience” that also was sailing to challenge the Israeli genocide of Gaza
Ann Wright served 29 years in the US Army/Army Reserves and retired as a Colonel. She also was a U.S. diplomat for 16 years and served in U.S. embassies in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia, Afghanistan and Mongolia. She resigned from the U.S. government in March 2003 in opposition to the U.S. war on Iraq. She is a member of the Gaza flotilla steering committee, as well as Veterans For Peace, CODEPINK: Women For Peace.