By Navaid Hamid,
Holy is He who carried His servant by night from the Holy Mosque (in Makkah) to the farther Mosque (in Jerusalem) whose surrounding We have blessed that We might show him some of our signs. Indeed He alone is All-Hearing, All seeing.
(1:17: Quran)
I am from the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who were staunch advocates for the rights of the Palestinians. In the words of Mahatma “Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs. What is going on in Palestine today cannot be justified by any moral code of conduct.” These sentiments expressed by Mahatma, 73 years back, are relevant for all times.
The first PM of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was the guiding force for laying the foundation of the unchallenged policy to support the Palestinians in India. In guidance of its leaders, the Indian civil society has always stood for the Palestinians and has been staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause.
It is legitimate to aspire for stability and freedom, freedom from oppression and aggression of the oppressors and invaders; to ensure and safeguard the security and sanctity of the Al Quds, one of holiest Mosque of Islam; to challenge and break the cartels of the evil forces who wish to enforce the principles of injustice on the Palestinians in the name and illusion of stability and peace; to mobilies the civil society across the globe, breaking the barriers of boundaries of religion and nations, to raise their voice against the injustice meted out to the hapless Palestinians since last so many decades.
It is our paramount duty to salute the Palestinians, who in spite of all odds, have courageously continued to struggle for their rights, for endings of their sufferings and are taking combined might of Israel and US policy makers.
The resolutions of United Nation against Israel have become irrelevant and meaningless and have been just futile exercise just for the records. We are witnessing different parameters for different aggressors and the dual faces of the powers that really control United Nations. Unfortunately the Palestinians are the victims of the hypocrisy of world powers.
History had witnessed with horror and grief how the aggressor in West Asia has made millions of Palestinian children Orphans and women widows. The war on Palestinians is continuing, with brief intervals, and there is no hope of its permanent end in the near future. The world has become a mute spectator over the illegal sanctions on the citizens of the Gaza strip. Those who have visited the Gaza or those who have near and dears in the Gaza know how the ordinary citizens are suffering and are on the verge of catastrophe.
The injustice in West Asia is breeding frustration and radicalism amongst the Muslim youths. One can not deny that the plight of the Palestinians and the inaction of the world community to stop the sufferings of the Palestinians are breading violence, terrorism and instability across the globe. The issue of Palestine has not remained an issue of west Asia or Arabs or Muslim alone now. The root cause of the instability in different parts of Muslim world and in those nations where the interests of the world powers are on hit lists lies in the geo-political dispute of West Asia. Unfortunately the terrorists are using this emotive issue to justify their acts and misdeeds, which needs to be condemned in equal terms.
A Muslim mass across the Muslim world are feeling restless over the emotive issue of Palestine and differs with that of the executive leadership of their respective nations. Before this takes an alarming proportion and lead to further chaos, it is paramount duty of the United Nations and the world powers to ponder over for finding solutions to the west Asia crisis and ensuring justice to the Palestinians.
In my humble opinion there is a distinct possibility of everlasting peace in West Asia if the aspirations and just demands of the Palestinians are taken care of and cross sections of them are involved in the peace process.
It is high time that the non government organizations and activists from across the globe seriously deliberate and join hands to finalize their combined strategy to aggressively pursue the non violent means to end the sufferings of the Palestinians and to extend humanitarian help to the Palestinians, especially those of the Gaza strip.
It is our supreme and paramount duty to ensure the defeat of the Zionist aggressors by condemning and opposing their expansionist plans and at the same time condemning the forces that are bent to hijack the Palestinian issue to fulfill their nefarious political agenda by justifying acts of terror against innocents, in the name of Palestinian cause.
We should rise above our ideological and political differences to join together to endeavor for a peaceful world which is not possible with out peace in West Asia and justice to the Palestinians.
I condemn the continuous aggression of Israel against the hapless Palestinians and appeals to the world community to strive for the cause of Palestinians, who are indeed sufferers since last seven decades.
I join this assembly of the intellectuals and world leaders from across the globe to appeal the United Nation to stop the sufferings of the Palestinian masses and ensure their safety, security and dignity and truly act in accordance to its charter.
It would be great injustice and unwise if we do not remember the efforts of all those non Palestinians, non Arabs and non Muslims who have been at the forefront to denounce Israel’s aggression and have stood for the cause of Palestinians. Therefore I would request the General Assembly of this Conference to explore possibilities to convene an International Conference of all those organizations and members of the civil society, from across the world, which have raised their voice against Zionist imperialism and have stood firmly for the cause of Palestinians. We should not forget that the Palestinian problem is a humanitarian problem and it needs involvement of all who are working for justice and human rights for the Palestinians too.
We need deep commitment as that of an ocean, strong will power as a rock and continuity in our sustained efforts as the continuity in the flow of a river to support the Palestinians.
Almighty Allah is our guiding force and He would give us strength and courage if we rise above all our personal interests and commit our selves, sincerely, for the cause of the Palestinians.
Let bygone be bygone, let us start a fresh innings, an innings full of zeal that would help the Palestinians in their just struggle and explore possibilities of a collision of the forces of Peace and Justice from across the Globe.
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Navaid Hamid is the secretary of South Asian Council for Minorities based in India. This essay is from the speech given at The founding Assembly of The General Conference for the Support of Al Quds at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Conference was held 20-21 January 2010 and was attended by around 100 delegates from around the world. Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, former PM of Malaysia inaugurated the Conference.